Board game introduces alternate Europe, steampunk theme

Be the greatest leader in all of Europa (an alternate Europe in the 1920s) in it’s time of disorder. Build war machines to inspire fear in opposing forces and hope in your people. Be the first one to enter the doors of The Factory and discover the reason it was abandoned.

At the beginning of the game every player picks randomly from the choices of factions and player mats to determine their abilities, strengths and weaknesses. The board is already setup with the seven factions on it and do not move from their specified destinations on the board.

Every faction is capable of activating four mechs to use in battle and transporting workers and resources around the land. When a player activates a mech there are abilities under each that your character and mechs may utilize.

These include an extra movement per turn, gained power when in battle with only one unit, and multiple other additions that can turn the tide of the war.

The mech abilities are spread throughout the seven factions according to what types of land is close to each one’s home base. These may include river walks with specific types or terrain and other selections based on terrain or faction ability.

During the game players have the choice of four to five different actions they may use. Each player may only select one for use a turn and cannot be chosen again the turn after. The only faction who is allowed to choose from the selected action multiple times in a row is the faction of the Rusviet Union.

This game is very complicated in how many rules, objectives and side destinations pop up throughout a single game.

To end the game a player must place six stars on the Triumph Track. The player who ends the game does not automatically win. These stars can be earned by players through battles, placing all of their mechs, and other mini achievements in the game. At the end of the game, even when the game has ended, no one knows who will reign victorious till all of the calculations have been conducted.

The high and low points of the game stem both from the complexity of the game and how thinly players need to spread their attention with all of the moving parts of the game.

The high point is the enjoyment people like me have when we play the game and the replay ability. I love the challenge of trying to figure out the best strategy to use with the mats I have been given in any specific game.

When I choose a game mat at random at the beginning of a game I always look for the strong points and weak points of the faction and the player mat.

Something I do not enjoy as much about the game is the feeling when you take a close look at your player and faction mats for any game and notice they contradict each other in about every way possible to be able to get a good ending score.

Veteran player, Orlando Ramirez, enjoys the experience the game has to offer. Ramirez was the first to introduce me to Scythe and has helped me when I was getting started in playing the game.

“If you are a new player, you can easily be overwhelmed,” Ramirez said, “but I would recommend focusing on one way of earning a star on the board at the start. Once you get that first one you can gain the experience and confidence to find a way to get the other five stars you need. But start small with a narrow focus, and then your scope can get bigger as you understand the game a little more.”

Some player mats will promote the choice of deploying mechs and upgrades the most, while others will give the player more money for enlisting recruits and constructing buildings. These differences will shape the way an experienced player will choose to lay out their game plan.

In general this game is absolutely amazing. It will stay near the top of my list of favorite games for a while for sure.

This game can be purchased on Amazon for $59 and takes a about two hours to play with up to seven players.

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To read more game reviews look at Kingdom Rush: Vengeance provides addictive Tower Defense Game or Spirit Island invites cooperative gameplay.