Imhotep is a board game designed by Phil Walker-Harding and published in 2016 by Thames & Kosmos.
 Stacked stones at various sites | |
| Designers | Phil Walker-Harding |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Thames & Kosmos |
| Publication | 2016 |
| Genres | Family game |
| Players | 2–4 |
| Playing time | 40 minutes |
| Age range | 10+ |
Gameplay
The game consists of two to four players who assume the role of a master builder in ancient Egypt, each taking turns every round over the course of six rounds to construct monuments (burial chamber, obelisk, pyramid, or temple).[1][2] Players accumulate victory points,[3] which are tallied after six rounds to determine a winner.[1]
On their turn, a player takes one action from the available choices: quarrying 3 stones, loading a stone onto a boat, dispatching a loaded boat to one of five destinations, or executing an action from a previously obtained Market card.[1][3] Boats differ in size, with capacities ranging from one to four stones, and the types of boat available changes every round.[1] The stones may be loaded to any position by any player, but are unloaded from front to back at their destination.[1] A round ends when all boats have sailed to a destination.[2]
Docking a boat at a pyramid site results in stones being used to construct a "three-level cube pyramid" and scoring victory points immediately.[1] Temples are scored by viewing the structures from above, along a five-stone track, at the end of each round.[1] Burial chambers and obelisks are scored at the end of the six rounds, the former based on the number of connected stones and the latter on height.[1]
At the fifth site, players acquire one Market card for each stone delivered.[1] These grant the player an additional action in a future round, enable the placement of a stone in one of the structures, or provide a scoring bonus.[1]
Expansion
In 2018, Thames & Kosmos published Imhotep: A New Dynasty expansion for the base game, which included new Market cards and more monument sites, resulting in gameplay lasting about an additional 10 minutes.[4]
Reception
It was nominated for the 2016 Spiel des Jahres award,[3][5] and ranked second in the 2016 Golden Geek Award for family games published that year, behind Codenames: Pictures.[6]
GameInformer reviewer Matt Miller stated that Imhotep is an "elegant and intricately balanced" game with "accessible play", rating it one of the top tabletop games published in 2016.[7]
In a review for TechRaptor, Travis Williams states that the game is fast-paced, easy to teach and learn, and designed for "gamers who enjoy friendly competitions over direct confrontations".[3] He states that a game with four players is optimal, as "it is simply more interesting to play when more people are competing in the same space".[3]
Nate Anderson and Aaron Zimmerman state in a review for Ars Technica that the game is "extremely tight throughout" and can be chaotic and "extremely mean".[1] They also state it may not be appropriate for some young children or for players who "prefer to be in full control of their game-long strategic planning".[1]
In a review for The Toy Insider, Malanie Rainone states that Imhotep "would make a great addition to any brainy family game night".[2]