For 2-4 Players, Ages 10 Years and Up

GAME STORY
Imhotep was the first and most famous master builder of ancient Egypt. He is
considered one of the earliest polymaths in the history of humanity. For example,
he is said to have been responsible for building the very first pyramid in Egypt
the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara. Can you match his accomplishments in creating
monuments for the ages? You will need ships to transport blocks of stone to various
building sites. But you will not be the only one making decisions about where to
send the ships and their cargoes. Your opponents will have their own plans and will
try to prevent your success. A fierce competition will unfold over the most valuable
stone shipments. It will take clever tactics and a little luck to achieve success.

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1
 GAME OBJECTIVE Ship tokens

Each player assumes the role of an Egyptian master

builder. You will have 6 rounds to transport your stones
to the various sites and to erect monuments in such a
way that you earn the most points. Whenever your turn
comes up, you will select one of the following 4 action
options:
Get new stones
Place 1 stone on the ship
Sail 1 ship to a site
Play 1 blue market card
Delivering the stones gets you various points in various
ways sometimes more points, sometimes fewer;
sometimes right away, sometimes at the end of a round,
and sometimes at the end of the game. Whoever has the
most points after 6 rounds is the winner.

GAME MATERIALS
120 Wooden blocks (called stones)
(30 in each of the 4 game colors:
black, white, brown, and gray)
5 Site boards
1 Scoring track board
8 Ship tokens
4 Supply sled tokens
(1 in each of the 4 game colors:
black, white, brown, and gray)
21 Round cards
34 Market cards

Site boards

Supply sled tokens

2
 GA ME PREPAR ATION
Round cards Place the 5 site boards in the center of the table as
shown in the illustration. All site boards have an A side
and a B side. In your first few games, use the A side.
You can use the B sides in later games as a variant to the
standard game play. So be sure that the A sides of the
boards are showing in your first game.
Place the scoring track board to the right of the site
boards. Use this to keep track of all players points.
Have the 8 ship tokens ready above the boards.
Separate the 21 round cards from the 34 market cards.
Shuffle the 34 market cards and place them face down
as a draw pile to the right of the A) Market board.
There are 7 round cards for two, three, and four
players.
Market cards Use the 7 round cards with
2 heads on them in a
two-person game.

Use the 7 round cards with

3 heads on them in a
three-person game.
Stone quarry
(with all players stones) Use the 7 round cards with
4 heads on them in a
four-person game.
Pull out the 7 round cards corresponding to your
number of players. You will not need the other 14
round cards. Place them back in the box. Since you will
only be playing for 6 rounds, you must now pick one of
your 7 round cards at random and place it back in the
box as well. Shuffle the remaining 6 round cards and
place them face down in a single stack next to the 8
ship tokens.
Each player chooses a color (black, white, brown, or
gray) and gets a supply sled token in that color.
With fewer than 4 players, the unused supply sled
token(s) and stones of the unused color(s) go back in the
Scoring track board box.
(You can earn more than 40 points. In this case, All of the stones go in a pile to the right of the site
just keep moving your stone block around the board boards, forming the stone quarry.
and remember that you have circled the board once Each player places 1 stone in his or her color on the
already.) 0/40 space of the scoring track.
Starting player Decide who will be the player to start. The starting
(2 stones on his or player gets 2 stones in his or her color from the stone
her supply token) quarry and places them on his or her supply sled token.
The second player (who is the player to the left of the
starting player) gets 3 stones for his or her supply sled
token, the third player (the player to the left of the
second player) gets 4 stones, and the fourth player gets
5 stones, each in their color.

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 COURSE OF PLAY TURN
The player whose turn it is must carry out exactly one of
The game is played over 6 rounds.
the following 4 actions:
COURSE OF A ROUND Get new stones
Each round proceeds as follows:
Take 3 stones of your color from the stone quarry and
At the start of the round, turn over the top round
place them on your supply sled token.
card. It will indicate which 4 ship tokens are available
in this round. Arrange these tokens spaced not too
closely together to the left of the site boards.
There are ships with various amounts of space for
stones:
Two boats have space for 4 stones, three have
space for 3 stones, two have space for 2 stones,
and one boat has space for 1 stone.
Note: Your supply sled token has enough space for a
maximum of 5 stones!
For example, if you only have space for 2 stones and you
choose this action, you can only take 2 stones from the
quarry.
If you have no more stones in the quarry, you cannot
take any more stones.

