Mummy's Treasure: Variant

I just reviewed Haba's Mummy's Treasure yesterday (two thumb up, BTW!) and ended that review by mentioning that my son Braeden & I had created a variant to ratchet up the tension in the 2 and 3 player versions of the game.

Here's the problem: the game comes with enough pieces for a four-player game... but with that many tiles in play, you never run out of tiles of a particular type. The game, while very enjoyable, is just a solo race to see who can finish first.

When we've played with four players, you have to consider if & when a particular shaped tile (most often the square or the T) is going to run out, putting you in the position of taking more turns to grab smaller tiles to fill the same space.

The solution wasn't difficult - we simply inventoried the tiles & figured out how many are needed to make for a tight game with less players... and now we're sharing this information with you!

In a four player game, there are:

• six 4 space T's (24 squares)
• six 4 space squares (24 squares)
• six 3 space lines (18 squares)
• six 3 space corners (18 squares)
• twelve 2 space rectangles (24 squares)
• twelve 1 space squares (12 squares)

That means there are 80 spaces on the boards (20 squares each) and 120 tile squares.

So, in a three player game, you should have:

• four 4 space T's (16 squares)
• four 4 space squares (16 squares)
• five 3 space lines (15 squares)
• five 3 space corners (15 squares)
• nine 2 space rectangles (18 squares)
• nine 1 space squares (9 squares)

That means there are 60 spaces on the boards (20 squares each) and 89 tile squares.

And a two player game should have:

• three 4 space T's (12 squares)
• three 4 space squares (12 squares)
• three 3 space lines (9 squares)
• three 3 space corners (9 squares)
• six 2 space rectangles (12 squares)
• six 1 space squares (6 squares)

That means there are 40 spaces on the boards (20 squares each) and 60 tile squares.

Let's make it simple, shall we?

To play with 3 players, randomly discard:

• two 4 space T's
• two 4 space squares
• one 3 space lines
• one 3 space corners
• three 2 space rectangles
• three 1 space squares

To play with 2 players, randomly discard:

• three 4 space T's
• three 4 space squares
• three 3 space lines
• three 3 space corners
• six 2 space rectangles
• six 1 space squares

Let us know how you like it!