Egyptian Senet (Ancient Egypt)
The Favorite Pastime Of The Pharaoh Tutankhamun.The Artifact Of The World's Oldest Board Game Found In King Tut's Tomb, Beside The Golden Coffin & Sarcophagus.
==== Awards ====◆ Nominated for Top 20 Apps in Mobily KSA Developers Award 2014◆ Nominated for the World Summit Award 2013 in e-Entertainment & Games from Egypt◆ Silver Winner in 2013 W3 Awards◆ 1st Place Winner Of Egypt e-Content Award 2013◆ Winner Of Gaming Egypt Contest 2012
After performing opening of the mouth ceremony on your mummy by Anubis, you start your afterlife journey protected by Eye of Horus(Wadjet) to pass through the underworld realm of Osiris, challenging an invisible adversary inside an Egyptian hidden tomb in The Valley of the Queens located near the better known Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile river across from Thebes (Luxor)
Senet is a board game from predynastic and ancient Egypt, it is the earliest known record of a backgammon , checkers and chess like games.
The oldest hieroglyph representing a Senet game dates to around 3500 BC.The full name of the game in Egyptian was meaning "The game of passing".
Games have been around for thousands of years, but none are older than the ancient game of Senet, invented by the Egyptians roughly 3500 or 5000 years ago. It is believed that this two-player board game originated as a popular form of recreation with both royalty and peasantry. But by the mid-13th century BC, Senet had evolved into a more religious ritual. Some depictions from this time period forward show the game being played not by two people, but rather as a deceased player competing against an invisible adversary, interpreted by some to symbolize the deceased players own soul.
The board has become a metaphor for the afterlife with pawns moving across the board just as a soul moves through layers of the netherworld after death. Reaching the final space and leaving the board is the goal of the game, just as reaching Horus and leaving the netherworld was the goal for the Egyptians after their death for attaining rebirth with the gods Isis & Osiris, Sekhmet & Bastet holding the Egyptian Ankh or the papyrus scepter.
The game board consists of 30 squares or slots, arranged in 3 horizontal rows of 10. Pawns move from left to right through row 1, then drop down and move from right to left through row 2. Dropping down again, pawns move from left to right along row 3 and finally, off the board. The game uses the rules of timothy kendall in his game, Passing Through the Netherworld :The Meaning and Play of Senet,an Ancient Egyptian Funerary Game.
The game includes five special squares, governed by their own rules, each containing a hieroglyphic. Square 15 is the House of Rebirth; square 26 is the House of Beauty; square 27 is the House of Water: square 28 is the House of the 3 Truths; square 29 is the House of 2 Truths; and square 30, the last, is the House of Horus,the Egyptian falcon-god and lord of the sky.
Egyptian Senet is a pharaonic challenging game that combines luck,strategy,and magic features authentic photos of ancient Egyptian temples,plus artistically crafted graphics and animation of an ancient stone game board and pieces,set in an echoing,tomb-like chamber.Ritualistic music plus sound effects of stone pieces moving recreate the atmosphere of predynastic Egypt.The App's Icon shows the Egyptian Queen Nefertari playing Senet in her tomb,she was the great wife of the pharaoh Ramesses II(Ramses)Rio. Also many Egyptian Queens have a similar photos playing Senet such as Cleopatra,Nefertiti the great royal wife of Akhenaten,and the Queen Hatshepsut the wife of Thutmose II.
Recommended for everyone interested in Egyptology, Archeology
Supported Languages in 2016: (English Arabic French Spanish German Italian Dutch Russian Japanese Korean Chinese Portuguese-Brazil)
More Info:Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/EgyptianSenet
Category : Board
Reviews (28)
I've been playing this game for many months. There's been no bugs or problems. The graphics and sound are simple and well done. I've experienced no issues. The game AI could be a little smarter to make the game more challenging, but I presume the paid version, with harder settings unlocked, addresses this. The free version has reasonable limitations and no invasive ads. For all these reasons I'm far more inclined to buy the full version. If ads were constantly in my face, I'd uninstall.
After playing tjis game for over a year it still is an exercise in futility playing against the computer. I like the game Senet and the visuals are very nice. However, the algorhythm must be written in a way it gives the computer an advantage. For example, on your first roll, eight times out of ten it's a 2. Eight times out of ten the computer's roll is two or three doubles. In play the computer will roll six times more doubles than you will roll. Just wish computer rolls were more random.
Interesting and fun game to play. The sound effects and graphics all add to the overall experience. However the one thing that weakens it a little is the fact that is quite easy to continuously defeat the AI.The current hints and non hints as to which pawns can be played does create a two tier difficulty level of sorts but this is not enough in itself.
Senet has stood the test of time as a truly addicting and easy to grasp board game. This app does it justice, tho it does not quite follow the rules (traditionally, pieces in a row of three block any other pieces from moving for instance). Understandable that that particular rule is ignored however, because it does become irksome after awhile. Personally I feel as if the AI cheats and snaps its defeat from the jaws of Ammit suspiciously often. Great app nonetheless. Nehktet!
