By
Senet (or Senat, also called the game of 30 squares) is an ancient Egyptian board game for which no rules have survived, although many boards and pieces have. While no one is sure how it was played, it is generally assumed to have been a race game, played by two players moving five, seven or ten pyramids in an inverted S curve around the board.
One board, as shown above, five small, three medium and two large "white" pyramids and five small, three medium and two large "black" pyramids, and two four-sided dice (Egyptian-style long dice marked I, II, III, X for one through four would be ideal, but modern tetrahedral dice will do nicely).
Note that the last five squares of the board bear the special symbols Ankh, X, III, II and I respectively. These are safe squares, and their use is described below.
A black pyramid is placed on the first square of the track, a white pyramid next to it, then a black pyramid again, alternating until the first 20 squares -- the top two rows -- are filled up. Large pyramids are placed first, then medium, then small.
Each player rolls the two four-sided dice (rolling again on a tie), with the player who rolls highest having the choice whether to go first and play black, or to go second and play white.
On the first turn only, black rolls a single four-sided die, and moves one pyramid that many squares along the track. On all other turns, each player rolls both four-sided dice, and either moves two pyramids each the number of squares on a single die, or a single pyramid twice.
A pyramid may not land on another pyramid of the same color. A pyramid may also not land on a pyramid of the other color if it is safe. A pyramid is safe if it is either next to another pyramid of the same color, or on one of the five marked squares at the end of the board. A enemy pyramid that is landed on is removed from the game.
Three pyramids in a row of the same color form a blockade, and may not be passed by a pyramid of the other color, no matter what the die roll.
Both rolls must be used if at all possible. It is not possible to move backwards.
If a pyramid lands on one of the four numbered squares at the end of the board (X (4), III (3), II (2) or I (1)), that pyramid must remain on that square until they roll that square's number, at which point it is born off and becomes a scoring pyramid. pyramids on these squares must be born off if at all possible before moving any other pyramids.
If a pyramid lands on the fifth square from the end marked with a Ankh, it must be moved on the next possible roll (after bearing off any pyramids on number squares, but before moving any pyramids elsewhere on the board).
The game is over when all pyramids of one side have been born off or captured. The winner is the player who bore off the most points worth of pyramids. Pyramids score according to size:
| Large Pyramid | 4 Points |
| Medium Pyramid | 3 Points |
| Small Pyramid | 2 Points |
This version is a adaption for Icehouse pyramids of two published versions of the rules: that in R.C. Bell's book Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, and that from Northwest Corner's (formally Gamefinders) game of Senet. From Bell we get the board, the set up, the bearing off rules, and the fact that pyramids are captured instead of being sent back; from the Northwest Corner version we get the rules the two pyramids in a row are safe, and three pyramids in a row are a block. The use of a single roll of two four-sided dice -- instead of throwing sticks with throw again on some values -- is my own addition (although Bell did suggest the use of a single four-sided die) in order to make the game less random.