Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/04/19/wanna-play-scythe-on-your-laptop-today-sure-you-do/
PC (beta), iOS/Android (down the road) •
After collecting nearly $2 million on Kickstarter in 2015, Scythe made its grand debut at Gen Con 2016 and quickly scrambled up the Board Game Geek rankings to eventually land in the top ten games of all time. I’m not sure it deserves to be called the 7th best board game ever, but I do enjoy the game and its incredible overproduction quite a bit.
Due to its success, a digital version only seemed natural and, of course, our digital overlords, Asmodee Digital, would be the ones bringing it to life. We know it’s coming to Steam and mobile sometime later this year, but maybe you want to give it a try now? Follow me.
Yesterday (yes, this happened yesterday. It was my birthday and I was out cavorting after playing board games all day…sue me) Asmodee tweeted the following:
Curious, I followed the link and, what do you know, I’m currently in the Scythe beta. I think you can be too, if only for a couple weeks. This little beta stunt runs until May 2, so you’ll want to sign up ASAP. You’ll also want to use your PC to do it, as the beta is only available on that platform, making my Mac a sad, sad little computer.
So, just head over to Asmodee Digital’s website, login with your Asmodee account, and you’ll see a menu in which the bottom option is Beta Tests. It’s on the left side of the screen. Yep, you found it! Look around for Scythe and, voilà, there’s your Steam key.
I can’t say much about the beta yet, as I’ll need to swap over to my Windows install via Bootcamp when I’m done writing this, but what I have seen so far indicates that asynchronous play is a thing. There’s a lobby, a button for friends, and, most importantly, a tab at the top for “Games in Progress” leading me to believe you can leave and come back to take your turn. Again, I havne’t tried it myself as it seems to be locked on “Joining the Room…” but it looks promising from a Statley Play tournament perspective, and what else really matters?