Adam has been writing about video games since 2014 and board games since 2018. If he's not rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto FC, he definitely has a controller in his hand - probably playing on a Nintendo platform - or is sitting at a table playing a board game. Adam also has firm opinions on a few key topics: there are much better board games than Settlers of Catan, and Nintendo doesn't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft.
Kemet was first released in 2012, and it has been a much-loved game ever since. The experience has been updated over the years, with new content too, keeping things fresh and interesting. Recently, we had the chance to take a look at the brand new big box version of the game, and have been enjoying the experience thoroughly.
Is Kemet just a more complicated Risk?
Kemet is an area control game in the vein of Risk. Players will be placing troops and mythical units out onto the board and attempting to control regions. Certain areas that have temples award temporary victory points; keep control of the temple, and keep the temporary victory point. Battles and other actions allow players to earn permanent victory points, which cannot be lost. Players win when they accumulate a set number of victory points.
Kemet uses a few basic actions along with purchasable player powers to drive the game forward. Players can earn Prayer Points, move troops, upgrade pyramids, and buy tiles. Prayer points might be the most important, as they can be used to purchase player powers.
Player powers are lumped into one of many different categories, some that help you in defense, others that give you attack bonuses, etc. These upgrades can be purchased from a market and fall into one of four levels. What types of upgrades you can purchase is determined by the level of the associated colored pyramid that you will be building.
Battles are relatively simple to resolve. Each player has battle cards they can use when attacking or defending. Battle cards provide boosts to specific stats. When cards have been played, players compare the offensive number against the defensive number, and wound soldiers as necessary.
Ultimately, Kemet is built on fairly simple mechanics, but is a game that is full of deep, strategic decision making.
Hold onto those points
Unlike other area control games you might be familiar with, the win condition here is not total domination. Each player only has a handful of troops to use, and using the troop provided by the game is not even close to enough to control the entire board. You’ll need to think quite a bit about what moves you are making and where you are putting your troops.
The delineation between temporary points and permanent points makes every turn of Kemet incredibly important. Battles are great, but can deplete your armies quite quickly. You’ll then need to spend many turns getting your army back to full strength. Holding temples is a bit easier, but those points are only temporary, meaning you either need to hold them indefinitely, or lose them and feel like you’ve wasted time and resources.
You also need to defend your home base, but at the same time, push out towards temples to earn temporary points. Additionally, you’ll be constantly wanting to monitor the player power market, as these powers are limited, and this is very much a snooze-you-lose situation. While I never felt that some powers were wildly more valuable than others, certain powers with certain strategies can be quite impactful. Making sure you get what you want is key.
Ways to add more complexity and depth
Since we are reviewing the big box version of Kemet, we had access to the Rise of the Gods expansion. This adds new player powers that can be purchased, new mythical units to use, and a brand new color of tiles that can be purchased. With Blood and Sands and Rise of the Gods, Kemet owners now have 7 different colors of tiles to choose from when playing a game. This provides a ton of choice, and will definitely dictate the strategy used.
One of the new colored tiles, Amber, provides Servants that can be added to units. These servants don’t add to the strength of your units, but will provide amazing powers in other ways. When adding both a servant and a creature to a unit, you can create some great synergies and strategies.
Rise of the Gods also provides players with a unique god with unique powers, all of which can turn the tide of the game in unexpected ways. Gods are their own units on the board, with their own powers, attack strength, and defense strength. Gods cannot be used at the beginning of the game, but will be introduced when a points threshold is met. They are incredibly powerful and provide another level of depth and strategy that I quite enjoyed.
What makes Kemet such an attractive game
Kemet is a mean game, as all area control games are. It requires the right group of people to really make the experience enjoyable. With the right group, though, Kemet shines like almost nothing else.
It is all about those Power Tiles. As you only use a few different colors for each game, you get to choose what kind of playthrough you want. Play with more aggressive tiles like Red and Amethyst, and you’ll have an inherently more aggressive experience. Cut back on the aggression tiles, and you might create an experience that’s more tactile and strategic.
With the Rise of the Gods big box, Kemet becomes an incredibly versatile experience. Small tweaks to setup create wildly different games, which means your fifth time around of Kemet can still feel fresh and different. Multiple tile colors, multiple gods, do you add obelisks to the map? All of these game setup decisions shape the game you are about to play.
If you enjoy conflict, Kemet is for you
If you enjoy area control and lots of player interactions, Kemet is definitely worth your money. Few games have been released in the last decade that have hooked me as much as this one has. While getting this entire collection is quite expensive, I believe the investment definitely pays off over time.
What you need to know
Do you think getting all the expansion content for Kemet is necessary?
The base game of Kemet is very satisfying and an excellent experience. If you plan to take this game out once or twice a year, having the base version is probably fine. If Kemet is a title you are going to play monthly, I highly recommend getting the expansion content.
If I enjoy Kemet, what other games might I enjoy?
I would recommend checking out Inis and Cyclades, both of which are published by the same publisher as Kemet, Matagot Games.
