| Game
Overview
In Amun-Re the players take on the roles
of rivals in Ancient Egypt. Through clever
resource management and forward planning,
each player is aiming to build the most
pyramids, make sacrifices to keep Ra happy
and farm their land to earn gold. By doing
so each player will earn victory points
and the most points at the end of the game
will determine the winner.
The Egyptian theme of Amun-Re is more than
superficial. The game runs for 6 turns,
the first 3 make up the Old Kingdom period
and the 2nd 3 make up the New Kingdom period.
The board features 15 regions of Egypt and
these represent the lands to the east and
the west of the Nile, which runs through
the middle of the board. The board also
depicts the Lower and Upper Nile. The attention
to detail is an important touch.
On each turn a number of region cards are
revealed (equal to the number of players).
The game begins with each player bidding
on the region they wish to control. Players
start with 20 gold. The auction phase will
end with each player gaining control of
a region although it may not be the region
they desired. A control marker is placed
and the player's then collect the resource
bonus that the region offered (outlined
on the board).
Each player may then proceed to purchase
power cards, building stones and farmers.
Farmers can only be placed in farming areas
within certain regions. Farmers are used
to generate income at a later stage. Building
stones are used to build pyramids. It takes
3 stones to construct a pyramid. Pyramids
are the main way to earn victory points.
Power cards must be played in specific phases
and they provide a benefit or break a game
rule in some way. When purchasing any of
these items it will cost more to purchase
multiple copies of each type.
Now it is time to appease Ra. Each player
must make a sacrifice to the sun god by
secretly selecting 1 or more gold cards.
Making the biggest sacrifice will earn the
greatest rewards (paid in power cards, building
stones or farmers). The total of the sacrifice
is also important as it will determine how
much income each farmer and region will
generate. In this way the players may try
to manipulate the total sacrifice to minimise
the gains of their opponents whilst maximising
their own. After the sacrifice is resolved,
all players collect their income from farming.
This phase is very important and will lead
to much second guessing by the players.
Scoring occurs at the end of the Old and
New Kingdom periods (twice per game). One
point is earned per pyramid but building
sets of pyramids (in each region) is also
crucial. Satisfying bonus power card requirements,
having temple regions and acquiring vast
sums of gold can also earn further points.
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