Yeah, let’s have some fun with the titles again. Luxor is the newest game on the list, though I do have a few more that I could write about as well. But Luxor is a pyramid exploration game. Really, it’s a game where you move your workers (archeologists) through a pyramid winding your way to the middle. You collect things, and see who comes out of there with the most valuable treasure. Sounds easy enough, but is Luxor a good game with that simple sounding play?

How to Play Luxor

Like I said above, Luxor is an archeologist movement game where you are trying to to collect sets and other scoring tiles. You start with two archeologists, and then you play a card to move one of them. That determines how far they move which will determine what tile they land on.

Gaining Tiles

The tiles are where the set collection and scoring come in. Some of the tiles require a certain number of archeologists to get them. If you are the one to get it, you add it to your collection of artifacts. Each artifact has an in game scoring point total, higher points require more archologists, and can be part of a set at the end of the game. Tiles also give you other things like a key, scarab, a wild token, or a better card to add to your hand.

Hand Management

Now, there are some special rules for playing and getting cards. When you play out a card you must pick it from either end and you can’t rearrange your hand. And when you get a new card it must go in the middle. So as you take turns the cards will get pushed from the middle to the outside of your hand.

Archologists

Also as you move further into the pyramid, you unlock more archeologists. Those archeologists get moved from their unlock spot to the starting location.

End Game

The game is going to end when two archeologists reach the final chamber. To move into the final chamber you need the exact number and a key. Now keys can be worth a point at the end of the game as well, but generally you get it to try and make it into that final chamber. There you grab a sarcophagus which is going to give you more points. And once two archeologists are in the final chamber, they can both be from the same player, the game end is trigger. And game end scoring occurs for sets and other hidden scoring.

What Doesn’t Work

This is a game that says it’s for 2-4 players, and I think it’s like a lot of more puzzle and planning games interaction changes at different player counts. At two or three I can plan out my moves a bit more because I know generally what range my opponents can move and where I stand with them. At four players the game is going to feel a lot more random in what you do because there is so much that can change. Sure you might plan some, but it’ll be less.

To add to that, at higher player counts it eats into your scoring as well. The number of tiles in the game doesn’t change. And I think that additional randomness and lower scoring make it feel a little bit less fun. Now it’s more adaptive and gives you more reactionary planning and the player who is best at that will win, but it’s not as streamlined into good strategy and setting up turns.

What Works

Decision Space

Firstly, I really like the card system. It makes the game really simple to play. As a player I can play one of two cards. I decide which one to play and then I look at my workers and see which one to move. So, let’s say I unlock all my archeologists at the end of the game, I am limited to 10 total choices. Two cards and five archeologists. It’s never too much, and you know that some are just not worth moving no matter what.

It is also interesting in a good way with how you add cards into your hand and how cards flow through. Sure, I talked about the simplicity of knowing what moves you have, but you see your upcoming moves. You know next two the two cards that you’ll have. So there is more strategy there, and that is why I called out the added randomness at four players. To me, this is probably ideal at two or three players, probably three, for that bit of randomness and more interaction of racing for spots, but not too much. Because I like to plan with my cards.

Game Speed

The game is also a quick game. I talked about how there is limited decision making on the turns, so it means you take your turn quickly. And while you might bog down once or twice during a game, that is going to be mainly limited. That means for a game with a number of moving pieces, it moves along quite quickly.

Scoring

I also like the scoring in the game as a final thing. There is a good amount of open knowledge for scoring, and there is hidden scoring too. That is a nice balance for me because I like to know where I’m at, but not how it’s going to end. So if I fall behind, I know when to push, if I’m ahead, I might push for the end game. Or I might push for more hidden scoring to keep people guessing. But it is also nice because that means end game scoring doesn’t take too long.

Who Is Luxor For?

For me, this is a game for people who like games with some strategy. It isn’t going to be heavy strategy, but enough strategy that as you play it, you feel like your brain is working. It’s almost an introduction to strategy games with just a little bit on top with the card system. But generally it is going to be something a lot of players can enjoy and share with others.

Final Thoughts on Luxor

I enjoy this game a lot. It’s that light plus weight strategy game for me. And I think it works well for me because I don’t feel like I’m overwhelmed with anything in playing it. I know my decision space at the end of each turn, and I work with it from there. Yes, you might mess up a plan, but then it’s a pretty quick pivot for the game.

I do think it does suffer a bit more at four players. While four players isn’t bad, it does feel like you can plan less. And with the hand system that it uses, I want to be able to plan. I want to feel clever for what is in my hand, and while it’s almost always an obvious move, it’s still nice to pull that off.

My Grade: B+
Strategy Grade: B+
Luck Grade: C-

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