Here’s a first look at how quests work in the upcoming Scythe sequel

Jamey Stegmaier, the creator of Scythe, has provided Dicebreaker with an exclusive look at the quest system in the new sequel: Expeditions.

Initially revealed last week, Expeditions is an upcoming board game that takes place within the world of Scythe, which in itself is based on the 1920+ series of artbooks created by Jakub Rozalski. Stegmaier, who is the designer behind the new tabletop title, has shared an exclusive preview of several quest cards from Expeditions as well as outlined the way in which the quest system functions in the adventure game.

Stegmaier explained that Quest cards in Expeditions can be acquired by players as they travel across various locations in Tunguska, which is a region of Siberia, with there being a total of 40 quest cards in the upcoming board game. During gameplay, there will always be five quest cards lying faceup for players to potentially gain them throughout their journeys in the board game. Each location found in Expeditions – of which there are a total of 20, with 14 remaining facedown at the beginning of the game for players to discover – has two quest cards associated with them.

The preview Stegmaier provided included images of three locations from the game, with each one featuring their respective pair of quest cards. Examples of quests found in Expeditions include activities like “unearth some strange rocks” and “recover a stolen map”. Whenever players gain a quest card, they are able to play it on their turn – thereby making it active. Should a player’s mech be on the location associated with the quest card they played, they are able to use the Solve ability to conclude the quest: as long as they are able to pay the required cost. Solving quests grants players useful benefits that will add them in their adventures through Tunguska.

Besides the specific benefits they provide players, quests in Expeditions will also grant players with an end-game scoring multiplier improvement, with the hearts shown on the quest cards they’ve collected working in a similar fashion to the popularity gameplay mechanic in the original Scythe. Stegmaier commented on the quest system in Expeditions, stating that they “really like how the quests play into the emergent narrative of the game, as the quest cards were designed specifically for their matching locations.”

Expeditions is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Scythe – one of the best board games released in the last 10 years - that sees players exploring the Tunguska River in an alternate history Siberia. Taking place in a version of the early 20th century in which the various world powers has access to diesel-punk mechs and enormous beasts roam the earth, Expeditions will have players investigating a meteor-strike that has struck the area around the river. Players will be members of the various fictional nations of the Scythe setting following on from an expedition led by Dr Tarkovsky, with the aim of discovering new findings, artefacts and glory.

Though Expeditions will reportedly “evoke similar feelings to Scythe,” the board game’s gameplay mechanics will be different, focusing on exploration and adventure over the euro-game elements of the original title. During the game, players will use their mechs, cards, worker abilities and items to either assist the locals in their struggles or reap the rewards of the meteor strike themselves.

Expeditions is set to be released sometime in July for a retail price of £70/$70, with a deluxe edition featuring metal mech miniatures costing £99/$99.