OR

Place 1 stone on a ship

Take 1 stone from your supply sled token and place it on
any empty space on a ship that has not yet sailed to a site.

Example: If you have turned over the round card shown

above, take one four-stone ship, one three-stone ship, and
two two-stone ships, and arrange them spaced not too
closely together to the left of the site boards.
Then turn over the top four market cards from the
draw pile and place them face up on the market board.
OR

Sail 1 ship to a site

Slide 1 ship to a site board.
You must observe 2 conditions, however:
1) The ship must already be loaded with at
least the minimum required number of
stones. The gray stone symbols at the bow
of the ship indicate the minimum number for that ship.
This number varies from ship to ship.
2) The site to which the ship is sailing must still have
an open dock. In other words, no other ship can have
If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile and sailed to it in this round.
create a new draw pile. The ships stones are then unloaded by their owner
(indicated by color) in order from front to back and
Then all the players take their actions in turns, delivered to the site beginning with the stone placed
beginning with the starting player. closest to the front. Ignore any empty spaces on the ship.
Each turn goes as follows:

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 At each of the 5 sites, there are different rules for what END OF ROUND
the stones owner will receive for each stone delivered, When all 4 ships have been sailed to the sites, the round
and when they will receive it. The market and the ends immediately.
pyramid are assessed immediately. The temple is Now the temple is assessed. Each stone visible from above
assessed at the end of each round. The burial chamber yields 1 point. In other words, stones covered by other
and the obelisks are not assessed until the end of the stones no longer yield any points.
game. Read the exact rules for each site under the
Explanations of the A sides of the sites heading on
pages 7 and 8 of this manual.

Important: You are also permitted to sail a ship when

you do not have a stone of your own on it. The only Example: The temple is assessed at the end of the round.
requirement is that both of the above conditions must be Here, the gray player gets 2 points (for 2 stones visible from
met. After a site has been sailed to, the now-empty ship above). The white, brown, and black players get 1 point
remains at the sites mooring area until the end of the each (each for 1 stone visible from above).
round. This way, you can see that no more ships can sail
to that site during that same round. No more than one
Prepare FOR THE NEXT ROUND
ship can sail to any given site per round. Return the 4 ships to the pile of other ships.
Gather up any market cards still remaining on the
market board and place them on the discard pile.
All stones already placed on site boards and supply sled
tokens stay in place.
4. 3. 2. 1. The next round begins.
Turn over the next round card from the pile, get the 4
ships indicated on the card, and place them to the left of
the site boards.
Turn over 4 new market cards from the pile and place
Example: This four-stone ship was sailed to the pyramid. them on the market board.
Beginning with the stone closest to the front, all the stones The starting player for the new round is the player to
are now placed on the pyramid. The pyramid yields points the left of the player who sailed the fourth ship in the
immediately for each stone delivered, in accordance with previous round.
the number value indicated on the space.
END OF GA ME
OR
The game ends after 6 rounds.
Play 1 blue market card Then the final point assessment, or scoring, takes place.
If you have one of these cards, you can play it and make Final point assessment (scoring)
use of its benefit. Start by assessing the stones in the burial chamber. The
The played card is then placed on the discard pile. point assessment is explained on page 7 under the A)
You can only play 1 blue market card per turn. Burial chamber heading.

Then it is time to assess the obelisks. Their point

assessment is explained on page 8 under the A)
Obelisks heading.
The decoration and statue market cards yield points
Each player takes action in turns and always performs in accordance with what is printed on them. The point
exactly one action per turn. assessment of the cards is explained on page 12. Unused
Each players turn will come up several times per round. blue market cards yield an additional value of 1 point
The round does not end until all 4 ships have been sailed each.
to the various sites. The player with the most points is the winner.
Important: Since there are only 4 ships available per In case of a tie: The player with the greater number of
round, there will always be 1 of the 5 site boards that will stones on his or her supply sled token is the winner. If
not be sailed to in each round! this is also a tie, the tied players share first place.

5
 PUBLISHERS INFORMATION
Author:
Since childhood, Phil Walker-Harding Phil Walker-Harding and KOSMOS thank all the test
has loved playing and inventing board players and rule reviewers.
games. He particularly likes games that Special thanks go to Meredith Walker-Harding, Leo
bring together people of different ages Colovini, Chris Morphew, Nick Barnett, Kerryn and
and personality types. Andrew Young, Josh and Naomi Pryde, Marion Engelke,
Phil is also interested in theology, classic Maria Fischer-Witzmann, Arnd Fischer, Thomas Wessels
Hollywood films, and the myths of and Markus Potthast.
ancient Egypt. He lives with his wife Meredith in Sydney,
Australia.
2016 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG
The prototype edition of Imhotep, under the name Pfizerstr. 5-7, D-70184 Stuttgart, Germany.
Builders of Egypt, won second place in the Premio Phone: +49 711 2191-0; Web: kosmos.de
Archimede board game designers competition in 2010. 2016 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA
Thames & Kosmos is a registered trademark of Thames & Kosmos, LLC. All
rights reserved.

