Ray Sidman
Scrye Magazine
December 2005
USA

As an adult and life-long player of strategy games, I like to think I can handle whatever strategy a 6-year-old can throw at me. While playing Reiner Knizia's Tutankhamen with one such youngster, I needed five games (over the course of three days) to finally beat him. Granted, I was offering him suggestions, and explanations so he'd understand the purposes and math behind various strategies, but even so - five games! I'm not jealous - heck, I have an open mind and expect to lose a few games here and there, but when playing a youngster who hasn't played the game before either...it was a lesson learned.

The box lists appropriate playing age as 8 and older, but if you've got a game-savy kid, and 5 and up should work.

As to the game, it combines a dash of Egyptian history with a Knizia strategy engine to make an enjoyable game. Understanding th ehistorical facts behind the pictures can be as fun as the strategy itself. (That's a compliment).

One thing kids love, but not so much adults, is the tribute slot. THe gameplay involves making tributes, via 'gold coins' to Tutankhamen - and the player who runs out of tribute coins first, wins. Kids love it because it's done piggy-back style with a slot in the back of a plastic pyramid. Older kids and adults find this far less thrilling. And it would be less annoying, except the slot is on the far side of the pyramid, away from the main game area. Thus, you're essentially putting these coins in a slot (just big enough to let the small coins through) blind. Fortunately, after a couple of games, I figured it out and was able to slide the slippery coins in with relative ease. So be patient.

Movement on the randomly laid-out path - which determines what and when tributes are paid, and by whom - requires no small amount of strategy. Also, there are multiple strategies that could work, and they change depending on which strategy your opponent employs. (Yes, kind of like battling Magic: The Gathering decks.) This gives Tutankmen definate replay value.

As for the playtime, the good news is gameplay is rapid, never dull, and usually only takes 20 minutes per game. The not-so-good news is that set-up time takes a while - at least 5 minutes. For impatient kids (and adults), make set-up a group effort; sure, one person can do it, but this method prevents kids (and adults) from getting antsy.

In conclusion, I point out that this entire review was done without including a single mummy joke. How rare is that?

Final word: Not only will kids have fun with this, adults will as well, especially when playing with kids. Strategy adds to the replay value.

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