A digital version of Scythe, the hit board game, has launched on Steam Early Access

Retro-futurist mecha game Scythe has finally come to wide release on Steam, entering Early Access yesterday. An adaptation of one of the most popular board games of the last few years, Scythe is a 4x that sees players vying over the fictional landscape of eastern Europa in the 1920s. A highly strategic game that focuses on encouraging players to adapt their overall tactics to the board as it develops, Scythe is beloved by many board gamers for its combination of unique visuals and thematic gameplay. It won a slew of awards, from 2016's Golden Geeks to the Origins Award.

Scythe is a five-player game that can accommodate as few as two, but does best with three or more. While it does have conflict, it focuses more on controlling territory and exploiting resources to meet your secret and public objectives. Unlike many other 4x games, fighting is only one of the paths to victory and scaring off your opponents with strength is just as legitimate. The developers anticipate Scythe being in Early Access for two to four months, and plan on tweaking the AI and interface in that time among other elements.

If you're interested you may benefit from reading the proper tabletop rulebook in addition to playing the current tutorials.

Scythe is right here on Steam.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.