Imhotep: The Duel

Overview

A two-player duel where players take the roles of Nefertiti and Akhenaten, competing to build four monuments (Obelisk, Temple, Pyramid, Tomb) by tactically placing meeples on a harbor grid to claim cargo tokens from boats. The player with the most points at game end wins.

Components

• 60 Cargo tokens:
  • 12 Obelisk tokens
  • 12 Temple tokens (with 1, 2, 3, or 4 symbols)
  • 12 Pyramid tokens (6 dark, 6 light)
  • 12 Tomb tokens (numbered 1-12)
  • 12 Action tokens (3 each of 4 types)
• 8 Site boards (2 each for Obelisk, Temple, Pyramid, Tomb; A/B sides)
• 8 Meeples (4 black, 4 white)
• 1 Harbor board (1 reserve space, 9 harbor spaces in a 3x3 grid, 6 moorings)
• 6 Boat tokens (each with 3 cargo spaces)

Setup

1. Place the harbor board between the two players.
2. Place the 6 boat tokens in the 6 moorings of the harbor board.
3. Each player chooses a color (black or white) and receives 4 meeples and 1 set of site boards (Obelisk, Temple, Pyramid, Tomb). Place site boards in front of you, A-side up for first games.
4. Shuffle all cargo tokens face down into a supply pile.
5. Place 3 random cargo tokens face up on each boat (1st, 2nd, 3rd cargo spaces).
6. Place 3 random cargo tokens face down on the reserve space.

Turn Structure

Players alternate turns. The younger player begins. On your turn, you must choose exactly one of three actions:

1. Place One Meeple
2. Unload One Boat
3. Play One Action Token

Actions

Place One Meeple

Take one of your meeples from your repository and place it on any unoccupied harbor space. Only one meeple per harbor space. Cannot choose this action if all 4 meeples are already on harbor spaces.

Unload One Boat

Choose a boat moored at the end of a row or column that contains at least 2 meeples (of any color, not necessarily yours).

Each meeple in the chosen row/column unloads one cargo token:

• The meeple closest to the boat takes the 3rd cargo space (farthest from harbor).
• The next meeple takes the 2nd cargo space.
• The third meeple (if present) takes the 1st cargo space.
• Empty harbor spaces are skipped. An unmatched cargo token is returned to the box.
• After unloading, meeples return to their owners’ repositories.

The boat is then reloaded with 3 random cargo tokens from the supply. If the supply is empty and the boat cannot be reloaded, the boat is removed from the game.

Placing received tokens:

• Obelisk tokens: Column above the obelisk board.
• Temple tokens: Face-down stack on the temple board.
• Pyramid tokens: Above the matching color base (light or dark). Each pyramid holds up to 6 tokens (3 bottom, 2 middle, 1 top).
• Tomb tokens: Placed by number on the tomb board.
• Action tokens: Face up next to site boards.

Play One Action Token

Use one of your collected action tokens for its effect, then remove it from the game.

Action Token	Effect
Take 1 Cargo Token	Take any cargo token from any boat (except action tokens). Refill the space from the reserve.
Place 2-3 Meeples	Place 2 or 3 meeples following normal placement rules.
Place 1 Meeple + Unload 1-2 Boats	Place 1 meeple, then unload 1 or 2 boats.
Swap 2 Cargo Tokens + Unload	Swap 2 tokens on the same boat, then unload any boat.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when the second-to-last boat is removed from the game (only 1 boat remains). The last boat cannot be unloaded.

A-Side Scoring

Site	Scoring
Obelisk	1 point per token. Player with more obelisk tokens gets +6 bonus points.
Temple	1 point per circle symbol across all temple tokens.
Pyramid	Scored per pyramid (light and dark separately): 1/2/3/4/5/6 tokens = 1/3/6/10/15/21 points.
Tomb	Groups of consecutively numbered tokens: 1/2/3/4/5+ connected = 1/4/9/16/25 points. Score all groups. Tokens 12 and 1 are NOT connected.
Unused Action Tokens	1 point each.
Meeples on Harbor	1 point each.

B-Side Scoring

Site	Scoring
Obelisk	First to 5 tokens: 12 bonus points. Other player with 5+: 6 points. 10+ tokens: 18 points.
Temple	Sets of different-valued tokens (1/2/3/4 symbols): 1/2/3/4 different = 1/4/9/16 points per set.
Pyramid	Only the smaller pyramid scores: 0/1/2/3/4/5/6 tokens = -6/0/4/10/15/30/45 points.
Tomb	Each group (regardless of size) = 4 points. Single tokens count as groups.

Highest total wins. Tiebreaker: the player who did not start the game wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• You may unload a row/column even if none of the meeples in it are yours.
• A single tomb token counts as a “group” for scoring purposes.
• Tomb tokens 12 and 1 are not considered connected/consecutive.
• When a boat cannot be reloaded from an empty supply, it is removed from the game.
• The last remaining boat cannot be unloaded and its tokens are not scored.
• Both players must use the same side (A or B) for each site board, but can mix A and B across different sites.

Player Reference

Pyramid scoring (A-side):

Tokens	Points
1	1
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15
6	21

Tomb scoring (A-side) — consecutive groups:

Group Size	Points
1	1
2	4
3	9
4	16
5+	25