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Senet Deluxe HD

Senet Deluxe - The Ancient Game of Life and Afterlife
Category Price Seller Device
Games $1.99 Arthur Roolfs iPad

Senet is an ancient Egyptian race game and the predecessor of our modern Backgammon. The oldest known form of the game is shown in a painting from the tomb of Hesy (circa 2686-2613 BCE). Many pictures of the game and artifacts have been discovered and are displayed in Museums around the world. The commonness of these finds indicates that the game was very popular in its time.
The main adversaries in Senet are the Spools and the Pyramids. These pawns follow a path from their start positions to the House of Horus in an inverted 'S'. The player moving all of his pawns off the board first wins. Fields on the Senet board are called houses. Some of these have special significance and are adorned with icons like the Ankh symbol. Instead of dice flattened sticks are used. Each stick has a bright side and a dark side. Every bright side is a point. If only dark sides are showing the player is awarded 5 points. When a 1, 4, or 5 is thrown the player gets another turn.

When moving into a field occupied by an opponent, the pieces switch places. If, however, the opponent's pawn is part of a row of two or more, it cannot be beaten. It is possible to "jump" over an opponent if it isn't part of a row of 3 pieces or more. 3 pieces are considered a block and are an important strategic tool.

Through symbology Senet hints at the afterlife as seen from an Egyptian point of view. If one's piece is beaten on one of the last three fields or the jump over the House of Water is not successful one moves back to the house of Rebirth. In such the game alludes to reincarnation and the journey of the dead.
Senet Deluxe is a truly unique strategy game. It features great animation, a soundtrack, an intelligent adversary, enforceable backwards moves, highlighting for acceptable moves, game statistics and online help. Be prepared to spend many hours with the most popular game of the antiquity.

Reviews

Fun game
ds_maker

My grandson (age 10) is totally into anything Egyptian. This game is over 3000 years old, and he has the board game, but this is far better. You can play against the computer (which the description doesn't mention) and it plays an Egyptian flute in the background. I am really happy with this app. A combination of a little history and lots of fun. A bit pricy for what you get, since it's just one game, but that was OK for me.


Great fast moving game
susiech

Even at the price. The board is really pretty and rules good, and the backward move and spotlight disabling options change the level. Stick throws are probably are not random. Should have a multiplayer choice.


Awesome
Foxie Lee

This is an awesome game of Senet to have for your iPad. I have this on my Mac and love it. Nice graphics and lots of fun to play.


Unfair advantage!
Mylittlemiss

I've played Senet for years, and know all the strategy, and this game is rigged in favor of the computer. 10, 12 throws in row? Come on! I've changed pieces, the settings, anything to make it more even, and it still let's you win one or two, then goes into the multiple throws and makes it impossible to win. One game I only got to move 6 times while the computer threw over and over again. This is not fun. I downloaded the free app first and it's fair, but paying for this one was a rip off.


Like, would like pvp even better ^^
Jeweledrose

I really like the graphics and the flow of the game, even if the rule set is different from my usual. I'd love it even more if I could swap out the computer for a human player and just pass the iPad back and forth. I know it's a big request, but it's hard to find Senet anywhere else, and I bet you guys could do it if you made a game this pretty X3


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