Two high priests, one serving Aton, the other Amon, battle for the supremacy of their respective god by filling the four grand temples of Thebes . . . . I read something like that when I first opened this game, and have rarely thought about it again. The board is suitably decorated with an ancient Egyptian style, but this is purely an abstract game for two players. You could just as easily be filling your grocery cart with items from the four food groups as priests in four temples.

The theme serves as a pleasant context for a very fun game which has those little extra touches that make a good game so enjoyable to play.

Bits:

The board consists of six pieces that interlock, and give the feel of ancinet Egypt, complete with a scarab scoring track around the outer edge, hieroglyphics, and ancient Egyptian looking drawings.

Each player gets a deck of 36 cards, depicting the numbers 1-4 and a pharoh in either red or blue. The cards are stiff and of good quality.

Each player also gets 29 counters in their colour representing priests, a scoring marker, and an exchange marker. The exchange marker is one of the nice touches in this game because it allows you to exchange a bad hand for a new one once in the game. Of course you are now faced with the decision of when to use it, and there is no guarantee that after using it you won't get another bad hand, but you have an out for that one bad hand that you like to blame as the source of all your problems.

Set Up:

Set up is very quick. After assembling the board and shuffling the cards, you're ready to go.

Play/Rules:

When I first read the rules to this game, I thought it might be hard to keep track of everything, but once we started playing it, the trick was more to think about how to best play the game rather than just plain how to play.

The object of the game is two fill the four temples on the board in order to gain more points that your opponent. This is accomplished by placing the four cards in your hand in front of the four cartouches (oval spots on your side of the board) on your side of the board. After each player has placed their four cards, they flip them over simulataneously.

Each cartouche has a different function, influenced by what card number, 1-4, is placed on it. Their function is as follows:

Cartouche 1: You and your opponents cards are compared; whoever is higher gets to move along the scoring track twice the difference. If you are tied with your opponent, no one gets any points.

Cartouche 2: Cartouches 2, 3 and 4 are connected in funtion. Cartouche 2 determines who goes first (lowest number--in the event of tie, whoever was lowest in cartouche 1; if that is tied draw cards from the bottom of your deck until someone has a lower number). Also it determines if priests (counters) are removed from temples. If you play a 1, you remove one of your own priests; a 2, none are removed; a three, remove one of your opponent's; a four, remove two of your opponent's.

Cartouche 3: This cartouche determines from which temples counters are removed and placed, with temples of the same or smaller numbers being allowed. For example, if you placed a 3 card, you could remove or place counters in temples one to three.

Cartouche 4: This cartouche determines how many priests you can place in the temples prescribed by cartouche 3.

So how you place your cards is always an interesting decision. Cartouche 1 can give you immediate points, but doeasn't allow you to place counters in the temples (where you have the potential to score higher). But if you place a low card in that spot, your opponent might pull ahead if she places a high card there.

You can place your high card in cartouche 2, and remove some of your opponent's counters, but it's also good to place more of your your own (high card in cartouche 4), and have a wider choice of temples (high card in cartouche 3).

Of course if all your four cards are high--no problem, but what to do with the low cards, besides using your one exchange token? The great thing about this game is the way in which the temple scoring meshes so well with card placement.

Other than points resulting from cartouche 1, all other points are only counted during a scoring round. A scoring round occurs when eight counters have been removed from the temples and placed in the city of the dead (counters removed either as a result of cartouche 2, or from a temple being full so that a counter cannot be placed in it).

On a scoring round each temple is scored as follows:

Temple 1: Whoever has the most counters in this temple scored the difference. In all temples, a tie awards no points.

Temple 2: Whoever has the most gets five points.

Temple 3: Whoever has the most gets one point per counter.

Temple 4: Whoever has the most gets three points for every blue square they occupy (there is one blue square on each temple, for a maximum score of 12).

Black Squares: There are 10 black squares distributed throughout the temples (2 each in temples 1 and 2; three each in temples 3 and 4). Whoever has the majority here scores 8 points.

Bonus Squares: Whoever occupies these squares scores the number of points indicated (1 or 2 points).

If someone reaches 40 points either as a result of cartouche 1, or a scoring round, they win; if not, after a scoring round, each player removes one counter from each temple (more form the highest temple if not all of them are occupied), and play continues.

There are two other victory conditions which can be claimed after assessing the fourth cartouche. If a player occupies all the squares in a single temple, or if he occupies all 14 of the yellow or green squares distributed amongst the four temples, he wins.

Strategy/Tactics:

You have a good range of options in this game--not a paralyzing range--but enough that you can try things that just might work. This game give a sense of creativity in your play which I like.

Getting counters into the highest temple is an obvious choice. They can only be placed and removed by a 4 card, so there definitely is not as much action in this temple. However, trying to score with this temple is easily sabotaged because three of the four squares that score you points are in temples 1, 2, and 3. You can stick your opponent by letting him have this temple, and concentrate on occupying the blue squares and deny him the points.

On the other hand, I find concentrating on getting this temple can also be a good way to distract your opponent from what you are doing elsewhere--if he is busy removing your counters from the blue squares, he might not be removing them from somewhere else vital, or he may let you have the blue to concentrate on something else.

Needless to say, there is a lot going on in this game, so sometimes you can catch your opponent neglecting a particular temple. A sizeable majority in temples one or three can get you a fair amount of points, in excess of the five points offered by temple 2.

Getting a majority of the black squares is a coup, as it gives you eight points, and can be one of the methods of scoring that you or your opponent forget to keep track of. I always concentrate on getting this majority.

Tying for a temple is an excellent defence. No one scores, and you don't expend a precious counter you don't have or to win the temple when you just might need it elsewhere to get more points. A concerted effort to tie up close races can mute a scoring round for your opponent.

Most important is to be willing to use card placement creatively. If you see that your opponent is tending to cheap out on cartouche 1, place your high card there. You can gain a lot of points this way, and this is an especially useful tactic if you are in the lead and the end of the game is nearing.

Low cards have their uses. You can put a 1 card in cartouche three, and load up the first temple by putting a four in the fourth cartouche. Or put your 1 card in the fourth and a high card in the third. One well placed counter--to tie up or to win a temple or to secure a majority--can be decisive. If you are going to be adding three or four counters to a temple, then placing a one in the second cartouche can be a good choice: you will probably go first, and you will still make a net gain in that temple. Going first can force your opponent to change his plans in this highly tactical game.

Filling a temple by yourself, or occupying all the green or yellow spaces are both viable--I know, I have been been beaten by both. A four in cartouche 2 and a 4 in cartouche 4 can change a temple's composition dramatically. If your opponent is using this threat, be especially careful to pay attention to what cards they have laid out and to derail their plans if you are going first. Of course just the threat is always useful to influence your opponent's tactics.

Conclusion:

This is an excellent two-player abstract. It strikes a great balance between giving you enough choices that you always feel like you have options offensively and defensively, but not so many that you suffer from AP, or feel like you are not doing something you should be. The range of options, and little extras like the exchange token give the feel of a very well thought-out game.

When we first started playing this game though, it seemed to go too quickly and we had a couple of matches with runaway leader issues. As we got better, these problems went away. So your first few matches, you may find that you will not be playing the game optimally.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a fairly quick two-player abstract that will make you think creatively, without causing too much brain burn. I give this game a 9.