Tom thank you very much for such a flattering review. Never in a million years could my daughter and I imagine this. After I lost my father last summer, I realized that there really aren't enough opportunities to share good times with loved ones, so turning friends and family away from the gaming table (due to age or experience limitations) suddenly didn't appeal to me. We wanted to create a unique game that was inclusive enough for younger/casual gamers, and yet deep and rewarding enough for those who are more experienced. It's about creating great memories together--I hope that in your eyes we've captured the spirit of that through this game.
Hoby Chou Thanks Hoby and daughter for the game. I have been following since your original posting on the Scythe facebook page and was waiting for an official release) Igot into board games just a couple years ago because I wanted to do activities with my family (and not on their tablets). My daughter is only 4 and wants to play Scythe with us (as the video I posted a year ago on Scythe facebook page shows) but then she gets bored after a few turns. We get bored playing the typical kids friendly games. My 8 year old loves Scythe so looking forward to having him guide her in this game. Do you know if figures can be purchased separately? (So she can paint her own set... ...and i paint mine).
Last night I played the adult version of this for the first time and was really excited to tell my kids, yet wondered how I could ever involve them. This is wonderful that you made this game, I hope to one day own a copy of my little scythe so we can bring the children into it too.
Firstly, I have to say that I dont do comments on youtube but the joy that my kids have had playing this game has been unbelievable. Full credit and blessings to the creators for creating probably the best family board game I have come across. Even my 5 and a half year old was able to understand and picked it up fairly quickly. This is definitely a niche that needs to be considered more seriously as my kids aged between 4 and 8 need the challenge thaf this game has wthout being complex. Great work and great review
I'm fascinated by the exercise of boiling complex 'gamer' games down into simpler 'noob' games. Distilling game mechanics into their leanest form and then retrofitting it with a new theme is something I'd love to do 24/7. I did it with Monopoly, and I'm itching to do it with BGG's top 10 games...
I'm glad Jamie and his crew pulled it off. Seems like they found a niche in a market where you would think there wasn't any. I'm a fan of Scythe, and I thought this was a joke too. I will for surely pick this up for when my grandkids get a little older.
We appreciate that Sumdumguy! Meanwhile you can also practice against the game's Automountie (the AI player). It scales up in difficulty to provide that extra challenge, even for experienced players. Playing against other adults works too. ;)
This game is Genius! Outright wonderful and fantastic theme, colours, depth and simplicity! A huge breakthrough for kids games in my opinion! I don't even have kids but I'm still getting this game because it's a masterpiece!
Great Review Tom, Stonemaier Games really did a great job producing this game and turning a board game geek print and play into an excellent published game.
When I heard that Jamey had contacted Hoby so they, together, could make a legit Stonemaier published version of the game that Hoby lovingly created so that he could play with his young daughter, I was sold. I watched Jamey's live stream announcing My Little Scythe, and pre-ordered it while the stream played in the background. I'm so thrilled to own this game! The story behind the production alone is worth supporting it. But now that reviews are coming out and they have all been unanimously excited about the game, I'm even more happy with my decision!
We preordered Mt Little Scythe from our local games shop; here in Brisbane, Australia. On this rainy Saturday afternoon , we have just sat down to your tutorial in preparation to play. Thank you for such an excellent review, it's always our first step pre new game. And thanks for the shout out for kids games, they are the only ones we play at the moment, and it's really wonderful to hear someone speak so highly of them. Do you have a review of your favourite kid's games?
I bought Scythe a few months ago, then I got the Wind Gambit, and pre-ordered the Rise of Fenris. Got it the day of release. I went to my local game shop and saw they finally released this. Bought it today and absolutely can't wait to play it. I think it's safe to say Scythe isn't going away any time soon.
Could you tell us more about the experience? Did you like this game after playing Scythe? I'm very tempted to by it, I love Scyhte but it's a bit too complex too play it with my family and I was thinking maybe they would like My Little Scythe more.
I am so very happy they removed the "My Little Pony" theme and made it just a generic child's fantasy theme. That will definitely help with the game's appeal more.
