1omments. (In our household, I will always go first.) Each player removes one cube per turn (following certain rules) from the base until all that remains is a single layer on the base. The cubes slide down and fill in the openings all on their own. At the end, you use the scoring criteria to tally points. Whoever scores the highest number of points wins. (As an aside, our eight year old son picked up on a cute little trick the first time we played. The ankh has one ‘leg’ and counts for one point. The crane has two ‘legs’ and counts for two points. The eye has three ‘legs’ and counts as three points. The cobra has no ‘legs’ so it isn’t worth anything. We think this is a great way to keep track as you go along.) The cubes on the base layer are divided based on who controls the most of each color ankh.

This game has some unique tensions when playing that are fun and much less heart pounding than Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert. A lot of the tension comes from choices made along the way. Do you play aggressively to rack up points in the early game, or do you play a slow and steady game that might earn lots of bonus points at the end?

We’ve played through the game with a few different groups since we received it. One group was a mix of adults and children, one group was all adults, and one group was all children with an adult supervisor. Overall, it was a much more challenging game with adults than with children. It was easy for the children to get caught up in collecting ankhs and missing out on what was on the base of the pyramid. Adults were much more competitive, which meant that overall points at the end of the game were VERY close. One disappointment is that it is very easy to take an early lead in the game. Once that happens, and other players see a clear winner, the game quickly goes downhill.

In the end, we really enjoyed the way this game teaches strategic thinking, visual discrimination, and pattern recognition in a way that is appealing to tactile and visual learners by including pieces to touch and pull and bright, colorful graphics. Our youngest players also enjoyed the clacking sounds that the cubes made when sliding into the base.

At a MSRP of $21.99 this Mensa Select award-winning game is another solid strategy game to add to your collection.

Wondering about other Gamewright games? Check our reviews here!

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