Distributed in North America by Thames & Kosmos, LLC. Providence, RI

02903
Phone: 800-587-2872; Web: thamesandkosmos.com
Illustration: Miguel Coimbra
Graphics: Michaela Kienle Distributed in United Kingdom by Thames & Kosmos UK, LP. Goudhurst,
Editor, Original German Edition: Ralph Querfurth Kent TN17 2QZ
Phone: 01580 212000; Web: thamesandkosmos.co.uk
English Translation: David Gamon
English Text Editing: Ted McGuire Printed in Germany / Imprim en Allemagne

6
 EXPLANATIONS of THE Once the pyramid is completely built, each additional
stone delivered to the pyramid yields 1 point. Place these
A SIDES OF THE SITES stones at the right edge of the pyramid board.
A) Market
For each stone
delivered here, the
owner of the stone can
immediately take any
1 face-up market card.
Explanations of the various market cards can be found
on page 12 of this manual.
Important: The delivered stones must be returned to the Example: The illustration above shows how a completed
quarry after taking the card. pyramid (consisting of 3 levels) can look at the end.
Drawn cards must be placed face up in front of you.
The red cards must be played immediately. These are A) Temple
then placed in the discard pile. For each stone
The blue market cards can be played exactly once as an delivered here, the
action in a later turn of the player who draws it. The owner of the stone
purple statue cards and the green decoration cards will earns points at the end of the round if the stone is visible
earn you points at the end of the game. from above.
Place the stone on the next free space in the temple.
Placement of the stones begins from the left, until the
first level is full. With 3 and 4 players, all 5 spaces of the
temple are covered. With 2 players, just the first 4 spaces
are covered.
When the first level is full, continue to the second level,
beginning again from the left. The stones on the first
level are covered over in the process, and so on with
additional levels. There is no height limit.
Example: This four-stone ship was sailed to the market.
The white player can first take a card and she selects the
sail card. Then the brown player chooses the statue card.
Then the gray player chooses the lever card. By the end,
all of the stones that were on the ship are returned to the
quarry.

A) Pyramid
For each stone delivered
here, the owner of the
stone earns points
immediately. Place the Example: This three-stone ship was sailed to the temple.
stone on the next free space in the pyramid. Stones are The first brown stone goes on the last free space on the
placed column by column. Placement of the stones begins lowest level. The second brown stone goes on the first space
at the top left until the column is full. Continue to the on the second level. The white stone goes on the second
center column, starting again at the top. space on the second level.
When the first level (3x3 stones) is full, continue building
in the second level, as shown in the illustration. A) Burial Chamber
In the second level, start once again at the top left. The For each stone
second level only includes 2x2 stones, however. delivered here, the
When the second level is full, continue building in the owner of the stone
third level, which only consists of one single stone. earns points at the
Each stone that you place yields the number of points end of the game. Stones are placed column by column.
indicated on the space. The values of the spaces in the Placement of the stones begins at the top left until
second and third levels are indicated on the right side of the column is full. Then continue to the next column,
the board. starting again from the top, and so on.

7
The burial chamber is unrestricted in the rightward The following point assessment applies to a
direction. In other words, there can be as many columns two-person game:
as you like, even if you have to go to the end of the board. The player with the tallest obelisk gets 10 points.
At the end of the game, points are earned as follows: Each The person with the second-tallest obelisk gets 1 point.
area consisting of one stone or more than one connected
stones of a single color yields a certain number of points The following point assessment applies to a
depending on the number of stones. Connected stones three-person game:
must be touching along at least one side. Stones touching The player with the tallest obelisk gets 12 points.
only diagonally at corners are not connected. The player with the second-tallest obelisk gets 6 points.
The player with the third-tallest obelisk gets 1 point.
Number of stones:
The following point assessment applies to a
Points: four-person game:
The player with the tallest obelisk gets 15 points.
In areas with more than 5 connected stones, each The player with the second-tallest obelisk gets 10 points.
additional connected stone yields an additional 2 points. The player with the third-tallest obelisk gets 5 points.
Important: Each player can get points for more than one The player with the fourth-tallest obelisk gets 1 point.
field of connected stones. So dont just add up points
for the largest field for one player! Important:
You must have delivered at least 1 stone to the obelisks
to participate in this point assessment.
In case of a tie, divide the total points among the
number of players who tied. Every player involved in the
tie shares in the divided-up point total rounded down
to the nearest whole number.

