Shadow of the Obelisk

Get ready to erect your own Egyptian obelisk in 'Shadow of the Obelisk,' a quick and straightforward game that challenges you to build and decorate this ancient wonder. Inspired by 'Tekhenu,' the idea here is to build higher and higher, but with a crucial twist: the shadow your obelisk casts can obscure important symbols on your wall, rendering them unusable. Each player receives a game sheet with areas to build the obelisk, a wall full of symbols, and three scrolls. In the center of the table, a pool of workers (represented by square tiles) awaits your commands.

The turn is simple: you choose a worker and rotate it clockwise. Then, all players write a symbol on their sheets. The active player copies the symbol from the top of the chosen worker, while the others copy the one from the bottom. The trick is that you can rotate or mirror the shape before drawing. You have three options for using this shape: building the obelisk, decorating with symbols, or, if it's a square, recording it on a scroll for later use. Building the obelisk requires fitting the piece into the designated area, without overlapping or exceeding boundaries, and always supported by something already built. Decorating involves copying the symbols onto the obelisk, but beware of the shadow! Using a scroll allows you to activate a bonus action on a future turn, such as an extra 'Tick and Write' round just for you. The game ends when someone reaches the top of the obelisk, and the final scoring comes from columns with identical symbols, rows with different symbols, completed levels, and filled scrolls. It's a game of quick thinking and spatial planning, perfect for those who enjoy 'paper-and-pencil' challenges with an Egyptian thematic touch.