Overview

Egizia is a worker-placement and resource-management game set in ancient Egypt. Over 5 rounds, players place ships along the Nile to claim actions – taking Nile cards, acquiring grain fields and quarries, and building monuments (Sphinx, Obelisk/Graves, Pyramid, Temple). Players manage construction crews of varying strength, feed them with grain from irrigated fields, produce stones, and build on three monumental building sites. A water ring on the board determines which grain fields are irrigated each round. The player who accumulates the most points from building, grave tiles, sphinx cards, and cooperation bonuses wins.

Components

• 1 large game board (Nile river with ship placement spaces, 3 building sites, scoring track, stone/grain markets)
• 4 player tableaus (construction crew track, stone marker track)
• 32 ships (8 per player in 4 colors)
• 96 stones (24 per player in 4 colors)
• 16 construction crew tiles (4 per player in 4 colors, values 1-3 plus 1 Joker)
• 56 Nile cards (22x1/2 value, 22x3/4 value, 12x5 value)
• 3-9 Sphinx cards
• 20 grave tiles (face-down, point values)
• 4 player sequence number tiles (1-4)
• 1 water ring
• 5 Scarab tiles

Setup

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table.
2. Each player draws a player sequence number tile secretly; return unused tiles to the box. With fewer than 4 players, return unused tiles.
3. Each player takes 1 player tableau and places the 4 construction crew tiles: the Joker on space 2 of the lower row, and the other 3 tiles on space 1 of the upper row.
4. Each player takes 8 ships in their color and places them in their play area.
5. Each player places 24 stones in their play area. Use 4 stones: 1 on the scoring track (player 1 in last place), 1 on the top-most space of the stone market, 1 on the top-most space of the grain market, and 1 as the stone marker on the stone table of the player tableau.
6. Each player takes 1 quarry start card and 1 grain start card, placed face-up beside the player tableau.
7. Shuffle the 3 sets of Nile cards (1/2, 3/4, and 5) separately and place them face-down next to the game board.
8. Place the water ring on the middle of the 3 irrigation spaces.
9. Shuffle the 20 grave tiles face-down and distribute them on the 12 grave spaces. Return remaining tiles to the box. Turn over the first 4 grave tiles.
10. Place the 4 Scarab tiles next to the game board. Whenever a player moves past 50 on the scoring track, they take one.
11. Shuffle sphinx cards and place them face-down as a supply. Each player draws one, looks at it, and places it face-down in their play area.

Turn Structure

The game lasts 5 rounds. Each round has 7 phases:

1. Lay Out Nile Cards

Draw 10 Nile cards from the supply and place them face-up on the 10 card spaces next to the Nile, beginning at the source. In rounds 1-2, draw from the 1/2 supply; in rounds 3-4, from the 3/4 supply; in round 5, from the 5 supply. At the end of rounds 2, 4, and 5, return unused cards.

2. Place Ships Along the Nile

Beginning with the player whose number is 1, then 2, 3, 4, and continuing in that order, each player places one of their ships on a Nile space. Important rule: A player must always place their new ship further down-river (toward the delta) from their already-placed ships. Only 1 ship may float on each space.

A player can place their ship on 3 types of spaces:

• Nile card space: Take the Nile card, then place a ship on the now-empty space. Execute the card action.
• Round space: Place the ship on a round space next to the Nile, executing the action designated by the space.
• Building space: Place the ship on an empty building space at one of the 3 building sites (Sphinx, Obelisk/Graves, Temple/Pyramid). A player may only place 1 ship at each site. If all 3 spaces at a site are empty, a player may speculate by placing their ship next to one and building later in phase 5.

When no player can or wants to place another ship, the phase ends. Players take back their ships except ships in building sites, which remain for phase 5.

3. Feed Construction Crews

Beginning with the player whose stone is in front on the scoring track, each player feeds their construction crews. The total strength of a player’s construction crews must be covered by grain from their irrigated grain fields. The water ring position determines which fields are irrigated:

• Green fields: Always irrigated.
• Yellow-green fields: Irrigated only if the water ring is in the center or right position.
• Brown fields: Irrigated only if the water ring is completely on the right.

If a player lacks enough grain, they lose points: the number of points lost depends on where their stone is on the grain market (between 1-3 spaces per unfed crew strength point).

4. Produce Stones

Each player moves their stone marker forward on their player tableau by the number of stones received from quarries.

5. Build

Players build at the 3 building sites from top to bottom: first the Sphinx, then the Obelisk/Graves, then the Temple/Pyramid.

Sphinx: The player takes 1 card and scores points for cards returned. They select 1 construction crew (plus possibly Joker), draw sphinx cards up to their crew strength (max 5), select 1 card, place the rest face-down under the sphinx supply. They reduce their stone count by the number of sphinx cards drawn. Sphinx cards count only during the final scoring.

