Casual it's tagged and casual it is.
Great fun though for an hour or so. Unfortunately the LUCK factor is very prominent. There's only so much you can do with 'good tactics' .
Still I have enjoyed this simple board game very much. The mechanics are working as they should and the graphics are suitably subdued.
Perfect game to spend your inbetween hours on.

nice work .. keep going ..

Senet is a board game for two players against AI or hotseat, like an easier version of backgammon. It was created by Egyptians in a tech park ("smart village") outside of Cairo, Egypt.

The second video on the store page shows some of the gameplay. The game is quite similar to backgammon, except you're playing in the same direction, and a blockade (sort of) is formed by two or more pawns in sequence - there's never more than one pawn on any space of the board. The game provides little backstory. It is a single player against AI (3 levels of difficulty) or hot-seat two-player gameplay. The game runs fine even on older computers.

The pieces move across the board in a Z-shapes path, i.e. right on the top row, left on the center row, then right on the bottom row; your aim is to move all of your pieces off the board before your opponent does. Since there can never be more than one piece on any square, you can generally only move to unoccupied squares; you can also swap position with an opponent's pawn if it has no other pawn adjacent to protect it. Your "dice" are 4 sticks colored red and white; the number of whites is your roll, but if you have all red, that counts as 5. You get to roll again on any 1,4 or 5, as often as they keep occurring; play switches to your opponent as soon as you roll a 2 or 3 and make your move. To reduce swapping in the endgame, every pawn needs to reach the 5th to last square (with the paddles), from there, a 5 moves it off the board, 4,3 and 2 move it to end squares where it needs to stay until moved off the board with a throw of 1, 2 or 3 respectively; and a 1 (which must be taken if no other pawn is movable) moves it to the water square, which moves it up a row to the rebirth ankh, or if that's occupied, to the first unoccupied square before it; the same thing happens to pawns that get swapped out on the end squares. Strategy is generally to keep your stones grouped (any group of two or more is safe from swapping), preventing the opponent from forming groups and setting your own stones back, while trying to swap his own stones back.

I'd say that games are faster than backgammon because pawns that get "hit" don't move back as much; and the strategy is slightly easier, for the same reason. The rules are easy to pick up because the game marks all of your pieces that have legal moves.

If you plan to play against a friend, I'd recommend the tablet version (iOS or Android) since that's more comfortable than hotseat on a PC (the board is probably too small for a smartphone screen though); but there's nothing wrong with the Steam version. You're getting a simple board game, no bells and whistles; while you could easily make your own board or use a free flash version (or Tabletop Simulator for online multiplayer), this'll provide an AI to play against on your own and helps you learn the rules.

The board game itself is not bad, and its long history does add to the charm. I like backgammon type board games, and this is similar, with some strategy but also heavily reliant on the luck of the dice. The idea of keeping it alive by bringing it to modern gamers is something I can appreciate.

Unfortunately the digital implementation is very rough, aka: it works and that's about it. Even for a mobile game it doesn't feel polished and the small asking price is no excuse here. Calling the graphics basic is an understatement, the music loop is very short, there is no tutorial, the few pages of written rules make no sense if you haven't already tried playing the game (and oh god that font), plus the AI isn't challening even in the highest difficulty. It just isn't really enjoyable to spend time with. Which is a pity, because I do think that a physical board (or a better app) would make this a fun game to play with a friend in short bursts.

As it stands, sorry, good idea, bad computer game.

The oldest board game in history invented by the Ancient Egyptians dating back to 3500 BC. Archaeologists discovered this artifact in King Tut's tomb with hieroglyphs describing the rules of the game, depicting their journey to the afterlife. Senet was played by all tiers of Egyptian society from the peasantry to the pharaohs.

Good casual game. The history of the game itself adds some charm to it as it’s a thousands of years old Ancient Egypt game.
I played it once without reading the rules, still managed to understand most of it. After that I went to read the rules so the second time I played I had full understanding of the game and was able to establish some strategies. Though, strategies alone won’t do everything to make you win as the game also has a luck-based factor.
The game has a few flaws though; the graphic quality is lacking, you could play it on a big monitor but it still won’t look as good as you'd expect. Also, there is no online options, which is a shame cause it would be fun to play with a friend.

Overall, the game is really good and it is not expensive; it’s not something i regret buying or would ask to be refunded. It’s definitely a game i will play again when i’m bored.

I got this game because I enjoy Senet. I didn't want to forget how to play. It takes a bit of learning. It's a fun little game. ♥

In Senet, you play on a board consisting of 30 squares, referred to as houses. The houses are arranged in 3 rows, with 10 houses in each row. The object of the game is to move through the board, eventually getting all your pieces off the board. To move, you move your pieces down the first row.

More information on how to play:
https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Senet


If you like Senet and want to own the game, I recommend this one. The graphics could be cuter but it's still a fun game. $3.99 isn't a bad price, either, for an old game like this. I like getting a feel for what games the ancients played. ^.^

EDIT: There is another Senet available with different rules, such as ability to go back and forth, and to jump barricades. I'm not so fond of the other, though it looks nice visually. I still like the rules style of this one. :) Just wish they'd update the visual a bit

An amazing ancient Egyptian board game, I like how the strategy of the game is easy to understand, the explaining inside the game will only get you confused, it's better you figure it your self, the randomness and luck are the main factors of the game, graphics aren't that good, the menus are not very responsive sometimes, but still a good job done by the developer! overall it's a good game worth playing.

Senet is a classic board game that’s been around. The game claimed it to be one of the oldest as well. I remember playing it as a child, though failed to understand the gameplay since at that time I was still counting fingers.

The game provides a clear and concise tutorial (Labelled as ‘Rules’ on the menu) on how to play. It’s quite simple really, and you can play on 3 difficulties: From easy to hardest it’s Novice, Egyptian and Pharaoh. All the game requires is the use of a mouse too, so it’s quite easy to get into the gist of things.

Its theme goes in accordance to Egyptian art, as established by the opening sequence (which I also liked). Even the board game was fashioned with this style. The rough textures and shading helped on giving that ‘ancient’ feel to it, plus the design was very detailed. This especially applied to the hieroglyphics, and tiles on the ground. The paintings and art overall, looked wonderful.

The audio also compliments to this theme. There's a BGM or sound effects whic hare present with your actions like clicking the sticks or when moving one of your pieces on the board. It's nothing too unique but still adds to the bigger picture.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Egyptian Senet and would likely play it again in the future, whether single or with another player. At the time I am posting this review, the game is at 80% off too, so I do highly recommend buying this game.

Pros:
Cheap (especially at the $2.99 promotional price)
Genuinely fun gameplay; it's sort of comparable to Sorry!
Difficult AI
No obvious bugs

Cons:
Mediocre graphics
Hotseat-only multiplayer

8/10. It could use plenty of polish but it's a good way to kill twenty minutes here and there regardless.