Example: This four-stone ship was sailed to the burial

chamber. The stones are unloaded in order and placed on the
burial chamber column by column starting from the top left.

Example: This three-stone ship was sailed to the obelisks.

The stones are placed on the correspondingly-colored spaces
and stacked into towers.
Example: In a game with four players, the burial chamber
could look as shown in the illustration above. The white
player gets 3 points for her field consisting of 2 stones. Black
gets 1 point for his 1-stone field. Brown gets 6 points for her
field of 3 stones and 1 point for her 1-stone field. Gray gets
15 + 2 = 17 points for his field consisting of 6 stones.

A) Obelisks
For the stones delivered Example: In a four-person game, the black player ends up
here, the players earn with an obelisk that is 3 stones tall. The white player has a
points at the end of 4-stone tower. The brown player has no stones at all. The
the game. Place each gray player has 3 stones. That means that the white player
stone delivered here on the space matching your color. In gets 15 points. The black and gray players share second and
that way, you will create a stacked tower of your stones. third places. They both get (10 + 5) / 2 = 7.5 points, which
Each player will be building his or her own obelisk. Add when rounded down yields 7 points for each player. Brown
up the points at the end of the game with the tallest gets no points, because he did not deliver any stones at all
obelisk getting the most points, of course. to the obelisks.

8
 Variant:
You get 1 point and can take the top market
THE B SIDES OF THE SITES card from the draw pile.
All site boards have an A side and a B side. You should
always start playing with just the A sides. Later on, you You get 1 point and can immediately take 3
can try the B sides. stones from the quarry and place them on the
You can also play with a mix of A and B sides. Why not supply sled token.
try various combinations?
You get 1 point and can place 1 stone from your
supply sled token on any empty space of a ship
B) Market that has not yet sailed to a site.

Each pyramid is started from the top left. Stones are

placed column by column.
Each stone in the second level of a pyramid is worth
4 points. Once the pyramids are completed, each
additional stone delivered to the pyramids yields 1 point.
Place these stones at the right edge of the pyramid board.

The B side works just like the A side, except for the
following difference:
At the start of the round, place 2 cards face down on the
card space at bottom right (instead of 1 face-up card).
For a stone delivered to the market, you can pick up both
cards and look at them. Then, select 1 card to keep. Place
the other card on the discard pile.

Example: This 4-stone ship was sailed to the pyramids. The

brown player places her first stone on the first space of the
middle pyramid. Then, the black player places his stone on
the second space of the middle pyramid. Then, the brown
player places her second stone on the third space of the
middle pyramid. Finally, the white player places his stone
on the first space of the left pyramid.

B) Pyramids
B) Temple

The B side works just like the A side, except for the The B side works just like the A side, except for the
following differences: following difference:
For a stone delivered to the pyramids, the owner of the At the end of each round, there are various bonuses for
stone gets to decide which of the 3 pyramids the stone is each stone visible from above depending on the temple
to be delivered to. space on which the stone is placed:
Some of the pyramids yield special bonuses:

9
 You get 1 point or, if you prefer, you can take
2 stones from the quarry and place them on
your supply sled token.

You get 2 points.

Example: The burial chamber point assessment is

performed at the end of the game.
You get the top market card from the draw
pile.

In the top row, the white player has the greatest number of
stones (3). For that, she gets 8 points. With 1 stone each, the
brown and gray players share second and third places. For
that, they each get (4 + 2) / 2 = 3 points.

Example: The point assessment for the temple is performed

at the end of the round. The gray player can decide
whether to take 1 point or 2 stones from the quarry. The
brown player gets 2 points. The white player gets to decide In the middle row, the black player has the greatest
whether to take 1 point or 2 stones from the quarry. In number of stones (3), and gets 8 points. White is in second
addition, the white player gets to take the top market card place with 1 stone, and gets 4 points. Brown and gray
from the draw pile. The black player gets to decide whether have no stones in this row, so they get no points.
to take 1 point or 2 stones from the quarry.