Obelisk and Graves: The player selects 1 construction crew (plus possibly Joker) with sufficient total strength. They place 1 or more stones on the obelisk and/or take 1 or more grave tiles, then score points, reduce stones, and turn over used crew. When building the obelisk, build from bottom to top (lower numbers first). For graves, take the first face-up tile, then the next, etc. Turn over new grave tiles to maintain 4 face-up.

Pyramid and Temple: The player selects 1 construction crew (plus possibly Joker) with sufficient strength. They place 1 or more stones on the pyramid and/or temple, score points, reduce stones, and turn over used crew.

Pyramid rules: Build from bottom to top. The two columns on left and right are built separately; the two middle columns require a single stone each. The stones can be built on top once columns on both left and right are built. As soon as a row is completed, the player with the most stones scores 1 point per stone in the row. Ties: the player with a stone furthest left in the row wins.

Temple rules: Build from bottom to top. The two columns are built separately.

6. Bonus for Co-operation in Building

Each player scores bonus points for participating in building (used at least 1 stone). Count ships on the 3 building sites:

• 1 ship: 1 point
• 2 ships: 3 points
• 3 ships: 6 points

Players then take back their ships into their play areas.

7. Determine Player Sequence for Next Round

The player with the fewest points takes player sequence tile 1 (first player). The next lowest takes 2, etc. Ties: the player furthest back on the track gets the lower number.

Actions

Nile Card Types

• Anytime: Use this card on any of your turns. Return it to the box afterward.
• Permanent: Valid for the entire game. Grain fields and quarries are permanent.
• Immediately: Use this card immediately and completely, then return it.

Key Nile Card Effects

• Green/Yellow-green/Brown grain fields: Supply grain based on irrigation (water ring position).
• Quarry: Provides extra stones each round.
• Various cards allow: moving construction crews, adding stone to tableau, moving stone/grain market markers, drawing extra sphinx cards, selling stones, placing ships upstream, improving grain field levels, and more.

Round Spaces (on the Nile)

Each round space has a unique action:

• Edfu: Move stone and grain market markers down 1 space.
• Thebes: Move both shown construction crews 1 space right.
• Passalon: Move Joker construction crew 1 space right. May move the water ring 1 space left or right (must stay within the 3 round fields).
• Seilmun: Move both shown construction crews 1 space right.
• Beni Hasan: Move both shown construction crews 1 space right.
• Akir: Move one construction crew 1 space right. Add 2 stones to stone marker.
• Heliopolis: Same as Passalon (Nile card may not be used here).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Scoring During the Game

• Points from building (Obelisk, Pyramid, Temple).
• Points from completed pyramid rows.
• Co-operation bonus (1/3/6 points for 1/2/3 building sites used).

Final Scoring

1. Stone market conversion: If a player’s marker is on one of the bottom two spaces, they may sell remaining stones for 1 point per stone (up to 10, rounded down).
2. Grave tiles: Sum the values and score per table (1-10 = 2 points, 11-20 = 5 points, 21+ = 9 points).
3. Sphinx cards: Check each sphinx card for fulfilled conditions and score accordingly. Categories include: building conditions (“X is built”), having stones in certain buildings, reaching last levels, having productive quarries/fields, and construction crew conditions.
4. Scarab bonus: For each 10 points already scored (on the scoring table), gain an additional point.

The player with the most points wins. Tiebreaker: the player whose stone is in front on the scoring track.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• A player can use each construction crew in each round only once. After use, turn it over; it returns at the beginning of the next round.
• Construction crews are used but not consumed.
• The Joker construction crew can only be used alone, never with another crew.
• If a player does not build, they take their ship back from the building site.
• A player building on speculation (no ship at site) can do so if another player with a ship chose not to build.
• The water ring must always stay on one of the 3 round fields on the board.
• At game end, any player with their marker on the bottom or second-to-bottom space of the stone market may convert remaining stones to points at a rate of 2 stones for 1 point.
• With 2 or 3 players, use only 2 spaces at each building site (cover the 3rd with an unused-color stone).

Player Reference

Rounds: 5

Phase order: Lay out Nile cards > Place ships > Feed crews > Produce stones > Build > Co-operation bonus > Determine player sequence

Ship placement: Must always go further downstream than your previous ships

Feeding: Green fields always irrigated; yellow-green depends on water ring; brown only when water ring fully right

Building order: Sphinx > Obelisk/Graves > Pyramid/Temple

Co-operation bonus: 1/2/3 building sites = 1/3/6 points

Final scoring: Stone sales + Grave tile values + Sphinx card conditions + Scarab bonus

Win condition: Most points after final scoring