Isis & Osiris

About this board game

Isis & Osiris is a board game for 2–4 players that plays in about 20 minutes. First released in 2001, it challenges players to place wooden disks and hidden value tiles before revealing the board and calculating the final scores.

Each player receives the same quantity of wooden disks in a chosen color, along with a face-down pile of cardboard tiles showing positive and negative values. On a turn, a player either places one of their disks on the gameboard or draws a tile, shows its value to the other players, and places it face down on the board.

Players continue taking turns until the board is completely filled. The cardboard tiles are then revealed, and every disk is scored by adding the values of the tiles positioned orthogonally to it. Depending on the surrounding tiles, a disk can produce a positive, neutral, or negative result.

• For 2–4 players
• Approximately 20 minutes of play
• Wooden disks and face-down cardboard value tiles
• Scoring based on orthogonally adjacent tile values

A player’s final score is the total value of all their disks, and the player with the most positive points wins. Because tile values are displayed before being hidden, each placement adds information to the developing board while leaving the eventual scoring pattern concealed.

The game is framed by the legend of Osiris, who brought agriculture to Egypt, and Isis, who ruled alongside him before searching for her husband after his betrayal by Seth. With its compact playing time and straightforward reveal-and-score structure, Isis & Osiris offers a focused contest of positioning and point totals.