Cutting away bad #boardgame memories with #Scythe (@stonemaiergames, 2016)

According to my BoardGameGeek / BGStats App, before this weekend the last time Scythe (Stonemaier Games, 2016) landed on the RockyMountainNavy family gaming table was September, 2017! It’s not that we don’t like the game (we do) but we had some bad memories from the length of play. Although the box states a play time of 115 minutes we had NEVER played a game session less than 150 minutes and once went out to nearly 200! That’s a wee bit long for our family game night. However, this time it played out much differently.

This weekend’s game of Scythe played out in exactly 115 minutes; and we enjoyed every single moment of it. I think we enjoyed it more than before because we (now) know that play starts slow and it takes time to build your game engine. I have to admit, after the first 60 minutes, I was a little worried because there were only four stars TOTAL out on the board. Remember, in Scythe the first player to six stars ends the game, so with three players that’s up to 18 stars!

Having not played in over a year we used only the base Factions (though we did use the Player Mats from the Invaders from Afar Expansion). We also messed up a few rules like the start order. I don’t think it made much difference because we all started off slowly and inefficiently as we relearned the game.

In the end, Middle RockyMountainNavy Boy pulled out the win using the Nordic / Industrial combination to gain 94 coins. Youngest RMN Boy used Crimea /  Agricultural for 79 coins and I came in last with Polania / Innovative for 74 coins. The game was actually a bit shameful for me; I was the first player to six stars (triggering scoring) but lost – a dubious honor. Maybe I could of staved off the end game, but maybe not. It doesn’t really matter; we all had fun!

The RMN Boys made me promise that Scythe will get to the table more often this year. I readily agreed. Now that we play the game better, and banished away the bad memories, we will certainly enjoy the game more often in the future.

Feature image courtesy Stonemaier Games