Thames & Kosmos | 692384 | Imhotep - Builder of Egypt | Family Board Game by Thames and Kosmos | Toy of The Year Finalist | Parents Choice Gold Award Winner | Spiel Des Jahres-Nominated | Ages 10+

Product Information

The Obelisk for instance only scores at the end of the game, but there are lots of points to be had if you own the tallest one. This game is exactly what I look for in a dedicated 2-player title: quick setup/teardown, high replay value, “thinky filler” status, and a playtime that clocks in at around 30-40 minutes which enables multiple plays in one evening if desired. With the way that it is constructed, it is inevitable that your plans will be thwarted at almost every turn and your hopes and dreams will be crushed mercilessly. Designed by Phil Walker-Harding who you might know from the very popular game Sushi Go (that I still really enjoy). Sometimes the best dumping ground is the Pyramid, where an unlucky player can get one point for a stone while another player ends up with four points for a similar stone.

The reed boats and illustrations of the tombs and monument site help to evoke the Egyptian atmosphere and the building blocks, which come in different colours for each player, are satisfyingly tactile and solid.

Success is based on setting yourself up to do “well enough” each round, instead of playing for perfection. Join the community and come discuss games like Codenames, Wingspan, Brass, and all your other favorite games! Hunt the Ring-bearer and bring the precious Ring to his Master, or crush your enemies with your unstoppable armies. As the Free Peoples player you command the proud hosts of the most important kingdoms of the Third Age.

Currently, given that I’m writing about them on top of another game’s review, I’m doing a real bad job of being patient, but that’s just how things work in Busytown. On side A, at the end of the round you score one VP for each stone you can see when you look down at the temple. If there aren’t enough tokens left in the supply to refill the boat, refill it from the reserve on the board. If you have five stones on your sled, or if there are no stones of your colour left in the quarry, then you cannot take this action and must choose a different action. The components are great and half the fun is playing with the chunky blocks when it’s not your turn.I thought it was a deceptively simple, but quintessential Eurogame that had lots of paths to win that balances short term AND long term planning in a very easy-to-grasp, visual way. Gain prestige by adapting to the preferences of your fickle admirers, and of course, by adding your own artistic flair while completing your glass masterpiece in Sagrada. You have to think on your feet, adapting your strategy as you go; yes, your schemes can be dashed but there is something so charming about the game that you don’t really mind.

First, turn over the first round card, this will have a picture of four boats on it, these are the four boats that will be used during this round, set the unused ones aside for now. There are five monuments you can sail to, the marketplace, the temple, the obelisk, the pyramids and the burial chamber. On side A you score VPs based on the number of continuous stones you have there at the end of the game. There are four monuments to build: pyramid, temple, burial chamber and obelisk, although each card can be reversed to the B-side, which offers an extra challenge by making it more difficult to score. They can even score players points at the end of the game if they have not placed any of their blocks in a building!If you’re looking for a solid, thinky, family friendly game that will challenge the newbies and the gamers, you can do much worse than Imhotep. I hesitate to strongly associate variability with replayability, so I won’t, but I appreciate having more starting options for the game. Depending on where the blocks end up, players earn different point values either immediately or at the end of the game.

Every turn is like this, you have so few and simple actions to choose from but a lot of interesting choices to make. On the B side, there are two face-down cards; a player who wants those may take them, but must discard one of them. It’s still a great family game, though, because kids can play with an assist from the adults, or everyone can agree to “just play” without overthinking it or intentionally screwing other players. During the game, you will be transporting stones to the various sites to erect monuments in such a way that you score the most points.Everything you need is included (and if you were missing instructions you can find them easily online.