Product Description

"The players acquire knowledge and other kinds of support in their travels, which they will use when they travel to excavation sites. 2. The time wheel shows the players how many discoveries they may find at any of the five excavation sites, depending on how prepared they are and how long they choose to dig. Sometimes they will find valuable artifacts and other times they will find only junk. 3. Players earn victory points for finding artifacts and hosting exhibitions, but need skillful tactics and a little luck to find true success! FUN"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88262 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Rio Grande Games
• Model: 84RGG
• Dimensions: 12.25" h x 4.13" w x 8.75" l, 3.00 pounds

Features

• For 2 to 4 players
• Playtime of 60 to 90 minutes
• Competitive archeological theme
• It is a board game
• Clever time and turn system

From the Manufacturer
In this game, the players travel back to the end of the 19th century to take on the roles of the famous archaeologists who discovered so much in so short a time. The names Schliemann, Evans, Carter, and Koldeway are still famous today. Like those they seek to emulate, the players seek to discover those antique treasures and places which have been buried in the sands for thousands of years. Each player takes the role of an archaeologist. They first travel across Europe to find useful knowledge of different archaeological areas and then they excavate at places they expect to find treasures. The players score points for discoveries at these locations. Also, the players can acquire articles to assist them in excavation and travel, and will visit exhibitions to present their finds.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful game, inventive dynamics, but too much chance for me
This game has several unusually good features.

First, it is a theme game that actually stays with the theme. You're an archaeologist and you have to spend time researching about sites you want to excavate (you don't actually study them however - just pretend but it takes time), travel to the site and then explore and dig up stuff so to speak. And you can have exhibitions about the artifacts when you are done. (It would be cool if you had to answer some sort of trivia about them - making it educational as well.)

The second feature that I like is that it uses a time-continuum to tell who moves each time. So if you decide to spend a long time researching a dig (acquiring more chance of getting a good artifact), you move your marker on the time-line forward that many weeks. Whoever is furthest back in time on the line moves next. So when you choose to research, for example, your opponents may take multiple turns until they catch up to you on the time-line.

The bits are beautiful. Having separately printed bags for different ancient civilizations with various famous artifacts (Dead Sea Scrolls, Standard of Ur, ...) in them - is a great idea. And the rules are not difficult.

I really wanted to like this game but there are too many chance elements for me, and it seemed a little pointless to me and my wife moving around from dig to dig, pulling stuff from the bags. Probably children - at least age 10 - would enjoy this more than most adults which isn't a bad thing. There are people who like this game - have seen it recommended on boardgamegeek - but it wasn't me.

Not a gamer, but this is fun
I don't usually play games, but this one is fun. With this game, the turns don't go around the board, so you have to pay attention. You can play with several different strategys to win, so you don't have to all compete for the "board walk". You have to pay attention to the order of your play because of the time element, but if you choose wisely, it can be a great asset.

The only down side to this game is it is just for up to 4 player.