Floating down the Nile (Imhotep: Builder of Egypt)

The sharp crack of the whip echoed throughout the dry Egyptian desert.  The stone, massive in size, was being pushed, pulled, and carried by hundreds of slave-workers.  You look down at the carving you made, and back towards the pyramids.  Soon, the pharaoh would choose who would create and design their masterpieces.  You put everything you had into these designs, so that you would be remembered like Imhotep, the Builder of Egypt!

BACKGROUND:  Imhotep is a puzzle board game for 2-4 players.  It was created in 2016 by Phil Walker-Harding, and published by KOSMOS.  Each player ships stones by boats to build various monuments.

GAMEPLAY:  Each turn,, a player can take 1 of 4 actions.  They can take 3 Stone cubes from their 'Quarry' off to the side, and place them on their Sled board.  Each sled can only hold 5 stones, so if there are more stones then there is room, players return the excess back into their Quarry. Another action players can take is to take a stone from their Sled, and place it on one of the boats set out at the beginning of the game.  Players may also sail a boat as their action if the number of stones is equal to or greater than the number indicated on the front of the boat to one of the 5 site boards.  Finally, a player may play a blue Market card as their action that turn.

WINNING:  Once a boat has sailed to a site, other ships cannot sail there.  Each site has a different requirement, such as players getting points for their position, or being the tallest at the end of the game.  At the end of the round, players score points, kept track of on the scoreboard, and draw a new boat card to show what boats are available this round.  Once the game is over, players total up any remaning points to determine the winner.

VARIANTS;  Each board has 2 sides.  While this review only mentions the A side, the B side has its own rules and twists on the game.  In addition, there is also the rule that players are docked points if they fail to deliver at least one stone to each place.

CONCLUSION:  I really enjoy Imhotep.  It's a purely strategic game, plain and simple.  There's so much thought and fore planning that goes into it that makes the game fun and thought-provoking.  True, the market cards are dealt randomly, so there is that element of chance, but even that is a matter of strategy and risk-reward decision making.  This game can get overwhelming, so it's easy to see why it would be difficult for some players to enjoy this game.  Because of its lack of luck elements, it does lead to players who aren't as strategically minded to be defeated more often due to lack of skill or "lucky" balancing maneuvers.  If that's the case, try to play this with people at your skill level.  It's hard, true, but if you can, it's one trip to the Pyramids you should take.