Sobek

In Sobek, ancient Egypt sets the stage as the temple to the crocodile god rises and the market bustles with goods arriving by ship. The game unfolds over three rounds, each round laying out five groups of nine cards, giving players a pool of forty‑five cards to draw from. On your turn you have three choices: take a resource card, play a character with a special ability, or display a set of resource cards you have collected. Grabbing profitable cards boosts your income, but it also adds corruption tokens that pile up in front of you. At the end of the round all displayed cards are scored, yet the player with the most corruption symbols sees his earnings slashed by almost half. Dutch auction kicks in when multiple cards are contested: everyone reveals a single bid simultaneously and the highest bidder claims the card. Hand management is key, as you must balance gathering resources, using characters, and limiting corruption. Memory comes into play as you try to recall which cards remain or which sets are still completable. Open drafting lets everyone see the available cards, creating tension over what the opponent might snatch. The game ends when a player reaches 100 points or after the third round, and the highest scorer wins. Sobek mixes luck (the cards you draw), tactics (auction and character choices), and a dash of skullduggery, since corruption can backfire on its owner. With a light weight of 1.8 and a 40‑minute playtime, it’s perfect for families and groups that enjoy quick decisions and a thematic bargaining vibe in ancient Egypt.