Stats:
No. of players: 2-6
Amount of time to play: 30 min
Age requirements: 8+
Set-up time: minimal

Nile Deluxor Card Game Rules Description:

Nile Deluxor is a card game about planting and harvesting in ancient Egypt. Of course the Nile River will flood so you’ll have to deal with that and harvesting more than your opponents.

Nile Deluxor is considered an expansion for the game Nile. I like to think of it as a replacement. Nile Deluxor comes with everything in the original Nile card game plus an expansion.

Throughout Nile Deluxor you will plant and harvest goods. In order to win Nile Deluxor you must harvest the more crops than your opponents. This will be determined by the crop you have the least of. So if I have three flax, two castor, one wheat and no lettuce and you have three flax, three castor, three lettuce and two wheat, you win. Zero lettuce is less than two wheat.

To begin Nile Deluxor you deal each player five cards. On your turn you flip the top card of the deck. This will be the flood card. If you have a field that matches the flood card you harvest one of them into your storage pile. Also crops of the same type as the flood card cannot be planted.

Next you may trade cards from your hand and/or storage pile. There are two types of trades. First you may trade two cards for one card from the draw pile. You may also trade two cards to draw a new flood card. This will result in another harvest and possibly more trading. You may trade as often as you like and in any order.

After trading you plant or speculate. If you plant you may plane as many cards to existing fields as you like. To plant a new field you may plant at least two of one type of crop. The other option for a new field is to plant exactly two cards of differing types. The last rule for planting is that you may not plant a crop that has already been planted by another player unless you plant more of them. This will cause your opponent to discard his files of that crop.

Speculation cards have to types of crops on them and you may lay up to two on your turn. If the next flood card matches one of the crop on your speculate card you instantly draw three cards.

To finish your turn you draw two cards and then the player on your left will follow these steps. The game ends once you’ve gone through the deck the number of times equal to the number players.

One other card I need to mention is the Plague of Locusts. It will eliminate the largest field and will come up once each time you play through the desk.

The expansion adds stones and monuments to the game. Stone are treated like crops and are “planted” to build one of three monuments: the Sphinx which allows you two harvest two crops at a time, the Obelisk which allows you to draw three cards at the end of your turn and the Wall which requires other players to out-plant or out-build you by two cards.

A Quick Nile Deluxor Card Game Review:

Nile Deluxor is fun to play, easy to learn and a great filler. You can teach this game quickly and it plays quickly too. Even with the monuments expansion the game is simple and straightforward.

The artwork and components for the game are excellent. The rules are pretty well-written but you may want to review the planting section a few times as it can be confusing on the first read.

You need to be sure and diversify since winning will only depend on your least harvested crop. Use the trading and additional harvest to try and get the crops harvested that you need.

Although there is a decent amount of luck in Nile Deluxor, your decisions matter. If you play poorly you’ll probably lose. Play well and you could win.

If you are looking to get a great filler with decisions that matter and quick and easy gameplay, Nile Deluxor will fit that mold.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 3 out of 6
Replay Value 3 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6