Sometimes, your enthusiasm for new games might sometimes get ahead of your ability to play them.
Sometimes I’ll run up against games that are simply a bad fit for my game group and they will sit there and gather dust.
However, I have also run up against a weird problem a couple of times when the game ended up being too big for my table!
Thankfully I have a larger gaming space now, but I would probably have played Star Wars: Rebellion a lot more if bits hadn’t kept falling onto the floor!
The standard map for a game of Scythe is a rectangle which measures roughly 82cm by 65cm, around which the player and faction boards need to be placed. Ideally you would also need at least an 11cm border around the map which would allow one player to sit on each side with their personal boards.
The ever wonderful 3 Minute Board Games runs through an overview of the game in this video.
Then you can watch this video by Rodney Smith in which he’ll teach you all the rules and how to play Scythe.
Both of these will also give you an idea of how much size the game takes when it is set up.
The Map Board Gives (Almost) Two Options
The centrepiece of a game of Scythe is the map board on which all of the action plays out.
This will need to have space around it for player boards, and here you have two options:
- The standard map as included in the box
- The larger map including an extension (which is not included in the box)
The regular map board that comes with Scythe is 818mm by 642mm, and this will normally sit in the centre of the playing area.
However, if you flip the map over to show the other side you’ll find larger hexes but only two thirds of the map.
You’ll need to buy the missing third of this map separately as it doesn’t come with the base game, but if you have the space to fit a larger board onto your table then it’s worth considering as it will give you more space to move your mechs around.
It doesn’t change the game at all, but you might be tempted by the thought of making the game a little more widescreen.
Throw in the extension and the size of the map board grows to 936mm by 818mm, which is impressive but necessitates a larger playing area.
Player And Faction Boards Need To Go Around The Map
The individual player boards will need to sit around the main board, so your table will need to have space for these in addition to the central map.
The dimensions of each player board are 280mm by 110mm and you can get up to five players involved in a game of Scythe, so you’ll need to think about having a border around the main map which leaves space for these items.
Each player also gets a faction mat as well, and these are slightly smaller than the player boards, coming in at 250mm by 90mm.
The most economical way to use these is to place the player and faction board beside each other, for which you would need an extra 11cm on each of the sides where a player is sitting.
However, it’s often easier for people to play with the two boards arranged vertically, as all the information is sitting there right in front of them rather than laid out side to side, and this is definitely an option if you have a little more space.
This way you’d need at least an extra 20cm to get a player sitting on one side of the board with their mats arranged this way.
Consider these as your minimum set of dimensions, and if you find yourself with space to spare you can consider getting the extension to the map board.
The Box Is Large And Heavy
All of these maps and boards naturally come in a box, and that box clocks in with a size of 365mm by 300mm and with a depth of 98mm.
That’s the official size as reported by Jamey Stegmaier, the designer and publisher, so you can take his word for it.
The standard retail edition also weighs nearly three and a half kilos, which is really hefty for a board game, but there’s a ton of stuff in there.
Okay, not quite a literal ton, but I hope you get the point!
Don’t Forget The Bits!
You’ll also need to accommodate all the cards and tokens and other bits and pieces somewhere on your table, but there should easily be enough spare space around the map to place these.
So if you’ve got the space on your shelves and the right-sized table then there’s nothing really stopping you from getting one of the most highly ranked games of all time.
Minimum Size Per Player Count
Just to make things really clear, I’m going to go through the player counts up to five to let you know how much space is needed as a minimum, and I’ll round up a little to give some leeway:
- 1 player – 82cm x 76cm (sitting at the longest side) or 93cm x 65cm (sitting at the shortest side)
- 2 player – 82cm x 87cm (sitting opposite each other at the longer edges of the map or next to each other)
- 2 player – 93cm x 76cm (sitting on adjacent corners)
- 2 player – 104cm x 65cm (sitting opposite each other at the shorter edges of the map)
- 3 player – 93cm x 87cm or 104cm x 76 cm
- 4 player – 104cm x 87cm
With five players you might have to get a little inventive, but it can work in the same space as a four player game with some shifting of player boards.
Hopefully you’ll be able to find some way of getting this great game to the table, and may your mechs be all powerful!
Image credit, license, No changes made.
Image credit, license, No changes made.
Image credit, license, No changes made.
