As a development step from last week’s Interim Reviews, I’ve started exploring potential narratives through game playing. A few of us decided to meet on Friday and try a new game, Scythe. As described by The Pandora Society, Scythe is a role-playing strategy game set in an alternate, diesel-punk timeline where giant machines shake the battlefields of Europa and disenfranchised leaders must rely on their innate skills to gather the armies and expand their territories. For board game connoisseurs, think of it as a cross between Risk and D&D.
Scythe Board Game, http://thepandorasociety.com/scythe/
What makes this game so astonishing, however, isn’t the new, streamlined gaming system, the thoughtful blend of character-based abilities, or even the game’s constant action. Scythe sticks out of the crowd because there is some serious art behind its war.
The tactics of the game were really inspiring as they involve a whole masterplanning approach to the typical game in which the players need to really think through quite creative gaming techniques. These link to architectural tactics even though it might not seem obvious to the conventional player. I thought they intimate the urban tactics explored by Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty in their ‘Ecological Urbanism’. Some of CHORA’s ideologies and approaches were subtly touched as well, especially when the player has to role-play a potential attack and challenge the others to battle.
http://thepandorasociety.com/scythe/
I felt inspired by the actual pieces attached to the game such as the ‘Heroes of the Game’. In last week’s experiment, I played Olga & Changa, the Red character. It’s very interesting how each player offers a different set of abilities and powers that can help the player reach its goals easier if they utilise wisely their character’s qualities.
The manner in which agency is distributed in the game is something that I am aiming to take forward into my game as the scenario mapping evolves. The real disposition of the game can create the opportunity for different infrastructures to evolve and reveal themselves as part of the gaming tactic.
The optics of the game are fascinating as well as they have been developed in such a way that they intimate real emotions as they game progresses. When I was playing Olga & Changa and finally managed to get the Factory card I felt the most incredible rewarding feeling as it meant being closer to a bigger goal. On the other side, when I was fighting Gunter & Nacht and lost the battle and my resources I felt physically isolated and hurt as I was worrying about the future of the world I was trying to protect with my character.
The second title of the game, ‘Invaders from Afar’, touches that deep idea that my scenario is trying to uncover – the potential narrative resulted from an initial Action Card in a game. You can discover more about this at: Output \\ Can architecture evolve from games?
As an aside, the artwork of the game is truly fascinating and inspiring. This is further described by The Pandora Soociety:
The game’s art was created by Jakub Rozalski. He built carefully traditional settings using familiar artistic styles and then seamlessly incorporated the gigantic mechs that play a pivotal role in the actual game. At first glance, the machines are alarmingly incongruous with the historical, rural settings, but after a few moments’ study, they seem to belong as much as the wheat-gathering peasants they dwarf, inspire, and threaten.
A typical Scythe game table
http://www.sortitapps.com/item/boardgames/nocode20151018165202863/
Without touching a single card, arranging the board, or going over the rules, you can sink into the game’s world through the windows Rozalski has created into the world of Scythe. The game takes immersion a step deeper with physical coins and more original artwork that developers incorporated into regular play. (The Pandora Society)
You can emerge in the world of Scythe and its artwork watching this video:
Infrastructures of Autonomy 