Apart from those action tiles, there are four other types of tiles that all are sought after for different scoring aspects. It’s only one point per tile (and six points if you win it) on the A side; if you know it’s getting away from you, you might as well “help” your opponent really lock it down. A predetermined number of ships — each with a varying number of spaces — will be put out at the start of each round. If you’re looking for a harsher game, for some reason, you can also try the Wrath of the Pharaoh variant, where any player who doesn’t participate in all four of the building sites (Pyramid, Temple, Burial Chamber, Obelisks) loses 5 points.

Thinking through your options, the spatial ramifications, and the “what if’s” to chase every point can slow the game to a crawl. Great couple game if you want something that involves a bit of strategy without being too technical. In the game of Imhotep, the players will compete to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outbuild each other as these monuments begin to take shape.The game has everything the modern jury looks for: a family friendly weight, clearly-written rules, excellent presentation, and originality. If it were ten years ago, I’d put my money behind this one winning the SdJ – however, given the recent jury selections, this just seems way too complicated when compared to previous recent winners.

We definitely had a game where one player drew 5 Statues over the course of the game, and literally any other draw would have resulted in them losing, but they won instead. The components are great and half the fun is playing with the chunky blocks when it’s not your turn. Granted, every step of it is based on choices you are making, but if one player is being cutthroat in their play it can feel bad for the other player. Imhotep uses a mixture of ‘pick up and deliver’ and area control to create a game that is both quick, thematic, and challenging.Reasonable, but unexpected; I would have expected (and did expect) some other game to have taken the nomination. The Temple is assessed at the end of the round and the Obelisks and Burial Chamber are assessed at the end of the game. Or should you just sail a ship that you have no stones on to a site where the players with stones on it will get little to no benefit? The War Of The Ring is a grand strategy board game that allows its players to immerse themselves in the world of J.

If played well, you’ll constantly be blocking your opponents, either by sailing a ship to a different location than they intended or using the cards to undo their best laid plans. At this time, they will also score any points awarded to them by the cards that they may have obtained from the market. Since an introductory game of Imhotep only uses the ‘A’ sides of the building tiles, I am only going to discuss those sides in this review.Based on the hit game Imhotep, a 2016 Spiel Des Jahres nominee, this 2 player version has the building fun and player interaction of the original with new gameplay perfect for one-on-one competition.

But don’t hesitate to pick up this game, because it is an above-average 2-player game that will be a welcome visitor onto my table any time someone requests to play it with me.With double-sided home boards to increase the variety and strategy of play, we are looking forward to playing this game many, many more times! Though Kosmos originally planned to release Imhotep later this summer, they are now planning a release soon in the United States. It is fairly easy for a player to start collecting statue cards from the market and these cards can score big at the end of the game. The Temple, for example, scores one point for any blocks that are visible from above at the end of a round, while the pyramids score immediately depending upon where you place your block, after unloading them from the boat. While I don’t know that many of us want to disappear when we die, there’s something to be said for being a great builder.