Imhotep: A New Dynasty

• Designer: Phil Walker-Harding
• Publisher: KOSMOS
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 10+
• Time to play: 40 Minutes

Hey folks! I’m back again with another review. This time, we’re looking again at Imhotep. We’re looking at the expansion. This expansion adds more location tiles and with it a new slew of mini games.

Components

24 Tomb Tokens, 15 Obelisk Tokens, 14 Market Cards, 8 Scarab Tokens, 8 Coin Tokens, 7 Prophecies of the gods Cards, 5 Scaffold tokens, 5 two sides site boards, 4 obelisk cards, 4 chariot figures, 1 Imhotep figure.

Game Play

I’ve done a review on Imhotep here. You can check out the initial game play there. In this review I’m just going to go over the new site boards.

Here’s a breakdown of each site board.

Market – Draw market cards.

• C – Each players starts the game with two coin tokens. When a stone is delivered here, you immediately take one of the market cards. Twice per game, you can spend a coin to take a market card neighboring card. If the market is empty and there are still stones to unload, you’ll draw from the deck of market cards.
• D – This site has two spots for face up cards and two spots for a pile of 3 face down cards. When stone is delivered here you can choose either the face up card or look at the face down stack and take one from there. At the end of the round, the face down cards remain and are replenished to 3 cards. Face up spots are

Pyramids – Stones delivered here gain immediate points.

• C – Shuffle the 5 scaffold tokens. Place one face up on the site, and the other 4 face down as a draw pile. When you place stones here, you’ll be building up the scaffolding. You immediately gain the benefit you cover. When to scaffold is full, the player with the most stones gets 3 points.
• D – Place the Imhotep meeple on the top left space. When placing stone here, you place the stone on the next free space after Imhotep and gain those points. When any player gathers stone as an action, they can move Imhotep to the next free space.

Temple – Place stones on this site from left to right. When you run out of spaces, you move back to the first spot and stack the stone on top.

• C – At the end of the round, look from above. The player with visible stones gets the bonus for their position.
• D – Each player gets a chariot meeple. They place it on the starting spot on the board. When a stone gets placed here, look at how many arrows you cover up. Move your chariot meeple that many spaces. At the end of the round, the player in first will get 2 points, the player in second will get 1 point. At the end of the game you earn points based on what space your chariot is placed.

Burial Chamber – This is scored at the end of the game. Stones are placed in columns and the column needs to be filled before moving to the next column.

• C – When you place a stone here, you build a pyramid by stacking the stones. At the end of the game, you’ll earn points equal to the number o stones connected multiplied by the levels it spans (max 4 levels).
• D – Mix the 24 tomb tokens up. Place 4 face up tomb tokens to the left of the tomb, the rest of the tokens go to the right in a face down pile. When you place a stone here, select one of the 4 tokens and place your stone on the corresponding number. Replace tokens when they’re used. At the end of the game, players will score points equal to your connected stones. On the other side, if you haven’t delivered stone to this location at all, you lose 4 points.

Obelisks – You earn points by stacking your stones to build obelisks.

• C – Each player takes an obelisk card in their color. Place the 15 obelisk tokens next to this board. When a stone is placed here, you put it on the next free space on the path. Collect that obelisk token, then place that token on your obelisk card. You’re building an obelisk ala tetris style. The width of the obelisk is 3. When a token is placed, it can’t hang over the edge. At the end of the game, players will get 2 point per completed row. Then bonus points are awarded to the tallest obelisk.
• D – When you place stone here, you pick a obelisk spot to start. You can’t place stone on another spot until that spot is finished. At the end of the game, you get points from an obelisk only if it’s fully constructed.

Prophecies of the gods

Shuffle the seven prophecy cards and draw three. Give each player their matching scarab token. These cards are you confidently saying “Yeah, I can do that.” and placing a wager on it. You can only place one scarab token a round, and you can only ever have one scarab token on a prophecy. You’ll earn points at the end of the game if you fulfill this prophecy. If you fail the prophecy, you’ll lose points.

Final Thoughts

This prefect example of how I like expansions. It adds more variety to the game, but without changing the game play. You can easily teach the game using one of these tiles and people will still get the idea of the game.

Components are on the same level as the first game. But, we do get something added. We get chariot meeples! Art is cohesive throughout both the games. The added market cards blend into the old deck with no problem.

Game play wise, I described the first game and it’s different site boards as mini games you’re playing. This expansion shows that even more! You’ve got a tetris styled game, a race game, and even a bingo type game! Base play stays the same. You’re filling ships, setting sail, and then unloading and placing the stone. Then the added prophecy cards add a level of betting to the game. The earlier you place you bet, the better the pay off. However, if you fail to get the task complete, you’ll lose points.

Overall, Imhotep A New Dynasty is a great addition to a great game. If you enjoy the base game, I can see you enjoying this expansion as well.