I absolutely love the upgrade mechanics, I wonder how Scythe would look like with that type of upgrades! A bit more chance, less tactics but it could be fun.
I am putting together a board game club for 5th and 6th graders next school year. Each week I want to focus on a different mechanic. I think I just found my worker placement choice.
The function of the portals was left out - you can move from any any one of the pink spaces to another. Also, there appear to be 8 trophy spaces, not 7 - I'm guessing the 8th one is for upgrading both your Move and Make actions.
It also wasn't made clear that you can actually Make or Seek on multiple turns in a row, so long as you use a different sub-action, and there were other relevant details left out. Check out the Game Boy Geek's overview instead - yeah, it's longer by about 2 minutes, but it's definitely better.
My 7 year old said he loved it before he even played... And then immediately proceeded to whoop my butt and my husband's butt. He picked up on it real quick and had so much fun.
I've seen the box on the shelves of quite a few board game channels. It may be on more shelves than the original. I finally introduced it to my family the other day and yeah, it's a keeper. Halfway through the first game you could tell, like it clicked, my 6 y/o got it. He said let's start over now lol. He won the second game we played. I might have thrown a fight in that one 😉. My 5 year old did her thing out there too. What really surprised me was that my wife liked it. She absolutely did not like the original. We might have tried the original too early in our board game journey and at a 2 player count. After maybe 3 plays we sold it. This one's not going anywhere though. It scratches a familiar enough itch for me since I really did want us to like the original. There's an expansion out there too! LoL how many "My First" games have an expansion?
If anything, maybe a different symbol for each of the regions? Like a Mountain for Red Mountains, a Tree for Green Forest, Snowflake for White Tundra, Cactus for Yellow Desert, and River/Water-Line for Blue Ocean? Though I can see why they went with item symbols to differentiate the dice...maybe an apple/gem/compass in the lower part of the faces?
Great, now I'm going to have to race people to Stonemiers booth at Gen Con... I was hoping for nice leisurely stroll as nobody else would know about it! ;-)
Loving the game with my kids. Quick question if anyone knows the answer? You're only allowed to place a trophy once per turn, but what happens when during a turn you could have potentially placed two or even three trophies? Do you automatically place one during your next turn? Please help! This happens quite a lot in the game!
I might wind up getting this for my gaming group just because some of the people get terribly brain-burnt and full of analysis paralysis with *normal* Scythe...
I'd appreciate that, and let me know if you have any questions! I think our blind testing has shown that it often accomplishes what you just described. :)
My biggest concern for this game is the name. My Little Scythe made some sense when it was My Little Pony, but still alienated anyone that is not familiar with Scythe. As time passes and this game has to stand on its own, I think the name will hurt its long term success.
Tom mentioned in the video that there is a colouring guide in the manual and descriptions for each of the characters. So you can fun making them come to life yourself.
The name of the game rubs me the wrong way. Because it is not related to Scythe at all, aside from the name. I actually got this thinking its scythe for kids, had to get a refund when I realized it wasnt.
This is great for adults who don't have the patience to play regular Scythe. Plus, this game doesn't feel broken like Scythe with some of the overpowered faction combinations. Overall, I don't enjoy regular Scythe, but I enjoy this.
McBehrer Sure, but when giving a review, I think it’s an important thing to mention. If you like Scythe, you’ll probably like the simplified version. It’s hard to be excited about this.
Paul Shapiro Ok? But it's in the name. If you couldn't figure out that a game named after Scythe, by the same publisher, was similar to it, then that's hardly the game's fault. Also he did say at the beginning that it was intended to be a mash-up of the two. I guess I'm just not sure where you're coming from.
McBehrer I suppose I’m bothered by the nature of this game. It doesn’t seem so challenging to to take a mid-to-heavyweight game and simplify a couple mechanics and a partial theme variation on it. This game might be very good, but only because it’s built on another game.
