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Game Info
Year
2014
Players
2-4
Age
14+
Playtime
45 min
Collection
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
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Description
When you die, you can take it with you!
Take on the role of Egyptian nobles at the time of the pharaohs, preparing for death and burial in the Valley of the Kings. Players want to fill their tombs with food, canopic jars, statues, amulets and other treasures, and to do so they acquire cards that are laid out in the shape of a pyramid; purchase cards at the base of the pyramid, and it "crumbles" to bring cards higher in the pyramid to the base where they can be bought. The pyramid resets each round with new offerings.
You score only for cards that you remove from your deck and stash in your tomb, so if you keep using valuable cards for their effects and don't entomb them before the game ends, you could lose out on big points! Whoever collects the most valuable artifacts in her tomb wins.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video ITGel0Oc5Ws
Getting Games Review at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 63661 · mention_pk 157153
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- In-tomb mechanic keeps the deck lean and creates repeated exposure to interesting card interactions
- Starting deck contains unique, meaningful cards with lasting impact throughout the game
- Egyptian theme is cohesively woven into the mechanics and pyramid structure
Cons
- Some players may have a poor first impression if they don't quickly grasp endgame pacing and tomb thinning
Thematic elements
- tomb-building with pyramids, pharaohs, and tomb-based scoring
- Ancient Egypt / tomb-building
- pyramid-card progression with endgame tomb scoring
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card actions — Each card has an action (bottom text) that can be executed when played.
- Compound Scoring — End-of-game scoring depends on the types and counts of cards in your tomb, with color-based multipliers.
- Deck building — Each player starts with an identical 10-card deck and draws five cards per turn.
- deck manipulation — Some cards interact with the discard pile, and players frequently shuffle to form a new deck.
- deck-building — Each player starts with an identical 10-card deck and draws five cards per turn.
- discard pile interactions and shuffling — Some cards interact with the discard pile, and players frequently shuffle to form a new deck.
- endgame and age progression — Age 2 and 3 cards appear later; they are more expensive and powerful, driving the late game.
- one-time free tomb placement — Once per turn you can place a card under your tomb for free, removing it from your deck.
- pyramid layout and bottom-level access — Only cards on the bottom level are purchasable; the pyramid collapses as cards are taken.
- scarab-based buying — Cards show a Scarab value used to purchase cards from a pyramid layout.
- starting deck composition — Starting 10 cards include four shop cards, three ears, two boxes of food, and one offering table.
- tomb thinning and deck size — Cards moved to the tomb are no longer shuffled back into the deck, keeping the deck lean.
- tomb-based scoring — End-of-game scoring depends on the types and counts of cards in your tomb, with color-based multipliers.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a deck building game
- the ining mechanic where you take cards out of your deck and you put them into your tomb even from the first turn of the game
- you are slowing your engine down by destroying it so you want to slow down at the right speed so that it's completely dead right as the game ends
- the starting deck of 10 cards that you start with all have interesting things that you'll want to use
- it's a tiny little $20 game
- three players is best that is the happy medium between the two
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video btL7Sz6MXbM
The Broken Meeple Discussion at 32:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11883 · mention_pk 34827
Click to watch at 32:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- cool example of multi-use cards
- cards have multiple uses
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Remember it's only a game
- I am very much one of these people that if you go after my family or friends there will be hell to pay
- Five out of ten is average, it's a game that I would still play if you put it on the table
- I do really like closed drafting in games
- I love the way that you plan for this sort of stuff
- Power Grid is the worst contender for this, auctions in this just refuse to freaking end
- I want to see it more - the typewriter mechanic
- Area control is just kind of meh
- It's just so many of these games are just like oh we need to make a quick buck
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cLOrxog8Yk4
Board Game Hangover Discussion at 2:47 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8530 · mention_pk 25159
Click to watch at 2:47 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- tight, choose-your-path deck-building
- compact and approachable for groups
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- mythic archaeology and exploration
- ancient Egypt tomb exploration and deck-building
Comparison games
- Descent
- Gloomhaven
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck-building — build a deck to explore tombs and collect artifacts
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I guarantee that 90 of the games here I think you will enjoy
- this shelf is like this any game you pull out you know you can immediately play even if you don't remember all the rules
- I want it as well
- you have to move with the culture next to the wine I think he's a fan of me
- two players two player versus games exactly
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Q0q_-yfQUDU
The Broken Meeple Discussion at 2:13 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8278 · mention_pk 24260
Click to watch at 2:13 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- compact and approachable for a light convergence game
- nice thematic flavor for a tiny box game
Cons
- mechanics can feel repetitive to some players
- some players may want deeper engine interaction
Thematic elements
- dormant mysteries, deck-building mechanics layered into storage
- ancient Egyptian tomb exploration and tile/board interaction
- mythic, exploratory
Comparison games
- No Thanks
- Joker
- Byblos
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area/tiles interaction — collect and place tiles to optimize scoring paths and set collection
- risk management — decisions about which tiles to take or avoid to optimize points
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the druids expansion is a must-buy
- it's not difficult to teach because what if essentially does it gives you more of the same but with a slight twist on top of it
- the biggest decision you're gonna have to make in this game
- it's a take that element and balance it out
- all in all it's a decent game, a alliance of convenience and towers, but at the end of the day everybody's got their own agenda
- Neon has kind of only just hit the market and most people don't have a clue what it is
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video UF9Xf3qeCUc
Chairman of the Board Top List at 13:04 sentiment: negative
video_pk 17 · mention_pk 30
Click to watch at 13:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- solid deck-building core and drafting twist
- well-rounded and familiar for fans of the genre
Cons
- dated feel; not as engaging as modern deck-builders
- not a standout in the era of similar titles
Thematic elements
- set collection bonuses and hand-elimination to optimize scoring
- ancient Egypt deck-building with pyramid drafting
- dated but polished abstraction
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck building — build and refine a deck to draft bottom cards first for scoring bonuses
- deck-building — build and refine a deck to draft bottom cards first for scoring bonuses
- pyramid drafting — cards are drafted from a pyramid with bottom-first access and cascading fills
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is probably one of my favorite Uwe Rosenberg games I've played to date.
- it's a weird one because it's kind of like a full-size game but didn't quite feel like it
- the rules overhead was quite high in terms of remembering what they do
- usually trying to build these routes and establish these with blocks and then get the cards
- it's a pretty much a paint by numbers deck builder game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5