Boy, was I wrong...

🌾 Scythe is a game we were always interested in but mostly dismissed with the thought of “it probably doesn’t work well with 2p”. I was so wrong! 😮 We played it a lot lately and it definitely works for us. I am sure it is not the same as with 4-5 players, but it gives us a tense experience every time we play it. 😁

The biggest surprise is how fast a match plays (at least in 2p). We are done in under an hour, and crave for more every time! The turns are snappy, yet the game feels tense and exciting. There is a clear sense of progression and a nice arc to the game. 🙂 I think all of these positives stem from the brilliant action selection system, where you only have to choose one of the 4 action columns on your board and do its action. It may sound simplistic, but it works really well. Bottom actions always cost resources, so to play optimally and activate them you have to plan well.

As you get your faction, action board and objective cards you have to quickly study them and make a game plan 🧐 - though this plan will have to be tweaked throughout the game. But I really like the variability that the setup provides: not only the factions have asymmetric abilities, but the pairing of top and bottom row actions on your action board, their costs, boons and possible upgrades will be different too.

I am not sure yet if all factions are well balanced for 2 players though. 🤔 We tried all of them in different pairings (although admittedly not in every possible combination) and we felt like one was overpowered. This is something we definitely want to explore more in the future.

The only part of the game which took some getting used to was the combat system. This is quite simple: both participants secretly select how much of their military power they are willing to spend. Additionally combat cards can be added secretly. Biggest power value wins, and each party loses the selected amount of power, no matter the outcome. So this is mostly about bluffing, but you can sometimes calculate how to win a combat 100%.