Adam J Purcell

The Hieroglyphs Game

The Hieroglyphs Game BGG link

Players
2 to 8
Play time
20 minutes
Designers
Sara Finch, Leslie Scott
Publishers
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Games, Ltd.
Year
1989
Rating
3.98 (BGG average)

Mechanisms

Categories

Families

Description

Each player has a sheet showing words written in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Players roll a die and move around a board showing the glyphs, and put a counter on their sheet as their glyphs are reached. A simplistic game, more educational than fun, but nicely packaged with the rules written on a scroll tied with ribbon.

From the back of the box:

Involving both skill and chance, the game is an entertaining introduction to one of the oldest and most beautiful of written languages. Whilst no previous knowledge of this ancient script is required, play is designed to help you recognize a range of the more commonly found hieroglyphs - making future viewing of Egyptian exhibits even more exciting!

The game involves moving a scarab beetle around the board in an effort to collect the signs necessary to spell a given hieroglyphic word. Whilst attempting to do this, you are at the same time trying to thwart your opponents' efforts to complete their words.

The colorful game board displays the 24 signs of the basic hieroglyphic alphabet, plus a small selection of the seven hundred other signs used by Ancient Egyptian scribes.

Contents:

One Scarab Beetle Playing Piece

One Die

One Full color Board

Eight Hieroglyphic Word Sheets

One Rule Scroll

Twenty Black Counters