Kemet: Blood and Sand | From the Shelf to the Table
Players: 2–5⏱ Playtime: ~90–180 Minutes
Best For: Area Control / Strategy / Direct Player Interaction
Ages: 13+
Quick TakeKemet: Blood and Sand is a highly interactive strategy game set in an alternate version of Ancient Egypt, where players take on the roles of powerful Egyptian gods competing for dominance through battles, technology, area control, alliances, and carefully timed moves.
Greame Johnston describes it as a game that combines Euro-style strategy with a highly interactive and emotional core, where understanding your opponents, bluffing, timing, sacrifices, and taking risks can be just as important as your own engine.
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Full Review
Check out Greame’s full thoughts HERE---
🗣 Reviewer Highlights
Greame was extremely enthusiastic about Kemet: Blood and Sand, describing it as a colourful, intelligent, fast-moving, and engaging experience.
He particularly enjoyed the level of player interaction and aggression, noting that the game quickly becomes demanding and that battles are a major part of the fun.
He also felt that Blood and Sand benefits from years of play and feedback, with tweaks, rebalancing, and component upgrades improving the experience.
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Greame’s Pros• Highly interactive gameplay
• Strong player-to-player interaction
• Bluffing and negotiation can play an important role
• Alliances can be formed and broken
• Action points, tech trees, engine building, and area control work together
• Fast-moving despite its strategic depth
• Encourages aggressive play
• Battles are a major highlight
• Strong tension throughout the game
• Excellent table presence
• Superb recessed player boards
• Stackable 3D plastic pyramids
• Larger miniatures than the original edition
• New monster sculpts
• Blood and Sand includes tweaks, rebalancing, and upgrades based on years of play and feedback
• Greame particularly enjoys playing with 5 players
• The game kept his group highly engaged and emotionally invested
• Greame summed up his enthusiasm with: “Kemet is this good.”
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Greame’s Cons• Kemet is on the higher end of medium weight
• There are a substantial number of interactions between tiles, cards, and the rulebook to keep track of
• Some players may find the game too confrontational
• Some players have criticized elements such as tile overload, bash-the-leader gameplay, and end-game whiplash
• Greame found the Book of the Dead tiles a bit fiddly and preferred playing with the four base-game tile sets
• Expansions aren't essential in his opinion
• Greame prefers the artwork from the original Kemet, although he still felt Blood and Sand looks good on the table
• Greame considers Kemet best with 5 players, where competition for tiles is more intense and there are more battles
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What Makes It Stand OutKemet: Blood and Sand isn't a game where you can simply build your strategy in isolation.
Greame emphasizes that player interaction determines the outcome. You need to understand what your opponents are trying to accomplish, decide when to attack, know when to make sacrifices, and time your moves carefully.
The game also pushes players toward aggression rather than simply sitting back and building an engine.
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Blood and Sand vs. Original KemetFor owners of the original edition, Greame gives Blood and Sand a qualified “maybe.”
He believes the newer edition benefits from the years of play and feedback that came between editions, with tweaks, rebalancing, and upgrades improving the experience. However, he also points out that some of the changes can be incorporated into the original game, and mentions that a “best of both worlds” upgrade pack is available.
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Community DiscussionAre you the kind of gamer who enjoys games where alliances can crumble, battles can erupt, and your opponents can completely disrupt your plans?
Or is Kemet’s level of confrontation a little too much for your gaming table?
