Board Games
How to play Scythe
Build an economic engine, spread control and achieve stars, then convert your position into fortune. The sixth star ends play but does not guarantee victory.
What you need
Base board, faction/player mats, units, resources, coins, cards and structure-bonus tile
Set up the game
- Take faction/player mats and their starting coins, popularity, power/cards. Place characters at home bases and workers on printed starting lands. Prepare mat pieces, encounters, objectives, Factory choices and structure bonus using the book.
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Playing Scythe
- Choose a different mat section than last turn unless a faction ability permits repetition. Use top, bottom, both or neither; top always precedes bottom.
- Top actions move/gain coins, bolster, trade or produce. Pay costs and use uncovered benefits. Production resources stay on the board.
- Bottom actions pay resources to upgrade, deploy, build or enlist. Uncovering benefits improves later actions; recruit bonuses follow their specific trigger.
- Moving into enemy characters/mechs causes combat. Secretly choose power and permitted combat cards, reveal/spend them; highest total wins, attacker wins ties. Losers retreat rather than being eliminated.
- Place achievement stars. A sixth immediately ends play; score cash plus popularity-based stars, territories and resource pairs, then structure bonuses. Largest fortune wins.
First to end can finish second
At middle popularity your six stars give 24 coins; a rival’s five give 20, only four fewer. Three extra territories give that rival nine extra coins, overcoming the star gap before cash/resources/structure bonuses. Evaluate the whole engine before choosing to end.
Control, transport and terrain
Units control territory/resources; a lone structure controls only absent enemy units. Mechs carry workers/resources; ordinary workers cannot carry other workers. Rivers/lakes need applicable abilities. Factory counts as three territories at scoring; home bases do not count.
Popularity changes conversion
At popularity 7–12 stars give four coins, territories three, resource pairs two. Other bands use the printed table. Structure bonuses score separately, potentially even without controlling the structure’s land. The standard one-star-per-achievement limits and faction exceptions remain in effect.
Beginner decisions
- Plan two alternating sections that help each other. A cheap bottom action is less useful if its top partner repeatedly wastes a turn.
- Watch rivals on five stars: expansion may earn no further turn for conversion before scoring.
Common rule mix-ups
- Treating abandoned resources as permanently yours.
- Assuming more mechs automatically means a higher final score.
Questions about this game
Do workers add combat strength?
No. Characters/mechs fight; displaced workers retreat and can cost an attacker popularity.
Does six stars mean a win?
No. The entire final fortune matters.
Sources and edition notes
Base multiplayer Scythe, five original factions. Automa/expansions need additional rules; current publisher guidance overrides early printings.
Sources and stated format checked October 14, 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Stonemaier: rules resources
- Publisher-maintained Dized: turns
- Publisher-maintained Dized: combat
- Publisher-maintained Dized: scoring