Perform ritual sacrifices to please the goddess Inanna and become the first ruler of Sumer! A new board game by Studio Wumpus developed for the Nintendo Switch.
Have you ever had reoccurring dreams about goats, magically appearing in your flock? Or did you ever wanted to bake bread for an all-overseeing Sumerian goddess? Then you’ll feel right at home with Sumer. You play as a Sumerian noble, fighting for the affection of the goddess Inanna – with the obvious reason to become the ruler of Sumer, a country in the delta of the Euphrates and Tigris (commonly known as Mesopotamia). The main goal of the game is to harvest barley, bid goats at the yearly auction and perform ritual (non-human) offerings to earn the favor of the Anunnaki (heavenly gods). The one with the most favor would be crowned a noble lord (or ???).
The game plays out on a painted mural, where the players race across a ziggurat (Mesopotamian stone structure, cfr. a pyramid) to give workers tasks, like harvest barley or brew beer. This is a historical accurate gameplay element, since the first priest-kings gave the Anunnaki beer, bread and all that was good (bowls, bricks, goats, etc.) to gain the divine right of rulership (later also seen in Chinese and Japanese culture with the heavenly mandate). In the first year you will start with only two workers, so you have to pick a job for both (harvest barley to sacrifice or bake bread with or herd some goats so you can do more bidding at the auction?). Once you give your workers jobs, you rush back down and go to sleep. The first one that rests, gets the most goats during this magical slumber. I added a Gif to explain the process below.
The first one to complete a sacrifice (for example, two barley, one cup and three beer) gains favor from Inanna, but if you haven’t put anything up for sacrifice the other players will also get some favor. If player two laid in two barley and a beer, he will get 6 out of 12 favor – player three, who laid in two beer and a cup will get 6 out of 12 favor. Player one (you) will get 4 favor for completing the task. So you’ll have to pick your battles wisely. Do you go for completing the most sacrificial favors (time-consuming) or will you try and snag some points away at the last possible moment? There are of course other ways to gain favor, like who baked the most bread, herd the most goats etc. So the game has some neat ways to give players those extra points to rise above the competition.
The game has a total of three game modes, which includes a well-done tutorial mode, a short game (the quick fix) and a full game (multiple ‘years’) of gameplay. I tested the game in one and two player mode and you’ll get the most fun out of it with a group of friends. Otherwise, you can always turn up the AI, which will make you sweat. Studio Wumbus really took its time to create an interactive board game, which feels like Catan in Zigguratstyle, for the Nintendo Switch. It’s a fun, well-developed game, so if you’re into board games, check it out!
