Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Buy artifacts from a crumbling pyramid market, exploit their powers, and decide when each useful card belongs forever in your tomb.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Deck / Bag Building
Add new pieces during play to improve the cards, tokens, or dice drawn later.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Open Drafting
Select cards or items from a shared face-up display.
Read the full game description
Valley of the Kings is a small-box deck-builder in which Egyptian nobles prepare richly furnished tombs. Cards form a six-card pyramid market, but only the three cards along its base can be bought. Whenever a card leaves, those above it crumble downward and a replacement enters at the apex, constantly changing what is accessible. Each card may be spent as money, played for a useful action, or permanently entombed once per turn. That final choice drives the game: only cards in the tomb score, yet removing a strong card too early weakens the deck that must acquire everything else. Artifacts score in sets, with larger collections multiplying sharply, while unique cards and individual powers create tactical timing decisions. When the stock is exhausted and the pyramid empties, players reveal their tombs and compare collections. Its lean card flow turns the usual deck-building question upside down—the strongest deck is worthless unless its treasures reach the afterlife.
