There can be conflict, and in almost all games there will be some scrapping, but as a player of Scythe, you’ll usually be building up your Mech forces as a deterrent, not to deploy them aggressively. Scythe takes place after a war, not during it – in fact, it’s been well-observed that this is a cold war game, not a war game.

It’s an agrarian continent shocked and destabilised by bitter conflicts that had been fought with technology very different to our world’s – which is something you’ll spot right away when you see the hulking great mech on the front of the box.

Originally conceived by the artist Jakub Rozalski in a portfolio of paintings, which were only later optioned by Stegmayer as the basis for his game, this is an alternative version of Europe in the post World War I-era. A brilliant blend of thematic, atmospheric and even a slightly story-driven styling with tight, gently innovative and fairly deep gameplay, it’s actually quite hard to accurately describe Scythe without making it seem more complex and difficult than it really is.īut the fantasy world of Scythe is much easier to grasp in a moment, being beautiful, seductive and visually compelling. After Jamey Stegmayer’s latest and greatest was backed to the tune of $1.8 by 17,739 gamers in late 2015, it quickly became one of the most anticipated, not to mention extremely hyped games of 2016. Kickstarter and boardgames have a very intimate relationship, and Scythe is a great example of how it can go very right.

Let me introduce you to a few now, and how they’d show videogames the way this Now A Major Motion Picture lark should really work. And amongst those better games are some that rather obviously seem like excellent material for movies.

Loopy board game card examples