There’s more to class II lasers than teasing cats and police helicopter pilots.
It’s…
Khet 2.0.
Opening the box reveals a whole load of silver and red plastic statues and a black gridded board into which they fit. As you can see, there’s an Egyptian theme running through this game like an over-irrigated plot of papyrus. The board is adorned with wadjet eyes and ankhs and other hyroglyphs; the statues are sphinxes, pharaohs, scarabs and Anubi/Anubises (Googling the correct plural of “Anubis” leads only to the domain of the disturbed and psychopathic so I never really got to the bottom of this little grammatical uncertainty).
But wait. The scarabs and sort of hemi-pyramid pieces are actually mirrors – and the Sphinxes, when pushed down, beam out a little laser. I set Khet up and look at it. It reminds me of 80s sci fi set dressing. I can see it in the villain’s chambers, possibly in the same shot as an hirsute guard wearing an impractically small, multi-piece leather uniform.
To win at Khet you must use your sphinx in conjunction with the mirror pieces to bounce the laser around the board and touch the opponent’s Pharaoh, which is then destroyed with all the fiery wrath of Horus (below).
Well, Khet 2.0 clearly can’t produce laser effects as dramatic as the box art would suggest, and unless you possess a smoke machine or happen to be a really committed nicotine addict, you’ll never see a beam spearing across the board. However, the simple act of working out the angles, setting a path of mirrors and seeing where the laser ends up once activated is actually very pleasing indeed. Perhaps that’s why we see a similar puzzle in at least one computer game a month.
To start a game, Khet 2.0 gives you a “Classic” board layout, with the offer of more challenging “Dynasty” and “Imhotep” set-ups when you’re comfortable with the rules, of which there are few. In your turn you either move a piece one square in any direction or rotate it 90 degrees. Once you’ve done this, you must fire your laser sphinx (which can never move, but may turn). The laser may well ping harmlessly off the board but if it touches the rear of any piece, that piece is taken out of play. Thus you can whittle away your opponent’s defences (with every chance you’ll mess up and kill your own little statues by mistake). Sphinxes can’t be zapped, Anubies can take a hit to the front and subsequently act as defensive blocks, and Scarabs are invincible as they’re mirrored on both sides.
What is it to play Khet 2.0?
It’s pretty tactical actually. The essence of the game involves utilising your opponent’s mirrors to find a path to his pharaoh. It’s often too transparent a strategy to create a direct laser line with your own pieces; it’s too slow, easily pre-empted and blocked. It’s all about using your opponent’s offence in conjunction with your own mirrors to attack him. And equally, watching your mirror placement in case it leaves your pharaoh open to attack. Or indeed any of your pieces. There soon becomes that chess-like urgency to guard all your pieces equally rather than risk losing an advantage. Still, the games seldom pass the 20 minute mark so there’s never a sense that a huge investment has been ruptured if you feel like throwing in a few tactical experiments.
This is all well and good, but perhaps Khet’s big plus point is that sometimes you just need a decent game that’s not too demanding. Let me qualify this. I’m not saying that Khet lacks depth or strategy: it was developed by a University Professor in The States, Khet championships have been held at MIT and it’s even got a big sticker from Mensa on the box. It’s the cleverest simple game that I own. No, Khet isn’t demanding because it requires little explanation, you can teach it in under a minute and the “playing with lasers” element is immediately accessible. You don’t have to spend the first half hour of game time persuading a new player that the game you’ve dragged them out of the shower to play is actual fun – its hook is evident from the start. And ultimately, with a tiny amount of effort, you get a board game that has the considered, meditative air of chess or backgammon with lasers and kitsch Egyptian design. It’s as relaxing as it is preposterous.
The set-up is perhaps its most tedious aspect, but it won’t take all that long before the piece positions stick in memory. There are a couple of web links contained within the instruction manual to some
woefully old-fashioned websites that would have been better off left out, I would think. But look at me struggling for things to grumble about.
For the money, Khet 2.0 is a good investment providing you’re the kind of person that likes abstract games such as these. It’s only a few quid more than something like Blokus but it’s a game with similar plastic, gridded tactility (plus lasers and mirrors) and a good deal more sophistication.
Also, the closer you look, the more the sphinx looks eerily like John Travolta.
Right?
Hey Christmas is coming up. Why not buy someone you love dearly a board game? You’ll probably disappoint them anyway! Buy games online or in shops – try this web thing to find a board game seller near YOU.
Paul Millen
Kheturday Night Fever? I like the look of this – no opaque pages of numbers and rules, no dice. Looks cool.