Amun 20Re

A BoardGame by Reiner_Knizia?

Probably the most interesting feature of the game is the "Sacrifice to Amun Re." It take the form of a blind contribution, with the total number determining the nile level, which then affects how much all players earn. In most cases a high level earns more, but some territories earn a bonus during low levels.

Additionally, the top contributors receive bonus resources of their choice, which are an extra incentive to throw in. The top bidder is also the first player for the next round.

This mechanic has interesting property of PartialInfluence and can involve trying to guess the other players.

The rest of the game is fairly standard german fare. The map, a simplified rectangular map of egypt, is divided into 15 territories. These are distributed evenly (as possible) into various classes: north/south, east/west, and on/off the nile. Some bonus points are available to a player who is in only of these categories.

Players bid for territories. The number of territories for bid each time is exactly equal to the number of players. Bidding is heavily rigged to avoid bidding wars; players may not bid twice in row on a territory, and the bid scale is exponential

Each territory has some unique (AsymmetricalDistribution) combination of properties, most of which interact with the game objects: cards, farmers, and stones. Card give PrivilegedMoves, farms create income (based on the nile level) and stones turn into pyramids, which are the main method of scoring points. Objects are bought on an exponential cost scale (1 costs 1, 2 costs 3, 3 costs 6, etc.) which encourages variety.

So far, several the cards suffer from a DeadCardProblem. The scoring bonus cards are tricky to pull off and often go unused. The present author has also never had occasion to use the 'bid on same territory' card; going up two steps from your initial bid is usually too much on the exponential scale.

With the game's money, PositiveFeedback can be created through buying farmers and nile level, and also through buying cards; pyramids never affect you money.

The game divided into two Significant Rounds: The old kingdom and the new kingdom. Between kingdoms, all tokens, including player ownership markers but not including pyramids, are removed from the board.

----- CategoryGame?