Scythe: Wind Gambit - Unboxing

By: Dozer

Scythe is the best thing I ever picked up on Kickstarter to date. It is one of my favorite games for my table. It's gorgeous in style and craftsmanship. The game play is simple, varied, and slick.

Slick has been the only word I've been able to describe the feel of play in Scythe. No matter what thing you want to do, mechanically it feels like a well oiled machine. So smooth you forget the mechanics and yet you feel in control of the action on the board.

The world feels alive with the art of Jakub Różalski, who is how I found out about the kickstarter for Scythe. His art and the small bits of world building fiction we get with the game makes it so easy to love Scythe.

By the by it looks like his next project is called Wolfpack and looks like Vikings and Werewolves themed project.

Wolfpack concept art by Jakub Różalski

Wolfpack concept art by Jakub Różalski

Man does he do such good work and I hope what is next works out well.

After the break I have an unboxing of the expansion that just dropped Scythe: The Wind Gambit.

A few days ago I and the other backers of the game got an e-mail update from the creator of the game - Jamey Stegmaier.

I've got it posted below:

"My general philosophy behind Stonemaier Games is that if enough people want something that we think we can make well, we'll make it. That's why we have a form on our website where people can literally tell us what they want."

"For Scythe, there's an endless stream of things that thousands of people want. Just look at all the different promos we've made. Or look at the Legendary Box."

"I love that you've shared your passion for this game through your purchases of these expansions, accessories, and promos. But at a certain point, I feel like I have a responsibility to you--especially you backers who brought Scythe to life--to bookend the world of Scythe."

"That's why we've decided that the third expansion to Scythe will be the final expansion. It likely won't be the final product, as we have a few other things in the works and some possible games set in the Scythe world. But we'll be concluding the Scythe story in the third expansion."

"The only details I've released about the third expansion are (a) that the box is the size of the first two expansion boxes put together and (b) we'll be announcing the name and box art in our January 1 e-newsletter."

"However, today I'm going to drop a small teaser for you. The illustration below is from The Wind Gambit, but it features a hint of things to come in the third expansion."

Art from the expansion The Wind Gambit

Now lets look inside The Wind Gambit.


Man does The Wind Gambit look awesome right at the box. Jakub Różalski does it again with some fantastic art. That airship crossing in front of the workers looks large and epic. Each box is a series of art and I looking at it I wish a second art book would come out for all the recent art from the last two expansions... but I can wait after the announced expansion drops to collect all of Jakub's art.

The box like the previous Scythe products is well organized. Three sheets of cardboard punch cards for the offensive, defensive airship abilities and the new objective cards were easy to punch and there is no torn cardboard.

Each of the Airships sits in a formed plastic bin and they look huge!

I pulled out the green Avalon faction from Invaders from Afar and I was happy with how well the pieces looked next to each other. I also placed one of the worked on the airship as that will be a  thing in the game. 

The new objective cards at a glance look awesome and a neat way to spice up the end game for Scythe. I can believe that after a few dozen games players could get into a rut game play wise and this could mix it up enough to get some more life out of the game.

The new airship cards are in two types and determine the abilities of everyone's airship. This means that whatever cards are drawn each faction's airship will have the same ability. At first glance without reading the rules, it seems that the defensive ability dictates the speed of each airship. While the offensive card shows us what it can carry; three materials or two workers. This is on top of the written ability found on each card.

I have heard of a draft system where players will draft a selection of abilities making each airship unique but I feel the first couple of games that include The Wind Gambit will be using the generic system.

Scythe has always impressed me with the quality of their products from the boxes, pieces, support of the game, and gameplay. The Wind Gambit at first glance looks like it is keeping up to that standard.

- Cheers