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Game Info
Year
2024
Players
4
Collection
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Description
Founded around 3050 BCE and located south of the River Nile Delta, Men-Nefer (a.k.a., Memphis) became the capital of ancient Egypt and the most populated city on the planet.
In Men-Nefer, you will relive one of the greatest periods of ancient Egypt, carrying out tasks typical to Egyptian culture: acquiring knowledge in the houses of life, navigating and trading on the Nile River, making offerings to the revered God, embalming the corpses of the nobles to send them off to a better life, erecting beautiful sphinxes, and contributing to the construction of the Great Pyramids. In addition to this, you must be careful of how you make your way through this earthly world to be sure that Osiris will grant you passage to Aaru, the long-awaited heavenly paradise of the afterlife.
Throughout three eras, by means of a novel selection of actions that combine worker placement and tile drafting, players choose on each turn which area of Egyptian life and culture they wish to develop. Players must attempt to obtain the greatest number of prestige points in each era since only the one who manages to achieve the most prestige will take the victory.
—description from the publisher
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video qC88i4vY2UA
The Dice Tower Analysis at 7:22 sentiment: positive
video_pk 96786 · mention_pk 265980
Click to watch at 7:22 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
- Big giant game
- Solid gameplay
- Action chaining works well
Cons
- Components can be difficult to stack and may fall
Thematic elements
- Egyptian
- Ancient Egypt
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Do an action here, which lets you do something over there.
- Component stacking — Have to stack all these things, they fall.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hey everybody, I'm Tom Vassal.
- This is look back, a series where I go through uh games that I reviewed last year during this time frame and 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago.
- And I tell you what I think about the games now, if I think about them at all.
- Twinkle Twinkle from All Play Games.
- Men Nefer. This is from Firman Million who did Petoku and the very modern Covenant.
- Infiltrators. This is a deduction style game, and you are working together trying to figure out these infiltrators at the playing the cards at the right time.
- And those are the games that I reviewed 1, 5, 10, and 20 years ago.
- Thanks so much for watching.
- Hey. Thanks for watching another video here on the Dice Tower.
- If you really like what we're doing here at the Dice Tower, then there are different ways to support the Dice Tower.
- Until next time though, I'm Tom Vasel, and I hope you enjoyed this video.
References (from this video)
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Video 9-c8bdTf8uI
Board Gaymes James Discussion at 2:37 sentiment: positive
video_pk 87053 · mention_pk 226884
Click to watch at 2:37 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong theme and artwork
Cons
- Reported long playtime
Thematic elements
- Egyptian worker placement / empire-building
- Ancient Egypt (Memphis)
- historical/mythic
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Worker Placement — Ancient Egyptian themed worker placement with long playtime
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm interested to see how sensitive or how insensitive this may end up being as a theme because I have gone through the therapy process I am diagnosed you all know that um and Freud wasn't the most reputable therapist back in the day uh but it's a period piece so we'll see how that goes
- this is a game where you are playing assistance of Freud to heal your um patients through DreamWorks and stuff
- this was hot hot hot because they only had 75 copies a day
- I like it
- look out for the review on that one because this one was really fun
- rules are very poorly translated so it's kind of hard to understand at first
- the show was packed it sold out every single day
- Sunday sold out the slowest
References (from this video)
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Video ZopQWOXnAMk
Board Gaming Ramblings Analysis at 17:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 86718 · mention_pk 225475
Click to watch at 17:21 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fun from the start
- Stood out as one of the best games played recently
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Eurogame — Identified as a good Euro game.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Time is weird because it goes very quickly and also slowly at the same time.
- It was so fun. And it was so frustrating when you try you have a plan and you don't do the thing that you're trying to do, but it was very very fun.
- I'm basically decided that I was going to surprise you with relearning the rules and getting that back to the table so that you didn't have fun with it is kind of sad.
- My biggest surprise for real is Stevens. Uh because I like uh Roll & Costa, the designers. We played games from them before a lot of them that we really liked, but Stevens was like something else and I just keep getting uh what you call it? Like uh impressed by their skills of making games.
- I would rather play Via Nebula if I'm playing like a pick up and deliver like gateway game.
- It's a distilled campaign experience. Every like the the combat has been like 45 minutes. There's only like these called combat scenes because you're going to have only like three or four rounds. It's not like oh this combat might last three hours. It's made to be more bite sized.
- It's just like it is plain fun. It is one of those games where I just have fun while I play it. It gives me that feeling of I am having fun.
References (from this video)
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Video 4lJ-VRHPDzM
Board Gaymes James Discussion at 1:02 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 85985 · mention_pk 221632
Click to watch at 1:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Dynastic competition
- Ancient Egypt
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a really awesome board game if you like RPGs
- the base game is amazing all this stuff is extra if you're not a fan of fiddly bits and euros don't get this
- amazing amazing amazing crew amazing amazing game
- it's a very accessible con
- we'll bring you along
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video SxJx0vFj5pU
Man vs Meeple Analysis at 13:01 sentiment: positive
video_pk 83633 · mention_pk 211204
Click to watch at 13:01 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- A better game than Covenant
- Everyone introduced to it has enjoyed it
- Good for Eurogame fans
Cons
- Did not get a big US release
- Did not enter the zeitgeist
- Harder to stand out among Essen releases if not a top game
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Covenant
- Oroy
- Bku
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I just I thought this was going to end up being a huge game.
