In 2017, The Wind Gambit won the Golden Geek Award for Best Game Expansion. The Wind Gambit was met with praise for its new victory conditions and components, but the airships were critiqued for providing only limited appeal as the game progressed. The second expansion, Scythe: The Wind Gambit, was released in 2017, featuring airships and adding variable end-game conditions to the base game. These new factions, mechanics, and components were praised by reviewers for increasing variety while maintaining the balance of the original game, but the increased downtime caused by adding more players received some criticism. It added new player mats and two new factions into the game, increasing the player count from five to seven.
The first expansion, Scythe: Invaders from Afar, was released in 2016. Scythe has received three major expansions and several promotional packages. He stated the difficulty in designing one-player games was for the Automas to resemble human players while being streamlined, which required "a purging of unnecessary mechanics" to reduce the downtime. The solo-player mode, called the "Automa", was designed by Morten Monrad Pedersen, who also contributed to other Stonemaier Games including Wingspan and Viticulture. During playtesting, Stegmaier asked players to quantitatively rate the game with a maximum score of ten, and described that "when I start to see those ratings creep over 8, I know we’re getting really close". Wanting to respect his collaborator's vision for World of 1920+, Stegmaier's suggestions focused on improvements to gameplay, such as the addition of a factory. Różalski had focused World of 1920+ on two factions inspired by those of the Polish–Soviet War. Impressed by Różalski's work, Stegmaier contacted him and asked if he would like to help create a board game set within the fictional world Różalski was creating.
While browsing the website Kotaku in August 2014, Stegmaier discovered World of 1920+, a series of alternate history artworks created by Polish visual artist Jakub Różalski. Physical copies of the game were delivered to backers in July 2016 it was later released in Gen Con and other retail stores the following month. Backers contributed over $1.8 million to the campaign. Scythe was designed by Jamey Stegmaier, the CEO of Stonemaier Games, and was revealed as a Kickstarter campaign on October 13, 2015. Painting by Różalski, 1920 – Before the Storm, used as the cover for the board game Scythe Players then tally the money that they receive from achievements earned, territory controlled, and gathered resources based on their in-game popularity achieved the player who finishes the game with the most money wins. The game immediately ends when one player has completed all of their goals. Įach player is given six stars, which are placed on their player boards when they complete specific goals, such as deploying all four of their mechs. The actions themselves may also be upgraded, making them either less costly to enact or stronger when deployed.
Actions allow players to move units on the board, trade for or produce good, bolster their military for combat, deploy mechs, enlist recruits for continuous bonuses or build structures. They may also take a corresponding second action as listed on their player board. Each action is listed on the top of a personal player board, and players cannot take the same action in consecutive turns. Players build an economic engine by selecting one of four main actions each turn. Players represent different factions seeking their fortune in the redeveloping landscape. Scythe takes place in an alternate history version of 1920s Europe that is recovering from the effects of a great war. Three major expansions, a spin-off, and a digital version have been released for the game. Scythe was released to critical and commercial praise for its gameplay, combination of Eurogame and combat mechanics, theme, and the game's artwork, which was produced by Polish painter Jakub Różalski under the name World of 1920+. Stonemaier Games crowdfunded the development of Scythe, raising over $1.8 million through a Kickstarter campaign. At this point, the players receive coins for the achievements they have attained and the territories they control, and the player with the most coins is declared the winner. Players take up to two actions per turn using individual player boards, and the game proceeds until one player has earned six achievements. Set in an alternate history version of 1920s Europe, players control factions that produce resources, develop economic infrastructure, and use dieselpunk combat mechs to engage in combat and control territories. Scythe is a board game for one to five players designed by Jamey Stegmaier and published by Stonemaier Games in 2016.