Scythe

Overview

Scythe is an engine-building, area-control board game designed by Jamey Stegmaier and published by Stonemaier Games (2016), set in an alternate-history 1920s Europe (Europa). Players control factions with unique abilities, deploying workers, mechs, and a character across a board of territories rich in resources. Each turn, players select a section on their personal player mat to perform a top-row action (Move, Bolster, Trade, or Produce) and optionally a bottom-row action (Upgrade, Deploy, Build, or Enlist). The game ends when any player places their 6th star on the Triumph Track, and the player who has accumulated the most coins wins.

Components

1 Game board (modular for different player counts)
5 Faction mats (Nordic, Rusviet, Crimea, Saxony, Polania)
5 Player mats (variable, randomized pairing with Faction mats)
Plastic miniatures: Character, 4 Mechs, 8 Workers per faction
Resource tokens: Wood, Metal, Oil, Food
Coins (denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10)
Combat cards
Encounter cards
Factory cards
Objective cards
6 Structure tokens per faction
Popularity track and Power track markers
Star tokens (6 per player)
Technology cubes (6 per player)
Recruit tokens (4 per player)
Automa cards (solo variant)

Setup

Each player receives a Faction mat and a randomly assigned Player mat. Place the character on the faction’s home base and one worker on each adjacent territory. Set combat power and popularity markers at starting positions (varies by Faction mat). Receive starting combat cards, coins, and objective cards as indicated. Place encounter tokens on designated territories. Place the Factory card deck on the Factory territory.

Turn Structure

There are no rounds – players take individual turns in clockwise order. On each turn:

Move your action token to a different section of your Player mat (cannot repeat the same section as your previous turn).
Top-Row Action (optional): Perform the top-row action of that section.
Bottom-Row Action (optional): Perform the bottom-row action of that section (pay cost, gain benefit).

You may take one action, both, or neither, but you must move your token.

Actions

Top-Row Actions

Move (or gain $1):

Move up to 2 units (character, worker, or mech) one territory each.
Rivers and lakes block movement unless faction abilities allow crossing.
Mechs can carry workers. Workers carry resources.
Moving into a territory with opponent workers forces them to retreat (lose 1 popularity per retreating worker).
Moving character onto an encounter token triggers an encounter after all movement/combat.

Bolster (pay $1):

Gain 2 Power on the Power Track, OR draw 1 Combat Card.

Trade (pay $1):

Gain 2 resources of your choice on territories you control with workers, OR gain 1 Popularity.

Produce (pay variable cost):

Choose up to 2 territories you control with workers. Each worker on those territories produces 1 resource matching the terrain (Forest = Wood, Mountain = Metal, Tundra = Oil, Farm = Food, Village = Worker).

Bottom-Row Actions

Upgrade (pay Oil):

Move a technology cube from a green box (top-row) to a red box (bottom-row), improving action efficiency.

Deploy (pay Metal):

Place a mech on a territory with workers. Unlock a faction-specific mech ability for your character and all mechs.
Each faction has 4 unique abilities: Riverwalk, Speed, and two faction-specific powers.

Build (pay Wood):

Place a structure on a territory with workers (max 1 structure per territory).
Monument: +1 Popularity when Bolstering.
Mill: Counts as extra territory for Produce.
Mine: Acts as a personal tunnel (adjacent to all other tunnels).
Armory: +1 Power when Trading.

Enlist (pay Food):

Place a recruit token, gaining a one-time bonus (2 Power, 2 Coins, 2 Popularity, or 2 Combat Cards).
Ongoing bonus: Gain the specified bonus whenever you OR adjacent players take that bottom-row action.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Game End Trigger

The game ends immediately when any player places their 6th star on the Triumph Track.

Final Scoring

Coins are the final currency. Earn additional coins based on your Popularity tier (0-6 = Tier 1, 7-12 = Tier 2, 13-18 = Tier 3):

Category	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
Per Star placed	$3	$4	$5
Per Territory controlled	$2	$3	$4
Per 2 Resources controlled	$1	$2	$3

Plus structure bonus tile coins (varies). Player with the most total coins wins.

Combat

When your character/mechs share a territory with opponent character/mechs after movement:

Both players secretly select power on their dial (0 to current power).
Each player may add up to 1 combat card per unit involved.
Reveal simultaneously. Highest total wins (attacker wins ties).
Winner: Stays on territory, keeps resources, places combat star.
Loser: Retreats all units to home base, gains 1 combat card if they committed any power.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Encounters: When your character lands on an encounter token, draw a card with three options. Choose one (gain resources, popularity, power, etc.).
Factory: The first character to reach the Factory gains a Factory card providing a 5th action section on their Player mat.
Tunnels: All tunnel territories are considered adjacent. The Mine structure creates a personal tunnel.
Riverwalk: Each faction’s Riverwalk ability allows crossing rivers to specific terrain types.
Saxony Exception: Saxony can earn unlimited combat stars (other factions max 2).
Rusviet Exception: Rusviet can repeat the same action section on consecutive turns (unique faction ability).
No Worker-on-Worker Combat: Workers cannot initiate combat. Only characters and mechs fight.
Resource Ownership: Resources on a territory belong to whoever controls that territory.

Player Reference

Top-Row	Cost	Effect
Move	Free	Move 2 units OR gain $1
Bolster	$1	+2 Power OR +1 Combat Card
Trade	$1	+2 Resources OR +1 Popularity
Produce	Varies	Workers produce terrain resources

Bottom-Row	Cost	Effect
Upgrade	Oil	Improve action efficiency
Deploy	Metal	Place mech, unlock ability
Build	Wood	Place structure
Enlist	Food	Recruit bonus (one-time + ongoing)

End Game: 6th star placed. Most coins wins.