Scythe

Besides my personal war against card sleeves, I am also going through a retro phase: digging up games that are almost old now. After Nations, it was Scythe's turn, set up with absolutely everything except Rise of Fenris. And, what a surprise: nothing had changed since the last time it hit the table. The classic Stegmaier-style disappointment, dressed up so beautifully that it nearly makes you forget something is not working properly underneath.

In practice, the game's flow has little to no downtime, which gives it a welcome sense of momentum. Players advance their choices and development, while the session stays a manageable length and you are not left staring at the ceiling while the next person finishes their personal board meeting.

The problem is the tempo: it feels busted, with several pieces not always fitting together in a logical way. The alternate endings are fair as a variation on the finish, but the hidden encounters we saw were uninteresting, while The Wind Gambit remains a weird thing rather than something that meaningfully clarifies or improves the experience.

Fortunately, Scythe is tremendous eye candy, and that table presence, along with its quick pace, saves it from total irrelevance. It is not a terrible game; it is simply a game that makes me keep thinking about how much better it could have been, if its striking display concealed a design with less confused pacing.