The Game of Senet
Senet was arguably the world's first board game, created in ancient Egypt in roughly 3,500 BC. In its time, Senet was exceptionally popular with everyone from commoners to pharaohs. Later in its reign of popularity, the Egyptians believed that people who were good at it were protected by the gods.
Unfortunately, since it was so popular, nobody bothered to write down the rules. Why bother when everyone knows how to play? In recent years, scholars made educated guesses and came up with a few different rule sets - we picked the best ideas from each, and made our own variation.
We modernized the game to make it appeal to today's gamer, while retaining all of the classic elements that made it so popular for over 2,000 years.
(click to enlarge images)
How do you play?
Senet is essentially a race game, like Backgammon, Sorry!, or Pachisi. The object is to move all of your pieces, or pawns, off the board before your opponent. You roll a single die to decide how far you can move a pawn during your turn. If you land on your opponent's pawn, you switch places with them.
It sounds simple enough, but there are a few obstacles standing in your way. If your opponent has two pawns in a row, you can't land on them and switch places. Worse yet, if your opponent has three pawns in a row, you can't even jump over them! Luckily, you can use these strategies against your opponent, too.
There are also special squares along the way, marked by hieroglyphics, that can either help or hurt you. Some require you to roll a certain number to get out of them. Another protects you from your opponent. The worst one sends your pawn back several squares.
Sounds like fun? It is. Want proof? Try the free demo now!
Features
- Single, two-player, and network play
- Five unlockable secrets
- Fabulous sound, music, and special effects
- Classic gameplay with modern enhancements
- Both Windows and Mac versions available
