Description

User summary
???????? (??) is a Japanese co-op game, where the players explore a Pharaoh's pyramid in the manner of I. Jones. The game was released (and sold out) at the Tokyo Game Market in May 2017 in a very small, home-made production run.

The explorers must discover three chambers within the pyramid; the King's chamber, the Queen's chamber, and the King's hidden chamber, and then find the exit and escape. To do so, they have an ancient document and must decipher its instructions to reveal the pyramid's secrets. Failure means the curse of the Pharaoh will strike!

They fail if they run out of time, or if they cannot explore any more, having misread the secret writings. Key to the game is the ancient book which the players hold. At the start of the game, the pages in the book are mixed up. The players can only read a few pages from the start, and then place a bookmark on a page. The pages have actions, traps, and some icons to discover.

If the bookmarked page is an action, it is activated. If it is a trap, it is disabled. But traps that are not bookmarked can be triggered. Some pages grant icons to be carried be a player, and some actions need icons to activate. Since this is a co-operative expedition, players may swap icons between them, but at the cost of a player's turn.

The players have a limited set of bookmarks, and so must choose carefully which pages to mark. They can continue deciphering the book from a previous bookmark, but only a few pages at a time.

When the start player's turn comes around, the time token moves, which might invoke the curse! If so, the players must escape the pyramid quickly or perish!

The pyramid is made from wood and plastic, the rooms from folded paper, and the ancient book is a filofax - a refillable pocket binder. The bookmarks are small post-it notes. The game is long and weighs a kilo.

Players comments on Twitter say the game reminds them a little of T.I.M.E Stories, a game bound by time. And that the home-made appearance is deceiving, the gameplay is very strong. The actual pages from the ancient book are not shown anywhere, maintaining the secrecy of the game (which therefore must be very language dependent).

Publisher's summary
Excavate the newly found pyramid. Decipher the ancient document, deactivate the deadly traps and find your way to exit safely.

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