Priests of Ra

About this board game

Priests of Ra is an auction-driven strategy game for 2–5 players, with games lasting about 60 minutes. Across three epochs, players compete to expand the influence and fame of the priests of Ra during 1,500 years of Egyptian history.

Players direct farmers, warriors, merchants, and scribes while encouraging the construction of granaries, fortresses, markets, and libraries. They also work toward building a gigantic pyramid in honor of the Sun God Ra. The game reworks Ra, keeping most of its rules while introducing a substantially different collection of scoring tiles.

On a turn, a player may draw a tile or call an auction. Non-Sun tiles are placed on the auction track, and double-sided tiles require the active player to choose which side will be available to everyone. Players then make one open bid or pass. The winner takes all tiles in the auction, replacing their bidding tile with the one in the middle. If everyone passes, the auctioned tiles leave play.

• Collectible tiles include Suns of Ra, Priests, Plagues, People, Buildings, and Pyramids.
• The board features time and auction tracks, plus a space for a spare bidding tile.
• Each epoch ends when the Sun of Ra time track is filled.

Scoring awards Ankhs for majorities and for collecting variety among People and Buildings. Plagues bring penalties, although Priests can offset them. People and Priest tiles are removed after scoring, while Buildings, Pyramids, and Plagues continue into the next epoch.

At the end of the third epoch, Pyramids are scored by construction height and the tiles used. Players then convert their Ankh collections into points, with a final bonus or penalty determined by their bidding tiles. In Priests of Ra, every auction shapes both your growing legacy and the opportunities left for your opponents.