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Main Catalogue | BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES | Rio Grande Games | Nefertiti

Nefertiti

Price: £34.99

(RRP = £39.99)

This item usually ships in 1 to 3 days.

Please note: This item is NOT normally available in our Bricks & Mortar shop. If you would like to collect a copy from the shop please contact us in advance.

Board Game; 3-4 Players by Rio Grande Games Néfertiti is set in ancient Egypt, when lords wanted to get favors from the pharaoh, Akhénaton. Hence each player must gain prestige points by sending servitors to the most remote places of Egypt to find the most magnificent presents. GAME REVIEW BY COUNTER MAGAZINE Éditions du Matagot / Rio Grande 3-4 players, 45 minutes designed by Jacques Bariot, Thomas Cauet & Guillaume Montiage reviewed by Ben Baldanza Nefertiti uses a nicely produced Egyptian veneer as the overlay for a clever bidding and set collection game. The game uses a combination of mechanisms that fit together very well. While at first it appears to be ``overproduced\'\' in terms of ideas, after several plays the game shows its strength as a series of many subtle strategies and thoughtful design. Players try to score the most points by collecting gift cards. Each different gift type appears several times on cards, and the card shows the point value based on the number of players that hold that type of gift. A player who uniquely holds one gift category earns more per card than if that type of gift is held by one other player, and earns even less if more than two players own a card of that type. Most of the scoring is at the game\'s end, but using special character cards the players can trigger mid-game scoring and sometimes get multiple scores out of the same card. The interesting mechanisms are tied to how the gift cards are earned. The board shows four market areas, each with two market stalls. On any round, in three of the four markets one of the two stalls is open and the other is covered. Each open market holds four gift cards, one of which comes bundled with a special royal seal. The stalls show locations where players can place pawns to bid for the cards at that market. The bid locations show a number, representing the bid, and there are different orientations and bidding values for each of the eight different stalls. Each stall also has a different ``market closed\'\' condition, making each set of four cards subject to different strategies depending on the market stall in play. Only three of the eight stalls are open each round, and since these change each round the game stays quite fresh throughout the play. This structure offers interesting dynamics much the way that Pizzaro & Co uses auctions or like the cards in Louis XIV. In their turn, players place a pawn into one open space in one of the three active stalls. They can place onto any of the spots, choosing a higher value (thus higher bid) spot or a lower value one. This placement continues until one of the markets closes, and it is resolved immediately. The highest bid pays that amount to the market\'s reserve and takes either two of the three gift cards without the royal seal of the single gift card with the seal. The next highest bidder can purchase any of the remaining cards for their bid amount, or take half of the money in the market\'s reserve. This continues until all players have resolved their pawns, either by buying gift cards, taking money from the reserve, or stepping away with nothing because nothing is left. That market is then closed, meaning both stalls are shut down, and the previously closed market is set up with one stall open. In this way, there always three stalls in play and the game rotates though all of them eventually. Players start with a certain amount of money and earn more by taking it in the way described above, or getting bonuses for being the first to place in a stall or bidding on specific spaces within a stall. Only the high bidder must buy cards with cash, and that becomes the minimum treasury for each market. Money is very tight in the game, and often a player must forego a high value card purchase in favor of a decent money draw. The market closing conditions are all interesting. One market closes based on the total value of the bids placed. In one stall, it closes if the total of the bids is 17 or greater. In the other stall, it closes if the total of the bids is exactly 11, exactly 14, or greater than 17. The other markets use different variations of pawn placements or colors of pawns. For example, one stall closes as soon as there are four or more pawns on connected bidding squares. Another has bidding spaces in a three by three grid and the market closes when three pawns form a line as in tic-tac-toe. Yet another closes as soon as three pawns of different colors are placed. Similar to the money bonuses for bidding in certain spaces, some spaces offer a gift card bonus, meaning that bids that win from these spots can buy more than the usual amount of gift cards. In one market, each stall limits the high bidder to just one card instead of two if they win with a low bid. The royal seals have two values. The most significant is that before a player places a pawn, they can purchase a character card with a royal seal from a fixed available set. These cards are executed when purchased, and allow players to score some of their cards immediately, take gift cards from a closed market, take money from a market reserve, exchange gift cards with another player, or force all players to discard one card of a specific gift type. These character cards can be very powerful when purchased at the right time. For example, a character can be used to get money making it possible to place a high bid in a market that forces it to close, locking them in to get cards they want. Or the character that forces everyone to discard one type can put a player into a scoring situation where they are the only holder of that gift and thus score the most for it. The second value of the royal seal is that it provides three victory points if unused at the game\'s end. A game end card is shuffled with five other gift cards and placed at the bottom of the gift card deck. When this card is pulled during a market refilling, the remaining markets are finished out and the game ends. Players score for the value of their gift cards, again based on the number of players that hold that type, as well as score for unused royal seals and money. The valuations have been well balanced; getting three points for the royal seals is generally less than the value from a character card, but not always since the character cards are discarded after use and late in the game there may not be one particularly helpful to you. Money buys victory points at two coins to one point, usually making it more useful to spend the money on bids rather than hoard it for points. Players must closely balance the use of character cards, understand the different market bidding values, be aware of impending closing conditions, and keep track of what cards they and others are buying. The decisions about where and how to bid can be tricky, and you must judiciously watch your cash. All of this seems like a lot to consider, and that\'s true, but the game holds together very well and tightly integrates the ideas to create a very solid play. This a game where the sum of the ideas is greater than the parts, even though this may not be clear after only a single play. Definitely don\'t negatively judge this on a single play as it gains strength once all the players learn the clever interactions of the mechanisms.

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Main Catalogue | BOARD GAMES & CARD GAMES | Rio Grande Games | Nefertiti

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