B) Burial Chamber In the bottom row, gray has the greatest number (4), and
gets 8 points. None of the other players are in the row, so
they get no points.

The B side works just like the A side, except for the
following differences:
At the end of the game, the players earn points for having
the greatest number of stones in the 3 rows of the burial
chamber.
Each row is assessed individually. B) Obelisks
The B side works just like the A side, except for the
Important: following differences:
You must have at least 1 stone in a row in order to be Each stone delivered here is first placed on a space with the
involved in the point assessment for that row. corresponding color.
The stones of any one color do not have to be adjacent. When the third stone of any given color is delivered, these
In case of a tie, add up the placement points and divide stones immediately have their value assessed. The 3 stones
them among the number of tied players. Every player are stacked in a single tower on the free space with the
involved in the tie shares in the divided-up point total highest point value. The owner of the stones immediately
rounded down to the nearest whole number. receives these points.
Individual stones that do not make it into an obelisk earn 1
point each at the end of the game.

10
Example: This 3-stone ship was sailed to the obelisks. The black player places his stone on one of the empty spaces on the
board. The white player adds her stone to the other two white stones. Since there are now 3 white stones at the obelisks, these
stones are stacked into a tower on the next free space (with a point value of 9). The white player immediately gets 9 points.
Then, gray places his stone on one of the boards empty gray spaces.

Variant:
WR ATH OF THE PHAR AOH
If you want to play with somewhat harsher rules, you
can try the following rule variation:
You are punished if you fail to participate in the building
of all four monuments.
Any player who has not delivered at least 1 stone to each
of the four building sites pyramid, temple, burial
chamber, and obelisks by the end of the game must
have 5 points deducted from his or her score.

11
 AT A GLANCE: Blue Market Cards
You can only use exactly 1 blue market card per turn.
EXPLANATIONS of THE The use of a blue market card is not in addition to,
MARKET CARDS but instead of, the use of one of the three other action
In this section, you will find an overview of all of the possibilities: Get new stones, Place 1 stone on a ship, or
market cards and a more detailed description of the way Sail 1 ship to a site. There are four different types of blue
they work. Wait to read these explanations until a given market cards:
market card comes into play.
Lever (2)
Entrance, Sarcophagus, and Paved Path (2 of each) When you get this market card, it remains
face up in front of you until you use it. In a
later turn, you can perform the following
action a single time:
Sail 1 ship to a site. Decide for yourself what sequence to
When you get a market card like this, immediately place follow when unloading the stones.
1 of your stones from the quarry on the corresponding As always, of course, both conditions for sailing a ship
site. The stone is placed on the next available space, must have been met. After play, the card is placed on the
following the normal rules of building on that site. The discard pile. If you have not used the card by the end of
card is then placed on the discard pile. the game, you will get 1 point for it.

Pyramid Decoration, Temple Decoration,

Burial Chamber Decoration, and Obelisk Hammer (2x)
Decoration (2 of each) When you get the market card, it remains
face up in front of you until you use it. In a
later turn, you can perform the following
action a single time:
Take 3 stones from the quarry and place them on your
When you get a market card like this, it remains face up in supply sled token. Then, place 1 stone from your supply
front of you until the end of the game. sled token on 1 ship.
At the end of the game, you earn 1 point for every 3 After play, the card is placed on the discard pile.
stones (your own stones plus others stones added If you have not used the card by the end of the game, you
together) found at the corresponding site. will get 1 point for it.

Sail (3x)
When you get this market card, it remains
face up in front of you until you use it. In a
later turn, you can perform the following
Example: In the burial chamber, there are 13 stones at the
action a single time:
end of the game. That means that there would be 4 points
Place 1 stone on 1 ship and sail this ship to a site.
granted for the burial chamber decoration card.
As always, of course, both conditions for sailing a ship
Statue (10x) must have been met.
After play, the card is placed on the discard pile.
When you get a market card like this, it
If you have not used the card by the end of the game, you
remains face up in front of you until the
will get 1 point for it.
end of the game. At the end of the game,
you count up the number of statue cards you have and
receive points in accordance with the following table. Chisel (3x)
Additional cards past 5 are worth 2 points each. When you get this market card, it remains
face up in front of you until you use it. In a
later turn, you can perform the following
action a single time:
Place 2 stones on 1 ship or 1 stone on each of 2 ships.
After play, the card is placed on the discard pile.
Example: One player has 3 statue cards at the end of the
If you have not used the card by the end of the game, you
game. For those, she gets 6 points.
will get 1 point for it.

12