When you're rolling all 2s and 3s and the computer gets to roll over and over on their turn, the difficulty levels are not based on skill. The harder the difficulty, the luckier the computer gets. End of story.
I adore this game regardless of ads. It's highly relaxing and fun to play. The music and sound effects are soothing. The only part that is confusing me is the lack of showing when pieces are moved off the board which had once been part of the game. Is this a bug or was this a change?
Not sure why people are complaining about the ads. Aside from the small ad bar on the bottom right (which is easy to ignore) the only other ad you get is when you finish a game. I'm really enjoying this game. The music is funky, the graphics are good and gameplay is simple and fun! I'm addicted already and I only downloaded this game yesterday.
I agree with other players. Gameplay is rigged because it deals the dice to make the cpu win. Bad algorithm. It will allow you to win in every 3rd game if you play right though. And for those who don't know how to play Senet, they offer a very vague instruction/guide about how to play the game. It also hangs and stops suddenly, maybe because it's computing the moves so the cpu can win. Not worth the download.
The game is entertaining and a tad addictive. It's taken the place of my usual solitaire game. The board screen could use an UNDO button for those times when a finger doesn't hit quite right.
I love the game and play it regularly. Only thing I have issue with is that the sticks dont always respond when touched. I have to tap hard to get them to shuffle. I did check my phone and it's not that. Otherwise, this is great!
The game is fun but I would like to see more options for players that are beginners and players that are more advanced. The game shows you what you're allowed to move at each turn bit having an option to turn that off would be great.
I read a few comments and they were saying how annoying the ads are, but honestly I dont find them annoying! I mean that small bar on the bottom right is not that distracting and when u finish playing u get an ad. Thats totally fine and dont forget the game is for free and these ppl need to make money
I LOVE this game! Simple graphics, no bells & whistles to speak of (yay!) and easy to learn. it's also addictive, imho. 👍 Update: had a question after the last update and received a friendly response & resolution to my email, immediately! Awesome customer service. 💕
I have been playing Senet for more than two decades. It may seem simple, but it is actually a game of complex strategy. If you think the AI is stacked against you, then you simply don't understand the game. This is the best digital version of Senet I have found. The ads are absurd - I even had to wait through a 30-second ad while writing this review - but Senet is worth it. Try this out, and take time to master the strategy. You will be glad you did.
I adore this game very much. However, you must be prepared to face ads, which are rather annoying, if you play online. Play offline and have fun. Nice graphics, cool music, simple rules.
I have played this game since a child both boardwise and on cells from this developer. Awesome game. Even teaches kids about math and strategizing. When playing against the computer I have beaten it most times. I think those who claim you can't just are not good at strategic games. You need luck and strategy to win the game against your opponent!
Fun and easy game to learn. The full window ads were a bit annoying. Wish at least one of the two other difficulties was available for free.
Fun game, but the transitions between turns favor a pointless animation instead of a quick transition, and throwing the sticks nearly always takes multiple taps before it takes.
This is a more user friendly version than other Senet game in the Play store. The feel of it plays better. I also have the wooden game of Senet as well that doesnt play by the Thomas Kendal rules (ie it uses 5 die sticks and counts them as 1,2,3,4 and 6) and each player has 5 pieces, not 7. Any chance this one can have different rule variations?
Love the game, just a little slow , wish the house of happiness and house of rebirth were safe zones. And the three pawn wall needs to be inacted. Still a great game wpuld love to see a 5 pawn version.
Really fun game and easy to learn but difficult to master, the game looks great too, thinking of upgrading to the ad free version, that's how much I enjoy it and want to support the developer.
It was a very good game. Now ads cover an important part of the playing screen. I have marked it down from 5 to 1 stars
It's amazing but there has to be an online games between two strangers and a better graphics. Thanks Ezzat for reviving such a beautiful game
Playingle single gives computer unfair advantage, you lock outmoves and give computer all the moves. Game is very unfair. Its still unfair. 3/5/22
I am enjoying this game tremendously! The fact that the game may be the start of backgammon is enough for me!! Great graphics and I have yet to have a problem with the program freezing!!
A simple strategic highly enjoyable Egyptian themed board game that is highly addictive and good family fun. Paid version currently £1.99 removes annoying advertising that spoils enjoyment. Well worth the developers nominal fee to remove the advertising.
I love this game but the ad box at the bottom is too bright and won't go away and is distracting, if not changed i will uninstall. Don't be a sell out.
This game is mad. You always have to start when it should be taken in turns who starts. The computer clearly cheats & gets way more 4's and 5's than you do. There is no way this is random. I love Senet but this version is definitely crazy. I just played. I had 2 pieces left on the board and the computer still had all 7. All of a sudden the computer kept throwing exactly the numbers he needed to get his out. It ended up as a one man shoot out. I won, but only just when I should've won easily.