Review
Kemet: Blood and Sand
Kemet: Blood and Sand gave me a game that seemed decided before it had properly begun. White magic dominated so comfortably that I saw no reason to go back for a second helping.
- Published
- 2021
- Designer
- Jacques Bariot, Guillaume Montiage
- Publisher
- Matagot, Asobition (アソビション), Conclave Editora
- Players
- 2–5
- Playing time
- 180 min
I had only encountered the original Kemet in passing, and it had left no particular mark. Blood & Sand arrived with a reputation as the clearly better version, so it took the table instead of another game of Ankh, which the group had already liked. That first meeting was a disappointment.
As I experienced it, the game was effectively decided in the setup. The next hour or two did not feel like a contest changing shape; it felt like the formal proof of what was already visible: white magic was handing everyone else a spoonful of preserve.
white magic was handing everyone else a spoonful of preserve.
EdgyJellyfish
That is also the problem with how the contest developed. The choices and the player-on-player conflict did not suggest they could overturn an advantage built into the opening position; instead, we were waiting for the table itself to supply the balance. A very elegant request to make of the players. Less elegant as design.
One game is not enough for a final diagnosis, and I know that. It is enough to know that I no longer have the appetite, or the patience, for games whose balance must be provided by the group. For me, a hard pass.
For me, a hard pass.
EdgyJellyfish
Source: BoardGameGeek
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