''Wadjet'' is a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

similar to ''

Clue Clue may refer to: People with the name * DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ * Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer * Ivan Clues * Tim Cluess Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise * ''Cluedo ...

'' that was published by Timbuk II in 1996.

Description

''Wadjet'' is a board game for 2–4 players based on the discovery of the

Tomb of Tutankhamun The tomb of Tutankhamun, also known by its tomb number, KV62, is the burial place of Tutankhamun (reigned c. 1334–1325 BC), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb ...

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...

and

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

in 1923. The board game is set some months after the discovery, when Carter had removed some of the treasures from the tomb. Someone has stolen twenty-five of them from the base camp, and the players take on the roles of archaeologists who are trying to recover the treasures.

Components

The game box holds: *the game board *four Expedition Records folders, and a pad of Expedition Records *four busts of archaeologists *decks of cards * paper money *two six-sided dice *four pencils *rulebook

Gameplay

24 of the treasures are put into four tombs (6 per tomb). One treasure is sequestered away in a fifth tomb and becomes the treasure that must be found in order to win. Similar to the board game ''Clue'', players accomplish this by entering the four tombs and finding the other treasures. Then by process of elimination, players can deduce which treasure lies in the 5th tomb. A player wins by accumulating at least $40,000 of treasures and correctly identifying which treasure is hidden in the 5th tomb.

Publication history

''Wadjet'' was designed by Dee Pomerleau and was published by Timbuk II in 1996.

Reception

The reviewer from ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' #28 (Nov./Dec., 1997) stated that "In short, this is one of the most pleasant games to look at you'll ever come across. The setting is equally appealing: the Carter archaeological dig which discovered King Tut's tomb in 1923." In a retrospective review written in 2014, the family game review site ''Growing Up with Games'' called the game "beautifully illustrated", and gave it a strong recommendation, saying, "Celebrate the discovery of the boy king’s tomb and dig up a vintage copy of ''Wadjet''!"

Awards

*At the 1998

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 aw ...

s, ''Wadjet'' and ''Successors'' (

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...

) were tied as winners of ''Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game of 1997''. *The game was selected as a 1998

Mensa Select Mensa Select is an annual award given by American Mensa Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised I ...

recipient.

References

Board games introduced in 1996 Origins Award winners {{board-game-stub