Eldritch Horror: Under the Pyramids (English Edition)

To set up Eldritch Horror: Under the Pyramids, first place the main game board in the center of your play area. Then, connect the Egypt side board to the main board as indicated in the rulebook. Shuffle all the various decks of cards, including Encounter cards (Africa, Europe, Asia, America, General, Special), Research cards, Spell cards, Artifact cards, Unique Asset cards, Condition cards, and Mythos cards. Place these decks in their designated areas on or near the board. Punch out and organize all the cardboard tokens, such as clue tokens, monster tokens, gate tokens, and investigator tokens. Each player selects an investigator, taking their corresponding sheet, starting items, and placing their health and sanity tokens on their respective tracks. Finally, choose an Ancient One, set up its specific mystery cards, and place any associated tokens on the board.

The primary objective in Eldritch Horror: Under the Pyramids is for all players, working cooperatively, to successfully solve three unique mysteries associated with the chosen Ancient One before the Ancient One awakens. Each mystery requires specific actions or conditions to be met, often involving collecting clues, defeating monsters, or resolving special encounters. Successfully solving these mysteries is the only way to prevent the Ancient One from rising and bringing about the end of the world.

A game turn in Eldritch Horror: Under the Pyramids is divided into three distinct phases. The first is the Action Phase, where each investigator can perform two actions, such as moving, acquiring assets, resting, or performing specific actions listed on cards or locations. The second is the Encounter Phase, where each investigator resolves an encounter based on their current location, drawing a specific type of encounter card (e.g., City, Wilderness, Sea, or a specific location on the Egypt side board) and following its instructions. The third and final phase is the Mythos Phase, during which a Mythos card is drawn, revealing new events, monster surges, gate openings, or other global effects that advance the Ancient One's agenda and often increase the difficulty of the game.

Eldritch Horror: Under the Pyramids is a cooperative game, meaning there is no individual scoring. Players either collectively win or collectively lose. The game's success is determined by whether the investigators can fulfill the game's objective (solving three mysteries) before the Ancient One awakens or other loss conditions are met. Therefore, the focus is entirely on teamwork and strategic cooperation rather than competitive point accumulation.

The game concludes in one of two ways: either the investigators achieve victory or they suffer defeat. Victory is secured when the players successfully solve the third and final mystery associated with the Ancient One. Defeat occurs if the Ancient One awakens (usually by its doom track reaching zero), if all investigators are eliminated from the game, or if the Mythos deck runs out of cards. Once any of these conditions are met, the game immediately ends, and players determine if they have saved the world or succumbed to the Eldritch horrors.