Pyramid Magazine
Andy Vetromile
June 2005
USA

Many historical questions persist about Egypt's so-called "boy king," supposedly dead at the age of 18, but the one that holds the most fascination for folks is: Where did Tutankhamen leave all his loot? Two to six players take the role of archaeologists who gather treasure and, not as stupid as all those others who have been cursed by countless mummies before them, make sure to pay homage to Tut by giving him their money.

The object of the game is to be the first player to give up all his coins.

The game is played on a long, meandering strip of tiles that lead up to a pyramid. Each tile shows a treasure, with the number on the tile indicating how many tiles are in that set and how much that set is worth. Along the way you can also gather bags of gold and pharaoh tiles, and sitting atop the pyramid is the King Tut tile. Players start their pawns at the end of the path, going toward the monument. You begin the game with tribute coins -- the more players, the fewer coins you'll have to get rid of.

Movement isn't random. Your pawn may go to any point in the path, and the player collects the tile he lands on and places it in front of him. He may not backtrack, so any tiles he passes up are lost to him. Those coming up behind him may still land on unclaimed tiles. If the rearmost player passes up one or more tiles when he moves, no one will ever get them so they're removed from play.

If you complete a set, you score it immediately. A set is done when all the tiles are accounted for -- one or more players have picked up all the tiles, and/or the unclaimed tiles have been removed from the end of the path. If you have the most tiles from that set, you get the points. If you tie for the most counters with one or more other players, you all get half the set's value.

Tiles that show bags of gold may be used to buy (read: steal) a tile from another player. That other player in turn may deposit a tribute coin. The other wild card . . . er, counter . . . is the pharaoh tiles. These may be turned in as part of an artifact set during scoring, giving you a better chance to win the set. The Tut piece does the same thing, but you can deposit an extra coin upon collecting it. Even if you go to the end of the path, you continue to score for tiles collected up to that point as other players finish the sets.

When you redeem artifacts, your score is how many coins you may place in tribute into the pyramid (there's a little piggy-bank sort of slot on the back of the tomb). If you give up the last of your coins, you win immediately. If everyone finishes the path without ditching all their money, the person who contributed the most wins.

The artwork is pretty straightforward and functional, which is really all you can ask for. The presentation of the game is a far more important visual factor, and while the equipment is once again a bit lavish (and adds about five bucks to the price of other Out of the Box games of similar size), it's delicious fun to play with. All the coins, the bank-like nature of the container, the bright and colorful tiles… they're all so pleasing. It's kind of neat being able to build the winding path of counters, but it makes starting a new game a pain in the asp. Don't bother to place them upside down to randomize them -- it's even more time-consuming having to flip them up when you're done, and no one's really going to gain an advantage from seeing the tokens as they're laid out.

While some of the balance issues involved -- deciding what to keep and what you can afford to leave behind -- aren't all that new, the method of putting it out to the players is. It's visually striking, and leveling out all the factors that must be taken into account in your strategy make the game anything but boring. The rules could explain the timing better (it's easy for multiple sets to come up for scoring at once). The use of the tribute coins isn't really needed, but the kids will get a kick out of it. Leaving victory up to whoever loses their last coin instead of the person with the highest score also makes for a faster game. Out of the Box finds its success in strange and esoteric places, and it looks like Tutankhamen still hasn't finished giving up all his treasures.

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