Looking for a quick game to fill the time? Try building your own market with the Ankh’or board game! Best of all its only a two-person game!
Ankh’or is a 2-5 player game brought to you by designers Frank Crittin, Grégoire Largey, and Sébastien Pauchon and publisher Space Cowboys. A typical game will last around 20-30 minutes. Definitely a great filler game or title to bring out when time is a limited commodity.
Ankh’or: $24.99
Get It For Less At Miniature Market
Ankh’or takes place in ancient Egypt where players need to be savvy in the marketplace and a skilled builder if they want to get ahead. Each turn, players either collect resource tokens, like Fish, Cloth, or Bamboo, or they spend those tokens in the market to collect building tiles.
Some tiles have special abilities, such as the Warehouse that can store resource tokens or the Scribe that grants players an immediate bonus turn. As tiles are acquired, players must place them in their growing structure. At the end of the game, they score points for grouping tiles of the same symbol and the same color. The player with the most points earns the favor of the gods.
Contents:
1 Rulebook
1 Price Board
15 Price Markers
36 Tokens
12 Bonus Tokens
55 Tiles
Ages: 10+
Players: 2
Game Length: 30 minutes
Build Your Own Market: Ankh’or Board Game Review
Ankh’or is a fun and fast-paced resource management game. You can, on a turn, choose up to three goods or two goods and an ankh. Or you can spend goods to purchase a tile from the marketplace. These tiles are then placed into a structure that you build how you like. You’ll score points for every contiguous tile of the same color or same animal symbol. Once you have four tiles set up in a two by two square, you can place a fifth tile on top like a pyramid. Every time you connect five contiguous colors or symbols you gain a bonus token worth three points. The game ends once someone places a thirteenth tile into their structure. The end comes very quickly so you can see how this is definitely a fantastic filler game.
There is a limit per turn on how many resources you can hold. You may only keep five resources and two ankhs at a time. Some tiles have a clear circle on them. These are warehouses and can store an extra resource of the tile’s color on it. Tiles with a human are scribes they allow you to immediately take another turn.
The ankh lets you reset the market, which unlike most games doesn’t automatically happen ever. That was a fresh surprise for me as most games have a mechanism that resets anytime something is empty. Alternatively, you may spend an ankh to move a tile in your structure to another place. The ankh use is free and can happen before or after you take an action.
Interestingly enough, Ankh’or was designed to be a two-player game much like Jaipur. I think the fact that they implemented a three and four-player version is great as most game nights it’s more than two people who show up. That being said this plays beautifully at only two.
I definitely recommend Ankh’or if you’re into games like Splendor. Nice quality components and beautiful artwork are a huge bonus. Quick simple gameplay, yet it does have a puzzle quality to it. All those add up to a winner in my book. This one is sure to be a hit at your game night.
I hope you get to try this title out.
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About the Author: Christopher Guyton
When not driving forklifts for a living Chris can be found pushing cubes and chucking dice at Gamer’s Guild in Spring Lake, NC
