Amun-Re Gameplay Overview

Actions

Phase 1: Province Cards

Reveal province cards to determine which provinces are available for auction this round.

1. Draw province cards equal to the number of players.
2. Place each card next to its matching province on the board.
3. These provinces are now available for bidding.

• In rounds 1-3, draw from the shuffled deck. All 15 provinces will be auctioned across the 3 rounds of each epoch.

Phase 2: Province Auction

Players bid simultaneously on available provinces using their bidding tokens.

1. Each player secretly selects one bidding token and places it face-down on a province they want.
2. All tokens are revealed simultaneously.
3. If multiple players bid on the same province, the player with the lower bid must move to a different province (or pass). They can outbid on their new province if desired.
4. Continue resolving conflicts until each province has at most one bidder.
5. Players pay their winning bids to the bank and place their marker on the province.

• You may place a 0 bid token to pass this phase entirely.
• You cannot bid on a province you already own.
• The player who was outbid must bid higher than all existing bids on their new choice.

Phase 3: Actions

In player order, each player takes actions with their provinces.

1. Buy Farmers: Pay 1 gold per farmer and place them on your provinces.
2. Buy Building Stones: Pay gold based on province costs to acquire stones.
3. Build Pyramids: Convert 3 building stones into 1 pyramid on any of your provinces.
4. Draw Power Cards: If your province grants power cards, draw them now.
5. Sell Power Cards: You may sell power cards for gold.

• Some provinces have special abilities for buying stones, farmers, or free power cards.
• Provinces on the west bank provide camels (stones) while east bank provinces provide farmers more easily.
• You can build multiple pyramids if you have enough stones.

Phase 4: Sacrifice to Amun-Re

Players secretly commit gold to sacrifice, determining the Nile flood level.

1. Each player secretly sets aside gold for their sacrifice.
2. All sacrifices are revealed simultaneously.
3. Calculate total sacrifice and consult the flood table to determine harvest level.
4. The player who sacrificed the most gains 3 VP. Second most gains 2 VP. Third most gains 1 VP (ties share).
5. The player who sacrificed the least (including 0) gets a free power card.

• High total sacrifice = good flood = farmers produce more gold.
• Low total sacrifice = poor flood = farmers produce less.
• You may sacrifice 0 gold to try for the free power card.

Phase 5: Harvest

Collect income based on farmers and the flood level.

1. Each farmer produces gold based on the flood level (0-4 gold per farmer).
2. Some provinces have special harvest bonuses.
3. Collect province bonuses if applicable (gold, power cards, etc.).

• Provinces in Lower Egypt (north) generally benefit more from good floods.
• Provinces in Upper Egypt (south) have more consistent but lower harvests.

Key Concepts

• Epochs: The game has two epochs: Old Kingdom and New Kingdom. After the Old Kingdom (3 rounds), score pyramids and temples. Then provinces reset - players lose ownership but pyramids stay. The New Kingdom plays the same 3 rounds, followed by final scoring.
• Pyramids: Pyramids are permanent and remain on provinces between epochs. They score based on sets (having pyramids on both sides of the Nile) and total count in provinces you own at scoring time.
• Province Sets: At each scoring, earn bonus VP for owning provinces on both sides of the Nile, especially matching pairs with temples.
• Temples: Some provinces contain temples. Control of temples at scoring time provides bonus VP.
• Power Cards: Provide special abilities - some are one-time use, others ongoing. Can be sold for gold or kept for their effects.
• The Nile Flood: Determined by total sacrifice to Amun-Re. Affects how much gold farmers generate. A key tension between spending gold on sacrifice vs. saving for purchases.