Tom thank you very much for such a flattering review. Never in a million years could my daughter and I imagine this. After I lost my father last summer, I realized that there really aren't enough opportunities to share good times with loved ones, so turning friends and family away from the gaming table (due to age or experience limitations) suddenly didn't appeal to me. We wanted to create a unique game that was inclusive enough for younger/casual gamers, and yet deep and rewarding enough for those who are more experienced. It's about creating great memories together--I hope that in your eyes we've captured the spirit of that through this game.
Hoby Chou Thanks Hoby and daughter for the game. I have been following since your original posting on the Scythe facebook page and was waiting for an official release)
Igot into board games just a couple years ago because I wanted to do activities with my family (and not on their tablets). My daughter is only 4 and wants to play Scythe with us (as the video I posted a year ago on Scythe facebook page shows) but then she gets bored after a few turns. We get bored playing the typical kids friendly games. My 8 year old loves Scythe so looking forward to having him guide her in this game.
Do you know if figures can be purchased separately? (So she can paint her own set... ...and i paint mine).
Thank you for this game, it is absolutely lovely.
Thank you Diego! I'm glad that you like it.
I'm getting this game instead of Scythe, that's how much I like it.
Last night I played the adult version of this for the first time and was really excited to tell my kids, yet wondered how I could ever involve them. This is wonderful that you made this game, I hope to one day own a copy of my little scythe so we can bring the children into it too.
Love to see that "all time Top 5 kids games" list
Firstly, I have to say that I dont do comments on youtube but the joy that my kids have had playing this game has been unbelievable. Full credit and blessings to the creators for creating probably the best family board game I have come across. Even my 5 and a half year old was able to understand and picked it up fairly quickly. This is definitely a niche that needs to be considered more seriously as my kids aged between 4 and 8 need the challenge thaf this game has wthout being complex. Great work and great review
That is some huge praise...congrats Jamey, Hoby & Vienna!!! Game looks amazing
I'm fascinated by the exercise of boiling complex 'gamer' games down into simpler 'noob' games. Distilling game mechanics into their leanest form and then retrofitting it with a new theme is something I'd love to do 24/7. I did it with Monopoly, and I'm itching to do it with BGG's top 10 games...
Yes I'm hyped for My Little Twilight Imperium
I'm glad Jamie and his crew pulled it off. Seems like they found a niche in a market where you would think there wasn't any. I'm a fan of Scythe, and I thought this was a joke too. I will for surely pick this up for when my grandkids get a little older.
We appreciate that Sumdumguy! Meanwhile you can also practice against the game's Automountie (the AI player). It scales up in difficulty to provide that extra challenge, even for experienced players. Playing against other adults works too. ;)
This game sounds genius, no joke. Being able to take an advanced game into one vertical slice simple system takes alot of clever design.
This is exactly what I was hoping for - teaching "adult" mechanisms to kids in an easy way. Can´t wait to get my copy!!
So this is a Triple Seal of Approval! Seal of Excellence, Kid Approved, and "Into My Collection" :)
This game is Genius! Outright wonderful and fantastic theme, colours, depth and simplicity! A huge breakthrough for kids games in my opinion! I don't even have kids but I'm still getting this game because it's a masterpiece!
Great Review Tom, Stonemaier Games really did a great job producing this game and turning a board game geek print and play into an excellent published game.
Phenomenal-looking gateway game for the young ones. I wish this would have been available when I was a kid.
When I heard that Jamey had contacted Hoby so they, together, could make a legit Stonemaier published version of the game that Hoby lovingly created so that he could play with his young daughter, I was sold. I watched Jamey's live stream announcing My Little Scythe, and pre-ordered it while the stream played in the background. I'm so thrilled to own this game! The story behind the production alone is worth supporting it. But now that reviews are coming out and they have all been unanimously excited about the game, I'm even more happy with my decision!
We preordered Mt Little Scythe from our local games shop; here in Brisbane, Australia. On this rainy Saturday afternoon , we have just sat down to your tutorial in preparation to play. Thank you for such an excellent review, it's always our first step pre new game. And thanks for the shout out for kids games, they are the only ones we play at the moment, and it's really wonderful to hear someone speak so highly of them. Do you have a review of your favourite kid's games?
