For the first time in a long time, Scythe made it to the table last night. It was a Saturday and I was joined by Ian and Laura, with Adam imminent. At least, we thought he was imminent. Our concern grew as we reached nearly 8 with no Adam, and no word from him. It turned out he'd forgotten. Forgotten! Games!! An already strange situation got even stranger: as punishment, we would take his first few turns for him, as he hopped on his bike.
Everyone had played it before so the three of us began. One of the things I love about Scythe is how rapid it is. Turns flew by and we'd already been four times around the table when Adam arrived, breathless, apologetic, and needing a brief refresher. In fact the longest turn previous to his arrival had been his own, as we all debated what he'd do. But now he was here and could organise himself. Which he did.
We'd begun in the corners, more or less, of the board. Ian was the only faction with a land route to the centre hex - factory bonus! - but didn't take it early, as he sought other pursuits. Adam's ability to swim - surprisingly rare in Europa - meant he spread early, or at least his workers did. And Laura and I found ourselves hemmed in on our own little land masses for a while, until we built mines.
Then things took a turn for the slightly combative, as we started bumping into each other. I benefitted from Adam's unlikely poor arithmatic as I ousted his mech from my route to the factory. He also got in Ian's way, but Ian stole around him to pick up and encounter card instead. I was feeling my early enlistments - which trigger bonuses from neighbouring player's actions - had stood me in good stead, but Adam was now building momentum, shrugging off a disappointing factory visit ("these are shit") to plonk down stars at a steady rate, as well as climb the popularity track.
Because of course it is a popularity contest, in many ways. You can be the most dominant on the board with a shedload of resources, but - if your popularity is too low - outscored by supposedly weaker players. Or - if you're Adam - you can do both.
I triggered the endgame, not wanting to gift him another turn, but it already looked like we were all fighting for second. Despite turning up late, not having played it for years, getting his sums wrong and not even taking his own turns, Hillmann still had enough savvy to triumph!
Adam 70-ish
Sam 60-ish
Ian and Laura 46 each!
We tried to take the gloss off by claiming our early moves had set things up for him. Maybe, in some butterfly effect way, there's even a crumb of truth in it. But probably not.
It was gone ten now, so Laura headed home as I introduced Ian and Adam to Block Party.
This game is great fun. Essentially one player guesses what everyone else has built (if they get it wrong, other players can attempt to identify it as well) using the tiny blocks, and if they guess correctly both players get a point. But you only have between 30-60 seconds to do so, and each round has a potential bonus: use the most blocks, the least, be the quickest, build the tallest etc. When Adam was guesser we had build the tallest and Ian's door was magnificent, but I forgot to take a photo of it. Here's my lighthouse though:
Using the fewest colours we mistook Adam's pineapple for both a pumpkin and a carrot. Ian managed to successfully build Earth and I was super-pleased that he guessed my Mr Bump. I wasn't so successful with my attempt at a stick of dynamite though (two red cubes with a black one on top) and I think I finished last. Ian was definitely first: he had a knack for guessing (-Mr Bump!) and seemed to be guessed correctly the most too. Here he is having a triumphant glass of stout.
And that was that! Thanks all, prob won't see you Tuesday but soon...
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