Building a Pharaoh: A New Era strategy is still a long way off. For those of you who want to take a trip to Egypt within the world of games, today we have a review of the board game Ankh: Gods of Egypt, which is very close to the thematically famous work, because here you become responsible for the fate of this empire that stretches around the river Nile.
- Number of players: 2-5
- Game time: 1,5 hour
- Price: 2999 CZK (Asmodée-Blackfire)
- Age: 12+
King in Ankh: there can only be one god in Egypt
However, in Ankh: Gods of Egypt, you are not an “ordinary” ruler, but one of five gods who want to dominate the map of Egypt and gain as many followers as possible so that one of them becomes the most powerful being, while others go into oblivion . Yes, this era aims to transform religion and it is up to you if you survive it healthy and ideally become the only one the local population believes in. It’s a difficult task, but nothing is impossible for the chosen god, right?
You are offered Anubis, Amon, Isis, Osiris, as well as the head of all the gods of Egypt, represented by the solar disk of Ra. Each of the gods has a very beautifully crafted figure. But this is not the only thing that makes them unique. They all have abilities that help them stand out from the competition and also make it easier for you to make initial decisions between characters.
I myself have mostly gone to Isis for most games. Because this goddess fully matched my defensive strategy. She has an ability that protects her figures near enemy models. Since they are protected, the possibility of falling for the homeland automatically disappears during battles. However, you cannot specify otherwise. And to tell you the truth, I’ve been drawn to this option a few times, because sometimes death is a better solution than saving a character at certain points.
On the other hand, one of my students, who was a constant opponent of mine, chose Anubis Devouring Enemy Warriors because it suited his playstyle better and, in truth, perhaps his immaturity combined with a lack of fear of the consequences. I have actually seen this format often used by young players and while it may not seem very effective at first glance, they were able to pull it off and win. Of course, we didn’t stop at two idols, we can say that the rest are an interesting choice. As a result, the balance is also decent, ensuring that no player feels downright disadvantaged when they don’t get it right.
God is nothing without believers
As Terry Pratchett writes in his books, every god is only as great as his believer. And it is this idea that is applicable in this work. At the start of one of the many available scenarios, you are a virtually unknown god who can take one of four actions each turn. Summon warriors and otherworldly guardians. Move already summoned units. To get followers, the number of which is determined by how many monuments, variously located on the map of Egypt, are adjacent to his correct represented plastic figures.
The last option you can do during your turn is to unlock the Ankh ability, which is spread across three levels. Each unlock sacrifices a number of minions determined by the level you are targeting. You basically level up your god through this path, and to top it off, you have a chance to reach different levels of guardians with terrifying abilities through him. A giant scorpion, which is one of the strongest monsters, for example, at the beginning of a conflict, can destroy the monuments pointed to by the claws of this giant. Therefore, there are many alternatives that initially forced my teammates to take longer delays and think about what to do next.
It wouldn’t be the same without conflict
During the game, you encounter various events. I already wrote about the occupation of monuments above. However, this is not the only event you can start while playing. You can also create a camel caravan, thanks to which you can actually turn one large territory into two smaller ones with the help of six camels, with which you determine the shape of the future territory. In fact, this creates conflict positions where you can fully use the potential of the forces at your disposal.
The conflict phase, which always came sooner or later, worried my little ward most of all during the game. After all, everyone at the table falls in love with someone from time to time, and how else to sweeten the juice, if not through a fight. The only question was when it would start. At the start, they always chose one of the combat cards, with which you can get various advantages. For example, when you draw flood cards, you gain one follower for each token placed on green lots, while drawing a dry card first benefits you by controlling desert spots instead.
Conflicts come in waves. In addition, when playing in multiplayer mode, after the completion of the third encounter, the pair of the weakest gods must unite in order to survive. This effectively creates a team that shares a supply of warriors, followers, and also guards brought into play by the more powerful of the gods. The situation is very interesting and surprisingly very popular among pairs of brothers and sisters, because for a while there was no need to compete together and it was time for an alliance whose goal was to win. The big advantage of the couple is the fact that their combined god has two special abilities at his disposal. However, everyone has only one action that you need to learn how to work with.
When you’re only playing with two players, the fourth conflict can be the last one for the weaker one. Because if you have not crossed some milestone in piety, you have a problem, because you will be forgotten, and he can already step over the victory ribbon of your juice with sufficient piety up to this stage. The situation is also real when none of the gods succeeds and Egypt becomes an atheistic state from which the celestials are stolen, which means the failure of everyone who participates in the battle for worshipers.
Experience the battle of the celestials first hand in Ankh: Gods of Egypt
There are not so many board games with the Egyptian theme. Yes, there are several games on the market, but few are as distinctive as today’s Ankh: Gods of Egypt review. This is a work in which the topic of religion is considered from a very specific point of view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6gqoGENB4
In practice, this is a powerful strategy that can force you to give all your best during tactical planning. In addition to a very intense gameplay that presents the player with many challenges, the set also offers you relatively well-made figurines, a game plan and a number of scenarios that you can participate in with your friends, so that the fun for you does not end when you complete the first campaigns, rather the opposite. If you like Egypt and crave a real battle of divine beings, then this play is your choice.
Source :Indian TV
