How to Play

Amun-Re

3-5 players 90-90 min 7.3 Board Game Geek Rating

Players compete as Egyptian pharaohs seeking pyramid supremacy along the Nile. The core gameplay involves acquiring provinces through bidding, then developing them for trade and farming income. Profits fund additional territories and pyramid construction materials. Strategic power card management and religious sacrifices to Amun-Re are essential. Victory belongs to whoever constructs the most impressive pyramid empire.

Published 2003

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Sort gold cards

Organize Gold cards by value and place stacks beside the board

Place offering tiles

Put Offering Tiles face-up by the board

Prepare province deck

Shuffle and stack Province deck face-down with 3 Province cards per player, return rest to box

Distribute Architect cards

Deal each player 1 Architect Favor card (statue back), shuffle remaining cards and place face-down beside board

Supply farmer tokens

Put a supply of Farmer Tokens by the board

Distribute player components

Each player takes 3 Scribe pawns in their chosen color

Place VP markers

Put VP markers by the score track

Deal starting gold

Give each player 20 Gold in cards (10/5/2/2/1 denominations), players may make change at any time

Deal theft cards

Give 1 Theft card to each player

Determine start player

Pick start player and give them the Start Player token (may change based on offerings to Amun-Re)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Draw province cards

Draw 1 card from Province deck for each player, place face-up on board on matching Province

Place immediate bonuses

Put immediate bonuses indicated on board for each Province (place cards face-down)

Understand permanent bonuses

Province borders show ongoing benefits: Favor (max cards purchasable), Gold Mine during Harvest, gold from Caravan Offerings, VP from Temples during Harvest, and Fields that house 1 Farmer token

Bid on provinces

Start player begins by placing Scribe to bid on a Province or passing

Follow bidding rules

May bid any space higher than current bid; if outbid, your next bid cannot be on same Province

Play Bribery card

If outbid, may play Bribery Favor card to jump your bid

Play Protection card

Play after bidding to block the next highest bid spot on that Province

Resolve auction

Continue bidding until each Province has only 1 Scribe; winners pay gold to reserve and collect immediate bonuses

Purchase in order

In player order, purchase Favor cards, then Farmers, then Stones (in that exact order)

Buy Favor cards

Purchase number of cards equal to highest Favor symbol in any owned Province (not combined); if no symbols, cannot purchase

Place farmer tokens

Farmer tokens must be immediately placed in open Field space in Province you control

Use Free Farmer card

Play to place farmer in any Province (even without field) separate from regular Farmer purchase

Purchase and place stones

Stones must be placed immediately in Provinces you control; can purchase beyond board scale (8 = $36, 9 = $45, etc.)

Build pyramids

When 3 stones placed in Province, replace with Pyramid; if 2nd Pyramid, replace both with double Pyramid

Use Architect card

Play to build 1 Pyramid with only 2 stones

Make offerings

Players select and simultaneously reveal gold cards, blue Favor cards, or a Theft card

Calculate totals

Total each player's offering (subtract 3 for Theft)

Modify with blue cards

In player order, players who played blue Favor cards declare if they will add or subtract from collective offering

Determine harvest level

Place selected Offering tile in Nile Delta space based on collective offering

Resolve Theft

If Theft played, return card to hand and steal 3 gold from reserve

Collect rewards

Highest contributor gets 3 rewards, 2nd gets 2, everyone else gets 1; reward is choice of cards, stones, or farmers; Theft players get no reward

Transfer start player

Player who offered most gets start player token (tie: first in turn order wins)

Collect income

In player order, collect gold from mines, caravans (if camel on current offering tile), and farmers (gold per farmer equals amount on offering tile)

Play Treasury card

Collect 8 gold from a Province instead of normal income

Play Big Harvest card

Get 1 extra gold per farmer from 1 Province

Limit Favor card usage

Can only play 1 of each type of Favor card per phase

Discard unwanted Favor cards

May use unwanted Favor cards as payment for resources (1 card = 1 gold)

Winning

How to claim victory.

Complete game structure

Play 2 Ages (Old Kingdom & New Kingdom), each consisting of 3 rounds; score at end of each Age

Reset between Ages

After 1st Intermediate Scoring, remove Scribes and Farmers, reshuffle Province deck; Pyramids and Stones stay on board

Score temples

Gain 1/2/3/4 VP for each Temple shown on Provinces you control (VP equals gold on offering tile)

Score pyramids owned

Gain 1 VP for each Pyramid on Provinces you control (double Pyramids count as 2)

Score fewest pyramids bonus

Gain 3 VP for each Pyramid in your Province with fewest Pyramids (0 VP if any Province has 0)

Score Nile majority

Gain 5 VP for having Province with most Pyramids on each side of Nile (East and West scored separately); ties broken by stones, then all tied players score

Score yellow Favor cards

Gain 3 VP for each yellow Favor card played whose conditions are satisfied (discard after played)

Final gold scoring

After 2nd Age: +6 VP for highest combined Gold card value, +4 for 2nd highest, +2 for 3rd highest; tied players score top value but skip subsequent award

Determine winner

Most VP wins; tie broken by most Pyramids on owned Provinces, then Stones