Imhotep

image from here

Today's game review is a 2016 release: Imhotep.

Overview
In Imhotep, your goal is to build the best civilization (which is determined by scoring the most points).  For 2-4 players, it plays quickly (under an hour) and ends after six rounds.  Each player owns a color of stone (brown, white, black, gray) and a sled that can hold five stones.  There are four boats each round (each differ in capacity based on a randomized round card) and you need to load your stones (from your sled) on to boats for transport to sites.  People share use of the boats, so one boat could have many different color stones on it.  When a boat is full, you dock it at a site to either build on it (pyramid, temple, burial chamber, obelisks) or obtain cards (market) that give you points or can be played in lieu of a normal turn.  Once a boat is docked, no other boat can dock at that site for that round, and stones are automatically unloaded and placed on a site in an order prescribed by the rules.  Players gain points based on how their stones are placed.  Depending on the site, stone placement earns a prescribed number of points immediately, each round, or at the end of the game.


Simplified Gameplay
Each round, a player can do one thing on his/her turn:
- Place two stones from the quarry on his/her 'sled' (a sled can hold no more than 5 stones)
OR
- Place one stone from his/her sled on to a boat (loading from back to front)
OR
- Move one at-capacity boat to a dock- it doesn't have to have any of your stones on it- and automatically unload it (from front to back) on the site as prescribed.  If the boat docks at the market, each player with a stone on the boat, from front to back,  chooses a card for use later as prescribed.  (The market holds 4 cards each round.)
OR
- Play a card obtained from the market that indicates it is to be used in lieu of the normal turn.

Play continues in a round until all four boats are docked.  Then, the next round begins as a new round card (prescribing the capacity of boats to be used) is chosen, boats are 'undocked' and changed out if necessary, and the next player (after the one who ended the previous round) proceeds playing.  After six rounds, points are tallied and winner declared.

game in progress (image from here)

Review
This was a pleasantly fun game.  There are a number of variables to keep things interesting, and each site is a mini 'puzzle' in a way, with different strategies required to gain the most points.  Order of stone loading and unloading matters, and this element means players will gain (or lose out on) points based on the actions of others.  Overall, this is a good experience.  I can see why it was a finalist for the Spiel des Jahres award.  A video review can be found here.

Rating: A