This review originally appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Gamers Alliance Report (www.gamersalliance.com). It has received minor editing for BGG.
Also - please note that the pictures included are from BGG; my photography skills can't generate such nice pictures...
Thebes
Designed by <PERSON> and published by Queen Games
The Game
I do not think I shall ever forget my first game of <PERSON>– the German title (which translates to “beyond Thebes”) of the original, small print-run edition of the game by <PERSON> that has become Thebes. <PERSON> had caught my attention with his notes about the game after Essen - an archeology game that had really managed to capture the spirit of the subject. <PERSON> brought <PERSON>’s copy to Gulf Games and taught the game, and soon we were collecting information, complaining about the Wise Guy (Wise Man cards, eliminated from the second and subsequent editions), and digging our way through ancient lands. In the end, it was a very close game, with three of the four players scoring in the high 40s. I, on the other hand, finished with a score of precisely 11. And I was hooked.
<PERSON>
When the second edition became available, I pre-ordered it; when there was a mix-up, I tracked down (and paid too much for) a copy by the first method I could. It’s rare that I play a game five times without owning it, but I had with <PERSON>, and was anxious to be able to play it more often. When it was announced that Queen was going to produce a professional quality production – with some tweaking to the rules – I was hesitant; glad to hear it would reach a wider audience, but concerned that the essence of the game would be lost somewhere along the way.
I needn’t have worried.
Thebes has taken an incredibly strong, thematic game, and given it an incredible production. Even better, they have utilized the production to enhance the original, producing an even better game in the process.
So just what is <PERSON> about?
Players take on the role of archeologists at the start of the 20th century. Unusually, the key resource in the game is time – not in a real-time sense, but all actions have a time cost associated with them. 504
Actions available include research into specific civilizations, general research in ancient civilizations, participation in archeological congresses, hiring of assistants, purchase of digging tools, and various opportunities for displays of one’s finds. Of course, the largest amount of time is spent at digs. The board shows seven European cities (including Warsaw, where players start) and five dig sites – Crete, Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine.
Game Board
There is a deck of cards which represents the various opportunities in Europe, with four cards available at a time, in addition to up to three exhibitions which are kept separately when they appear. Each card – including the exhibits – has a location, and a time cost. A typical preparation turn, then, consists of traveling to the city given and then taking the card; the total cost for the turn is a sum of the travel time and the action time. The next player to take a turn is then the player who has used the least time; this can lead to many interesting choices, as it’s possible to take two or even more turns in a row through careful planning.
Game Cards
The real heart of the game, however, is in the archeological digs. A dig turn consists of traveling to the dig site, looking up the effect of digging for various lengths of time based upon one’s knowledge, and selecting the number of weeks to dig. This translates into a number of counters to be drawn from the dig bag; the player draws this many, keeps all treasures and knowledge found, and puts the dirt tokens back in the bag. Finally, a player marks his dig license for the site as used for the current year.
The Dig Bag & Artifacts for Egypt
The game continues over between two and three game years. At the end of that time, players add their scores, based upon the treasures they have uncovered, the exhibits they’ve given, the congresses they’ve attended, and bonuses given for the greatest knowledge of each civilization. The player to have gained the most fame as an archeologist, by these measures, wins the game.
Reactions
Thebes is my fifth favorite game of all time.
Usually, I like to leave my conclusion until later in the review, but I think it’s important to state up front just how much I enjoy the game. 84