- If you can get a copy of Men Nefer, if you can find that game and you like Eurogame, that is definitely one to try.
- My number one, Star Wars Unlimited, which even at the time I was like, I'm it didn't really feel like a board game, but like it was the game I played most in 2024.
- this was my number one, this was the one for me that beat out STI was Saltfield.
- Saltfield I 100% stand behind.
- He destroyed everybody just like he always does. And it felt like, you know, and again, this is not unself because I played uh what was the one Sor also with him and he destroyed everyone in that to the point where I was like, "Oh, what? Either we're dumb or the game is broken and the games aren't broken."
- this is what makes Isaac such a great game designer. And this is how we get games like Gloom Haven
- The ones I didn't get to play, they're just going to get shoved over to the 2026 year.
- It came out in December of 2024. Not a lot of people got to play in 2024.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ivNeF9YDM8A
Board Game Sanctuary Top List at 26:36 sentiment: other
video_pk 83583 · mention_pk 210854
Click to watch at 26:36 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Super silky smooth, absolutely love it
Pros
- Point salad mechanics
- Satisfying resource management
- Smooth and elegant gameplay
- Thematically integrated mechanics
- Beautiful balancing and puzzly effect
- Impressive 3D pyramid pieces
Cons
- The pyramid area could be improved or expanded upon
Thematic elements
- Egyptian mythology and construction
- Ancient Egypt
Comparison games
- Teenu
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Drafting — Because if there's already a worker there, you're going to have to pay a lot of fish.
- area influence — push those little workers into a night. There's like a day and night column.
- Resource Management — if there's already a worker there, you're going to have to pay a lot of fish. And if you want to use something that someone else has already used, you're going to pay a lot of fish.
- Set Collection — you've got all these contracts you can pick up on the Nile.
- Track Advancement — And that's going to push scarabs up these different tracks.
- Worker Placement — cool little action tiles that you place uh that you resolve and then you get rid of them and then you place out these cool little um I guess little workers.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, before we embark on this top 10 list that I'm sure you're really waiting to hear about, I just want to give a little bit of preface to how I've I guess I've selected these games.
- It's really hard to play every game that's released in 2025.
- This is Danny Sun, and I'll see you again soon in 2026. Or if you're in 2026 watching this video or in the future, hello.
- Wondrous Creatures, is really good, and it's all about the eggs, and the eggs really make the difference.
- The centerpiece of this game are the cards.
- Incredibly satisfying.
- Way more way more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be.
- Men Nefer is a point salad dream.
- I know they've literally put everything on the plate and called it a board game.
- But in Men Nefer it definitely feels smooth and elegant.
- super silky smooth. Absolutely love it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video M7ef2S0kzIY
Review at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 68031 · mention_pk 164347
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- It is so thematic, filled with so much juicy goodness.
- It has so many colorful pieces in it.
- Several mini games essentially.
- Beautiful chunky pieces on the board that actually give you bonuses or multiplicative scoring.
- Contracts, the tombs and the pyramids are going to score every single round.
- Really cool interesting mechanics.
- Duot track mechanic is really cool.
- Pattern matching with the papyrus is a bonus.
- Offering pyramid is a really cool mechanic.
- Escalating reward level.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- managing ancient Egypt
- ancient times in Egypt
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Duot Track — One of the main ones is the duot track. And this is the ancient Egyptian idea of that your heart needs to weigh less than a feather when you go into the afterlife. So, this is represented by a plus minus track at the top of the board where throughout the game, you're going to be trying to get your heart and your feather to cross each other so that instead of getting negative points, you end up getting positive points.
- pattern matching — Another aspect that I really like is the pattern matching that comes with the papyrus. You don't have to match the images, but it's a bonus if you do. And this is one of the main ways you're going to be able to get your feather along, whereas your heart is going to largely come along through many of the different actions on the game.
- Set Collection — Another really cool mechanic is the offering pyramid that you're going to build in your own little tableau. This is the offerings that you're going to be able to give at the temple, but you're going to get bonus actions.
- Worker Placement — One of them is worker placement, which is a planning action essentially. So, you're going to get a tile that you're going to do the action from, but you're going to place the worker in another spot. That's going to represent the action that you can do later when you take that action, as well as you can replace those tiles, which is another type of action. And then that third action, once you've placed that worker on the board, you can slide it over and then do the other actions of where you've placed your particular apprentice.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a big heavy euro and I love it.
- It is so thematic, filled with so much juicy goodness.
- Overall, Men Nefer is one of my favorite picks that I grabbed from Essen last year.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video gWu9gVOHlWA
Paul Groen Top 10 List at 19:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8287 · mention_pk 116008
Click to watch at 19:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- engaging core action system
- works well multiplayer and solo
- layered interaction between actions
Cons
- heavy on icons; potential learning curve
Thematic elements
- ancient Egyptian-themed Euro with rich notation
- Egyptian theme with icons and mini-games
- Euro with thematic flavor
Comparison games
- Beku
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- iconography — lots of icons and mini-games interwoven into the action economy
- nine actions per round — three of one type, three of another type, three of a third type; order matters
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- If you enjoy the Ingenious game, I would definitely have a look at Ingenious 3D.
- Tower Up is the game that I would play with non-gamers.
- This is SETI, and it's cool from a mechanical perspective.
- The narrative is exceptional. The writing style is superb.
- Civolution has micro turns... your turn is generally fairly short and doesn't contain any chaining of actions.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–8 of 8