Have this one on the same order as my copy of Rise of Fenris. My 5 and 7 year olds will love it.
I bought Scythe a few months ago, then I got the Wind Gambit, and pre-ordered the Rise of Fenris. Got it the day of release. I went to my local game shop and saw they finally released this. Bought it today and absolutely can't wait to play it. I think it's safe to say Scythe isn't going away any time soon.
Could you tell us more about the experience? Did you like this game after playing Scythe? I'm very tempted to by it, I love Scyhte but it's a bit too complex too play it with my family and I was thinking maybe they would like My Little Scythe more.
Wow!!! Glad to know you think that highly of this game . Definitely adding it to my cart
I am so very happy they removed the "My Little Pony" theme and made it just a generic child's fantasy theme. That will definitely help with the game's appeal more.
Nice! Can’t wait for the shipment.
Whew! I bought this game without checking with Dice Tower first & glad it got a great review!
I wonder if there would be possible to make interesting top 10 of "junior" versions of board games.
Amazing review. My Little Scythe will defiantly be in my family collection.
In this context I can't tell if you mean defiantly or definitely...
I absolutely love the upgrade mechanics, I wonder how Scythe would look like with that type of upgrades! A bit more chance, less tactics but it could be fun.
I am putting together a board game club for 5th and 6th graders next school year. Each week I want to focus on a different mechanic. I think I just found my worker placement choice.
The function of the portals was left out - you can move from any
any one of the pink spaces to another. Also, there appear to be 8
trophy spaces, not 7 - I'm guessing the 8th one is for upgrading
both your Move and Make actions.
It also wasn't made clear that you can actually Make or Seek
on multiple turns in a row, so long as you use a different sub-action,
and there were other relevant details left out. Check out the Game
Boy Geek's overview instead - yeah, it's longer by about 2 minutes,
but it's definitely better.
Does Tom have a recent list of his top kids game?
Wow people said this was too complex for kids, dude this seems really easy to teach and learn
I think it has to do with the theme, and how it works into the mechanics of the game. And I agree, this does look easy to understand, even for kids.
Would have been funny to include a recap of you chewing on the shoe from the unboxing video at the end of this video
My 7 year old said he loved it before he even played... And then immediately proceeded to whoop my butt and my husband's butt. He picked up on it real quick and had so much fun.
It's always awesome to hear how this game can engage the whole family. I'm happy that you all had fun!
You convinced me! It looks like a great reach game for my eight year old!!
I've seen the box on the shelves of quite a few board game channels. It may be on more shelves than the original. I finally introduced it to my family the other day and yeah, it's a keeper. Halfway through the first game you could tell, like it clicked, my 6 y/o got it. He said let's start over now lol. He won the second game we played. I might have thrown a fight in that one 😉. My 5 year old did her thing out there too. What really surprised me was that my wife liked it. She absolutely did not like the original. We might have tried the original too early in our board game journey and at a 2 player count. After maybe 3 plays we sold it. This one's not going anywhere though. It scratches a familiar enough itch for me since I really did want us to like the original. There's an expansion out there too! LoL how many "My First" games have an expansion?
So tom, you are going to eat a shoe right? This game looks great, and from looking at the review i may have to pick it up.
He did on the boring unboxing video. Jamey included a bag of sour gummy shoes LOL!
He already did :)
link?
let me search that for you. (after 4 minutes) here you are: ruclips.net/video/QCwCWWbksuY/видео.html
Ugh... so close. Numbering the regions and dice would have made it color-blind friendly. Maybe for the second print run?
ccggenius12 homebrew rules? Use dice from something else
If anything, maybe a different symbol for each of the regions? Like a Mountain for Red Mountains, a Tree for Green Forest, Snowflake for White Tundra, Cactus for Yellow Desert, and River/Water-Line for Blue Ocean? Though I can see why they went with item symbols to differentiate the dice...maybe an apple/gem/compass in the lower part of the faces?
Thanks for the excellent suggestions!
