Wouter & Ymke 
Rewind to ancient times when empires like the Greeks, Persians, and Assyrians spread their influence over vast lands. Yet, tales about a group of extraordinary warriors from the lands above the Black Sea began to emerge. Known for their prowess in battle and artistic skills, these people were not just legends, but the real Raiders of Scythia.
👥 1-4 players, ages 12+
⌛ Playing time: 60 minutes
📝 Designer: Shem Phillips
🎨 Artwork: Sam Phillips
🏢 Publisher: White Goblin Games (publisher of the Dutch version, review copy provided) English version by Garphill Games.
At its core, Raiders of Scythia is a strategy game where the player’s primary goal is accumulating the most victory points by the game’s conclusion. These points are earned through raiding settlements, gathering plunders, and accomplishing quests. But it isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Players must meticulously form their crew, train animals, and stockpile essential provisions to excel.
⏳ Every player’s turn in Raiders of Scythia follows a two-step pattern. Initially, a player places their worker on the board and executes its associated action. After this, they choose a different worker on the board, pick it up, and again carry out its corresponding action.
🏡 Before embarking on raids, players need preparation. This involves gathering a capable crew and ensuring they have the required provisions. All this preparatory action unfolds in the Scythian Village, a section at the top of the main board. This village is dotted with buildings, each offering different actions. When a player chooses to work, they place their worker on any of these buildings, benefit from its specific action, and then retrieve another worker from the village, leveraging its benefit in turn. It’s important to note that some buildings have particular criteria about which worker can be placed there.
⚔️ When players believe they are well-prepared, they can opt to raid. Each settlement they aim to raid has specific prerequisites like the right worker color, the size of the crew, and the number of provisions and wagons. Once a player commits to raiding, they position their worker at the chosen settlement, hand over the required provisions and wagons, and then use the game’s dice mechanism to determine their success. This dice roll, combined with other factors, determines the strength a player can leverage during the raid. Successful raids yield plunder and might reveal quests. But raids also come with risks; crew members might sustain wounds, diminishing their efficiency in future expeditions. Accumulating too many wounds can lead to a crew member’s demise.
🏆 The game’s pace quickens as it nears its end, signaled when only two raid spaces or quests remain on the board. Once this point is reached, every player gets one final turn, after which they calculate their total VPs, considering factors like their crew’s contributions, the animals they’ve trained, completed quests, and the plunders they’ve acquired throughout the game. The player with the highest score emerges as the winner.
Raiders of Scythia, a midweight worker placement game, was designed by Shem Phillips and initially published in English by Garphill Games. White Goblin Games, the publisher of the Dutch version, graciously provided the version we reviewed. Suitable for 1-4 players aged 12 and up, the game offers an experience that lasts between an hour and 80 minutes.
🎨 The visual appeal of the game is immediately evident, thanks to the detailed artwork by Sam Phillips. The board paints a vibrant picture from its blue shores to bustling villages, while character cards come alive with Scythian warriors depicted in all their glory. The game components — custom wooden tokens, metal coins, and custom dice — also speak to the game’s dedication to quality. However, a minor hiccup in the components is the provided insert, which, in our experience, was not the most practical.
📘 The clear rulebook features concise instructions and helpful illustrations that navigate players through Raiders of Scythia’s mechanics. Even newcomers to the game will find the learning curve quite manageable, with most players getting a firm grasp of the core concepts after just a few rounds. This results in a well-paced game that’s neither too overwhelming nor tedious, proving enjoyable at any player count.
⚔️ The heart of Raiders of Scythia lies in its tactical decision-making. Players engage in planning, resource management, and hand management. Placing workers strategically on the board, players gather essential resources, recruit a robust crew, and gear up for impending raids. The twist here is that each turn requires both placing and retrieving workers, urging players to think multiple moves ahead. The central raiding mechanics demand careful planning, as players meet prerequisites and then rely on a blend of dice rolls and their crew’s prowess to determine success. Every game feels different. Diverse strategic avenues, a varied board setup, and players’ unpredictable choices mean each session presents a new challenge.
🎯 At its core, raiding in this game is a meticulous exercise in risk management. Gathering additional cards, like horses and eagles, bolsters your crew’s capabilities. Picking the perfect moment to raid becomes a game in itself. The dice mechanism adds a touch of unpredictability to raids, a double-edged sword that brings both thrill and potential frustration for those who prefer strategy over luck.
🔍 Veteran gamers might recognize Raiders of Scythia as a reimplementation of Raiders of the North Sea. While it retains the basic mechanic of placing and then retrieving workers, Scythia introduces elements from the North Sea’s expansions. Additions include heroes, horses, and eagles. At game commencement, players draft a combo of a hero and crew member. While not directly contributing to strength, heroes have special actions available at the Town Centre. The inclusion of horses and eagles not only adds depth but also provides additional power and VP to your crew. Furthermore, some eagles have the feature to double certain crew abilities.
💭 Raiders of Scythia is a fast-paced game with well-woven mechanics, keeping players engaged through strategic depth and the thrill of dice rolls during raids. The combination of planning, risk, and a touch of luck sets it apart from many other worker placement games in the market. If you’re a fan of games that demand strategic thought yet also offer unpredictable outcomes, Scythia deserves your attention.
📝 Disclaimer: A big thank you to White Goblin Games for providing us with a review copy of Raiders of Scythia.
