Kemet: Blood and Sand

I own all three of what people call Matagot’s troops-on-a-map trilogy now, Cyclades, Inis, and this one, and Kemet is easily the most visceral of the three. There’s no diplomacy layer softening anything here, you’re committing armies and gods’ powers straight at each other, and the tension of deciding whether to stay home defending your temple or push out for a power tile is real every single turn.

The power tile system is the best part, honestly, it gives every game a different shape depending on what combination you and your neighbors draft, and my first play I took some genuinely reckless risks that got me hammered by three different players and I still won off the reward for having taken them. That’s a good sign for a design, when losing a fight can still be the correct play.

My real complaint is pacing at higher counts. A four-player game ran us three and a half hours, and everybody agreed the first two thirds flew by while the last half hour dragged, people running out of steam right as the game hits its climax, which is exactly backwards from where you want the energy to be. Kingslaying at the endgame is also a real risk once someone’s clearly ahead, the table just decides that person doesn’t get to win.

Four stars. Best components don’t matter here, the design earns it on its own, I just wish the ending matched the pace of everything before it.