Software:Scythe: Digital Edition

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Short description: Strategy video game
Scythe
Developer(s)Asmodee Digital
Publisher(s)Asmodee Digital
Platform(s)iOS, Android, Windows, Mac
ReleaseSeptember 5, 2018 (2018-09-05)
Genre(s)Strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Scythe: Digital Edition is a video game released in 2018 by Asmodee Digital as a digital adaptation of the 2016 board game Scythe by Stonemaier Games. Players select up to two actions that provide various benefits, allowing stars to be deployed. When one player gains six stars, the game ends and the player with the most money wins, which is awarded for territories, stars and resources. Upon its release, Scythe received generally positive reviews, with praise for its mechanisms but criticism for its tutorial and single-player mode.

Gameplay

In Scythe: Digital Edition, players represent various factions seeking fortune in an alternate history 1920s Eastern Europe recovering from a war. Players construct an economic engine by selecting one of the four top actions that they did not select on the previous turn as well as a corresponding second action listed on the bottom row. These allow the player to produce or trade for resources, bolster their military for combat through gaining power and earning combat cards, increase popularity, gain money, deploy mechs, enlist recruits with continuous activated bonuses, construct structures, and upgrade their actions to be cheaper or providing more benefits. Each faction also has special abilities; for instance, the Crimea faction could trade a combat card for a resource.

Certain thresholds allow players to deploy stars, such as deploying all four structures. When one player gains six stars, money is gained from stars, territories and resources. The player with the most money wins the game. Similarly to the board game, the digital edition has multiplayer and single-player (Automa) versions. [1][2]

Release

The game was released on 5 Sep 2018 by Asmodee Digital on Steam for PC, including both Mac and Windows.[1][3] In 2020, a mobile version was subsequently released and available to download on iOS and Android.[2]

Reception

The game received mostly positive reviews upon its release on Steam.[4] Calvin Wong Tze Loon from PC Gamer commended the "slick tutorial", the mechanisms, visuals and the soundtrack; concluding that it was "evocative, clever, and rewarding".[5] Keith Law from Ars Technica also praised the visuals of the adaptation and engagement but criticised the price of 20 dollars and complexity of the tutorial.[1] Similarly, the Destructoid editor Anthony Marzano commented on the game as engaging and solid, however, he observed the tutorial as "poorly implemented" and the predictability of the AI.[6] In a mixed review, CD-Action noted the game's similarity with the original board game, stating that "Its biggest merit in the eyes of purists is arguably also its biggest flaw – Scythe: Digital Edition offers nothing that the original board game wouldn’t".[4]

References

External Links