Reiner Knizia is a euroboardgaming demigod. He is probably the most prolific designer in the hobby. I own many of his designs and four of them are among my all-time favorites: Modern Art, Taj Mahal, Tigris & Euphrates, and the focus of this review, Amun-Re.
Overview of gameplayAmun-Re is a game for 3-5 players where you compete to build pyramids in ancient Egypt. In vintage Knizia fashion, it’s not simply a matter of the quantity of pyramids you build but also the location.
Each player starts with a certain amount of gold cards, a -3 gold card, and a building stone power card. This power card allows you to build a pyramid using only two building stones (usually you need three).
The board is divided into 15 provinces bisected by the river Nile. Each province has specific characteristics. Some are fertile and have farms (mostly the ones on the banks of the Nile). Some come with free building stones. Others have a temple or a caravan trade route (symbolized by a camel). Still others allow you to draw or come with free power cards.
The game is played over six rounds. The first three is the Old Kingdom and the last is the New Kingdom. In each round, one province per player randomly becomes open for bidding. You bid gold to try to take control of a province. If you are outbid, you must move your bidding marker to another province. If you outbid someone there, he/she has to move his/her bidding marker elsewhere. When everyone’s bidding markers are on different provinces, the bidding ends and players take control of their respective provinces. Some power cards allow you to break the rules of the bidding.
You then get to buy resources for your provinces, the one you just gained and the ones you already control from previous rounds. There are three resources: building stones (three stones = one pyramid), farmers, and power cards. There is no limit to the number of pyramids you can build in a province and the number of power cards in your hand. Farmers are limited by the number of farm spaces in your provinces.
After this, all players make an offering to Amun-Re for a good harvest. Each player offers a secret amount of gold; you can offer your -3 gold card to steal from the offering instead. When done, all offers are revealed and the total offering is added up. Some power cards allow you to adjust the total up or down added up. The higher the offering, the greater the amount of income (in gold) produced by each farmer. If the offering is low, caravan routes produce income as well. Those who offered the most gold get free resources as a reward.
At the end of three rounds, a scoring round occurs. You earn 1 point for each pyramid. For each set of three pyramids in three different provinces, you earn 3 points. If you have the most pyramids on one side of the Nile, you earn 3 points. If you have temples in your provinces, you earn points depending on the last offering. Some power cards give you a bonus of 3 points if you fulfill certain conditions, such as having your three provinces all on one side of the Nile or all on the banks or away from the banks of the Nile, or having nine or more farmers total.
After the first scoring round, the Old Kingdom ends. Everything on the board is removed except for pyramids. A new round begins and the provinces become open for bidding in a new random sequence. Three rounds are played out just as in the Old Kingdom until final scoring. The only difference in the final scoring is that you earn bonus points for having the most and second most gold. You win by earning the most points.
My takeUnlike other brain burners I love, Amun-Re is actually enjoyable to play. It doesn’t feel heavy at all. The rules take some getting used to but are ultimately easy to learn. And it clocks in at just the right length at 90 minutes.
The first auction for control of provinces is crucial but not gamebreaking. Some provinces are more valuable early in the game while others are more valuable later. Then the values can change drastically after the Old Kingdom because of the remaining pyramids. This causes a lot of interaction and constant reevaluation of the situation.
You also need to manage your cashflow as gold is needed to earn victory points. This makes the second auction, the blind bid for the offering, a tug of war as the players with caravans will want a low harvest while those with many farms will want a rich harvest.
The beauty of the game is that you always have options. If you fail to take the most valuable province because you were outbid, you will likely end up with a weaker province that you might pay nothing for.
And then there are the power cards, the great balancing factor. If you have few farms or caravans, power cards can compensate. The ones that give bonus points can have a big impact on the scoring. Yes, they introduce an element of luck but I believe they are all balanced and useful. Besides, you have the option to discard a power card at any time for 1 gold.
Unlike most of the heavy games I like, Amun-Re is best with five players. That way all the provinces come into play and the bidding and offerings are much more interesting.
Ultimately, Amun-Re stands as a classic Knizia design. It’s unlike any of his other games and I daresay it’s unlike any other game of its class that I’ve played. None of the mechanics are particularly clever or unique (except perhaps for the clearing of the board halfway through the game), but they meld together into an elegant whole. It may not be the first Knizia title on gamers’ minds, but it deserves to be in the top five at least.
My rating for Amun-Re is 9.
Pros: Brain burner that isn’t intimidating; Plays best with five players; Thematic for a Knizia game; Halftime ‘reset’ forces you to reevaluate
Cons: Power cards introduce an element of luck
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