Game Rationale

As a gamer myself, I have no qualms playing one of those 12+ hours civilization/empire type games where rules explanation may take up to an hour or more. But sometimes, there is a need to play something that requires very little rules explanation, plenty of interaction, and where the whole game can be completed within half an hour or less. It was for this purpose that Giza was designed. The great difficulty lay in trying to inject strategy into such a short and compact game.

With its short play time and easy rules explanation, Giza serves: (1) to introduce non-gamers to the world of board-gaming, (2) as a 'warm-up game' among 'early arrivers' in a gaming session before the rest of the gamers show up, (3) as a 'brain relief filler' in between heavier games, (4) as a 'warm-down game' after a day or night of heavy gaming, and/or (5) as a quick portable game e.g. for students in a university cafeteria or among friends in a café.


Game Objective

The aim of Giza is to accumulate as many points as possible on one's own map board while trying to impede other players from doing the same.


Game Mechanics

The essence of Giza is to maximize one's options with the 4 tiles drawn into his/her hand, while taking into consideration the probability of occurrence of the various tile-types. While tile-drawing in itself is luck-based, the greater challenge lies in deciding which tiles to play, and which tiles to hold onto for future use. Holding onto tile(s) effectively reduces one's options in the current and next few rounds, thereby incurring on-going opportunity cost in the game. For example, holding onto the precious Head Sphinx Tile for many rounds will effectively limit a player's options to 3 tiles per round rather than the maximum of 4.

While it would be ideal to start pyramid construction with a high scoring +5 Stone Tile, and then try to load bonus Treasure Tiles along the way, the risk of this pyramid being 'attacked' by other players' negative Stone Tiles is much higher. On the other hand, if one were to start construction with a lower scoring Stone Tile e.g. a +3, then the risk of this pyramid being 'attacked' by opponents' -4 or -5 Stone Tiles are effectively eliminated. On the whole, as one's pyramid gets higher, the number of 'attack' Stone Tiles that may be played onto his/her pyramid gets less. Herein lies the conundrum in Giza - whether to take high risks and possibly reap higher returns, or play safe by taking low risks but reap lower returns.

While playing Giza, one has to remember that every tile played is an opportunity in itself because it serves to directly advance one's own position, or to disadvantage another player's position. Hence during the game, one should try as little as possible to forgo a turn to discard & replenish one's hand (unless absolutely necessary).

Also, during the game, players should not only concentrate on their own map board, but watch what is happening on other players' boards. Because as the game progresses, the pyramid levels in the game progresses towards the upper levels, hence holding onto Stone Tiles like +/- 5 and +/- 4 and the respective Treasure Tiles would start to become useless.

The Treasure Tiles have strict requirements in that they have to match the corresponding +/- Stone Tile level. So players can only earn these bonus Treasure Tile points if they can fulfill this strict requirement. The counter-balance to bonus Treasure Tile scoring is that in trying to fulfill the requirement, players would usually incur opportunity cost. This is because by holding onto Treasure Tile(s) for later use, one's immediate playing options would be reduced from the maximum of 4 tiles down to 3, 2 or even 1.

Building the Sphinx is the ultimate example of the high-risk/high-return mechanics in the game. Naturally, one would consider building the Sphinx only if he/she has the Sphinx Head or at least the Sphinx Body Tile. However, as mentioned above, holding onto the Sphinx Head and/or Body Tiles while waiting for the right moment to play them (for example when most of the Demolish Tiles have been played) would mean that the playable options in that player's hand is reduced considerably for many rounds. This represents opportunity cost for the 'Sphinx strategy' player. If going for the 'Sphinx strategy', one would have to try to get the other players to use up their Demolish Tiles, which means playing negative Stone Tiles at every available opportunity. It is difficult, but certainly possible to do so. If a player is able to complete building the Sphinx by the end of the game (something I have witnessed quite a few times), then he/she truly deserves the huge amount of points awarded.

Lastly, the Scarab Tiles serve two unique strategic purposes in the game - if played against an opponent, they retard the targeted player's progress. However, if used wisely, the Scarab Tiles can help preserve one's own valuable constructions (hint: on the high-scoring pyramids or the Sphinx).


As you play the game, I hope that you will discover for yourselves the intricacies of probability optimization, risk-versus-returns, and opportunity cost that I've packed into this little pyramid building game.

Dr Nikki Lim
nikki-lim@funfactorygames.biz
2005 August 28th