Average Customer Review:
 ( 8 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
 Great game, a combination of several clever systemsOct 11, 2006
By B. Sites
"plexiglass_designs"
Cleopatra is, in a quick overview, a game that focusing on trying to acquire enough good points to win without acquiring enough bad points (which may cause you to lose even if you had the most good points). It's for 3 or more people, but there is a variation on the Days of Wonder website for 2 people.
In Cleopatra, you draw cards from a marketplace and use them as resources, much like Settlers of Catan or railcards in Ticket to Ride. With the resources, you can build several different portions of Cleopatra's Temple. For building the pieces, you get various amounts of good points (called Talents). At the end of the game the person with the most Talents wins. Unless...
The "unless" is if you have the most bad points (called corruption amulets) then you lose. You gain these amulets by taking various shortcuts. The number of amulets you have is also secret, so the game is a balancing act of taking shortcuts to get ahead, but not taking too many such that you end up being the person with the most amulets.
The game also involves other various strategic elements. Of the different Temple pieces you can build, there are bonuses that allow for some strategy in choosing what to build and when. There are also a few cards mixed in with the resources that allow you to do something special (lost amulets, take a discarded card, charge other players resources, etc.) at some cost (usually you gain amulets). There is also an event that may occur at some point in the game in which all players bid their talons (good points) secretly, and whoever bids the most loses several amulets while everyone else gains amulets (whoever bid the second-most talons gains one or two, the next gains two or three, the next three or four, etc.). And of course whatever you bid in talons you lose even if you were not the highest bidder, so this adds a good burst of strategy.
The game is made mostly of plastic pieces that are pretty durable, though there are some cardboard pieces that I wonder if will go the distance. Because it is Days of Wonder, and prior similar cardboard-based games have done fine, I'm not lowering their score for this.
In short, this is not my favorite Days of Wonder game, but it is a clever addition that is fun and pretty easy to learn. It would appeal to people of all ages and, assuming they can grasp the rules above, they should have no trouble playing it. It well-deserves a rating of 4 stars, and I'm sure some will think it deserves even a 5.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome game!Mar 11, 2009
By K. Villeneuve
This is one of the best games that we've played. All of our friends who have played it instantly become addicted. It's also great because it's shorter than most of the others ranging from 1 hr-1 1/2 hrs. I definitely recommend it if you play any of theses games: Settlers of Catan, Agricola, Puerto Rico, or Shadows over Camelot.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Buy it nowSep 16, 2009
By GamePlayer30
"RW112"
All of Days of Wonder's Games are good if not great. This game is sort of like Ticket to ride. In ticket to ride you use cards to buy trains, but in Cleopatra you use cards to buy pieces of a temple to complete. There are other twist to it, but that is the core mechanism. Buy it now!
Nice figures, great easy strategyJan 24, 2012
By Santi
I took a little while to understand instructions but as soon as I and my friends understood them we played and enjoy it a lot. I won all times friends are too corrupt haha.
Cool game.Jan 23, 2012
By McGarrity
This game is fun and a bit different than your normal game as you use the box as part of your board! It plays differenlty too and keeps you engaged. Lots of fun to play but it is a game for 3 or more players. It was very easy to figure out how to play the game. (About 40 min to learn and about an 75 min to play.) Def. buy if you are looking for something new and unique. It is out of print on the Days of wonder website but you may be able to find it on amazon or ebay or other websites. I bought mine from a small gameing store in Chicago and I live in CA.
See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
based on 8 reviews
