Kemet; the Boardgame

I was in the draft stages of this one and though I'd get clever and schedule it up. Thinking it'd remain a draft until I was done writing, well, that didn't happen.  Getting warmed back up to blogging means a couple of little rookie mistakes here and there!

What am I talking about tonight?  Kemet, the boardgame!  Frankly it was this review by Shut Up and Sit Down that eventually sold me on it, but I had a very eyebrow-raised eye staring it down just prior to the video.  Sold I was however, and haven't had a bad game yet!

What is it?  An area control, resource manager that's wrapped in an Egyptian theme.  Not just a theme, but you (that would be the BIG human sitting at the table moving around game pieces) are THE Egyptian god.  All of your troops are just fodder and sacrifice for your will.  If the troops ain't dying, you ain't trying.  You can also buy out of a community pool of cool corresponding resources, such as the ability to stargate travel, improve your battle prowess, or even harness big critters to ride around on in battle.  I think the big critters really sold me as well.  Once you get, say, the Sphinx, that's it, there's only one and no one can get one.

There's a great power resource that revolves around your pyramids too; red for battle, white for commerce and religion, and blue for magic.  The resources you draft are only as powerful as your pyramids are.  Of course if you spend all your time upgrading you'll lose the area control battle.  There's a really neat turn/action system too that specifies what you can and can't do, and tracks what you've already done, all very smart-like and efficiently.

It's a bigger box game, and will weigh in at least about fifty bucks, but it's worth it, not for one aspect or another, but as a game to break out now and again or every game night for the next six months.  It's a keeper; cool theme, solid rules, great components...the whole package.  Enjoy!