It has the ability to both walk on land and sail on lakes, and it comes with long-range artillery to damage the opponent before combat even begins.
Nordic Kingdoms (blue): The Nordic mech is inspired by Viking longships. It specializes in traveling long distances and can allow a player to scout and steal an opponent’s combat card before combat begins. You don’t want to face a Saxon mech in combat in the dark depths of a tunnel.Ĭrimean Khanate (yellow): The Crimean mech is pieced together from the scrapyard, as the Crimeans rejected the idea mech technology until it was too late. Saxony Empire (black): The Saxon mech is built for tunneling through narrow passages in the mountains of Saxony and beyond. It’s also people-friendly, as the Polanian player can use the mech to gently push opponent’s workers off of territories without losing popularity. It has the ability to submerge into a lake and–by using the underground river system–surface on any other lake. Republic of Polania (white): The Polanian mech is inspired by the streamlined look of airplanes and submarines. When a player deploys a mech, that player’s mechs and character all gain the ability. Each mech is linked to a special ability, most of which are unique to each faction.
These engine-building aspects create a sense of momentum and progress throughout the game. Players can upgrade actions to become more efficient, build structures that improve their position on the map, enlist new recruits to enhance character abilities, activate mechs to deter opponents from invading, and expand their borders to reap greater types and quantities of resources. While there is plenty of direct conflict, there is no player elimination, nor can units be killed or destroyed.Įvery part of Scythe has an aspect of engine-building to it. Scythe uses a streamlined action-selection mechanism (no rounds or phases) to keep gameplay moving at a brisk pace and reduce downtime between turns. Combat is also driven by choices, not luck or randomness. Other than each player’s individual hidden objective cards, the only elements of luck are encounter cards that players will draw as they interact with the citizens of newly explored lands and combat cards that give you a temporary boost in combat. Scythe gives players almost complete control over their fate. Starting positions are specially calibrated to contribute to each faction’s uniqueness and the asymmetrical nature of the game. Players conquer territory, enlist new recruits, reap resources, gain villagers, build structures, and activate monstrous mechs.Įach player begins the game with different resources (strength, victory points, movement capabilities, and popularity), their choice of several faction-specific abilities, and a hidden goal. If you want to take a look, the Kickstarter is over here.In Scythe, each player represents a fallen leader attempting to restore their honor and lead their faction to power in Eastern Europa. You can see inspiration from Company of Heroes, Command and Conquer: Red Alert and Generals, StarCraft I and II, Dawn of War I and II shining through. Cover and armour mechanics are present in the game and units can level up for new abilities or pick up items in the field. The developers feel that the game should be about tactics and planning instead of actions-per-minute, so expect the campaign to have different approaches to victory thanks to destructible objects and stealth. There are three factions: Polania Republic, Rusviet and the Saxony Empire and each has their own campaign, with an over-arching story.ĭeveloper King Art Games has done a lot of work on the game already and the pre-alpha gameplay videos look pretty good. Set in an alternate dieselpunk 1920s, war is brewing and this time there are massive mechs that do the heavy lifting in conflicts. Sound great right? The people backing seem to think so as the $450,000 goal has been surpassed and the game is sitting on $1.1m with two days to go.
Large, noisy, stompy mechs belching out fumes. Like Iron Harvest, an RTS set in the 1920s with mechs. While I have been burned by Kickstarter before, the joy that has come out of successful projects keeps me looking for new and interesting things.