Under the Sand

Games

You look at the collection of games and cards they have. Some recognizable like Monopoly and Uno, others not so much. You picked up a wooden box and examined it. On the top of the box was small squares lined up in rows of three and columns of ten. Small hieroglyphs were written on some squares. Some you could make out, but they didn't really mean much. You turned to Mokuba and showed him the box.

"What's this?" You asked.

"Oh! That's Senet. It's a board game from ancient Egypt." He responded.

"Why do you guys have a board game from ancient Egypt?" You asked.

Mokuba chuckled a little. "Seto went through a phase when he was younger."

You laughed a bit remembering your ancient Egyptian phase. "Is it fun?"

"Yeah, want me to teach you?" He asked.

"Yeah." You brought the game to a table near the couches.

You sat down and watched as Mokuba opened a secret compartment in the box. Inside was small wooden pieces, some sticks, and dice. Half the wooden pieces were shaped like a cone and the others a small cylinder shape.

You both picked the pieces you wanted to use. Mokuba wanted to choose first, so he got the cones, and you got the cylinders. He put them on the squares on top of the box. You watched as he put the pieces in the row. Once that was set up, he explained the rules to you.

Each player has five wooden pieces, and the end goal is to get them off the board. He showed you which way the pieces make it off the board. Then told you that if pieces are in a row you can't move them away from each other. He then explained what the squares with writing meant.

𓌉𓋿 -This represented the house of resurrection. This is the safe tile; no piece can move you out of this spot.

𓏣- This represents the house of happiness. You must land on this tile to get through the game.

𓈗 – The house of waters. If you land on this one you are immediately sent back to the house of resurrection.

𓅢- The house of three truths. You must get a 3 to get off of the board.

𓀀𓀀- The house of Ra. You must get a two to get off the board.

He then pointed to the empty space next to it. You just need a one to get off the board on this one. He said you can have the option of sticks or dice, but the sticks were a bit tricky to remember so the dice would do for now.

Even the dice had rules to them. If you rolled a one, four or five you got to have an extra roll. With a two or three you didn't have an extra roll. When you rolled a six, you would have to roll again.

Once the rules and everything was explained to you, Mokuba asked if you were ready to play. You were pretty sure you understood everything so you both started playing. It was kind of like playing a version of sorry. You weren't the best at first but quickly you got the hang of it.

Mokuba beat you the first round with ease. The second round you got better and almost beat him. All you needed was to roll a two and you kept rolling threes. You both were making a bit of a commotion that Seto came out of his room. He watched as you both played a third round. This time you were able to beat Mokuba!

"Let me play against them." Seto said.

You watched as he and Mokuba changed seats. You were a bit nervous since this was your fourth time playing and he's the one who originally bought the game. Once he sat down, you both set up your pieces and rolled to see who played first. You rolled highest so you went first. After moving a few pieces, you decided to strike up some conversation.