Guacamole on a flip flop will work.
Great, now I'm going to have to race people to Stonemiers booth at Gen Con... I was hoping for nice leisurely stroll as nobody else would know about it!
;-)
I'll try my best not to sell too many copies. ;) But do stop by so I can shake your hand to say thanks. I know how frustrating those lineups can be!
Tom, What other games would you highly recommend for young kids? Mine are 9 and 12, this seems good for all of us to play.
So will we see an expansion? that will be interesting!
Loving the game with my kids. Quick question if anyone knows the answer? You're only allowed to place a trophy once per turn, but what happens when during a turn you could have potentially placed two or even three trophies? Do you automatically place one during your next turn? Please help! This happens quite a lot in the game!
Is that a washington monument themometer in the background?
SHOE! EAT THE SHOE TOM! MMMMM!
yeah, somebody didn't watch all the videos: ruclips.net/video/QCwCWWbksuY/видео.html
Hi Tom. Can you compare it with Queen Domino?
I see a miniature animals and already clicked buy now button hahaha
Really good year for kids game
I might wind up getting this for my gaming group just because some of the people get terribly brain-burnt and full of analysis paralysis with *normal* Scythe...
I'd appreciate that, and let me know if you have any questions! I think our blind testing has shown that it often accomplishes what you just described. :)
My biggest concern for this game is the name. My Little Scythe made some sense when it was My Little Pony, but still alienated anyone that is not familiar with Scythe. As time passes and this game has to stand on its own, I think the name will hurt its long term success.
Wes Henriksen you use little scythes in the game. :)
If attention is still on this, I think it's fair to assume attention will still be on Scythe, too.
Pity that the figures are all the same colour and can only be distinguished by their base. That marrs the production for me decisively.
Tom mentioned in the video that there is a colouring guide in the manual and descriptions for each of the characters. So you can fun making them come to life yourself.
The name of the game rubs me the wrong way. Because it is not related to Scythe at all, aside from the name. I actually got this thinking its scythe for kids, had to get a refund when I realized it wasnt.
Tom is a giant among all men
If you want to play with adults ... there's always regular Scythe.
This is great for adults who don't have the patience to play regular Scythe. Plus, this game doesn't feel broken like Scythe with some of the overpowered faction combinations.
Overall, I don't enjoy regular Scythe, but I enjoy this.
I thought, "this will be a good game to play with my kids this summer." Annnnd it comes out at the end of August.
What are are 3rd-5th graders please? I think I know someones soon is 8 who plays regular Scythe, dominant father ?!
simon lavender About 8-10 year olds.
So, what age are 3rd, 4th and 5th graders? It would be way easier to just mention the age instead of classes.
About 9-12 year olds. Late Primary School
More like 8-10. In America, students start earlier than in other countries.
Pro-tip: Just add five, cuz that's the age kids enter Kindergarten (in the US). But yes, it would be easier to mention ages.
Thanks for the question and answers. I, too, had no idea about that.
This game is mediocre, but it honestly dosen't have great replay ability so i wouldn't recommend buying it
As a furry I would play games with cartoon animals. Don't judge me
But it’s Scythe... just a little simpler. It’s hard to escape that for me.
Paul Shapiro
That's kinda the point?
McBehrer Sure, but when giving a review, I think it’s an important thing to mention. If you like Scythe, you’ll probably like the simplified version. It’s hard to be excited about this.
Paul Shapiro
Ok?
But it's in the name. If you couldn't figure out that a game named after Scythe, by the same publisher, was similar to it, then that's hardly the game's fault.
Also he did say at the beginning that it was intended to be a mash-up of the two.
I guess I'm just not sure where you're coming from.
McBehrer that’s fine
McBehrer I suppose I’m bothered by the nature of this game. It doesn’t seem so challenging to to take a mid-to-heavyweight game and simplify a couple mechanics and a partial theme variation on it. This game might be very good, but only because it’s built on another game.
The design is probably the ugliest i've been in a long time...
It's too bad the board is so boring and empty looking.