Eschnapur (2000)

Overview

Eschnapur is a game where players explore an Indian temple and try to discover the secret treasures hidden within.

The game is a mixture of a variety of mechanisms; discovery chips, movement tiles, supply tiles and symbol cards. The game board shows a top-down view of the temple, showing a path through the temple off which are many niches holding the treasures. The pathway has stepping stones marked with a variety of symbols, one in front of each. To open the niche you must have the right symbol. To move around, you must spend footprint tiles. To obtain these, the player must reveal 2 supply tiles, keeps one and auctions the other. Players bid with anything they have, tiles, coins, cards.

Sounds confusing? It is. You must win auctions to get the stuff you need to win more auctions and move and open niches and collect treasures to score points to win the game. It might take a player a while to figure the true value of all of the items and how it all fits together, but once a player has the idea, the game really works.