Destroy the opposing Pharaoh King with your laser. The moment a King is destroyed, the game ends and the opposing side wins.
White always moves first. Each turn consists of exactly one action.
Selecting or changing which of your pieces is selected does not use your turn. An illegal action does not use your turn.
Only one piece or object may occupy a square. Pieces cannot move onto occupied squares. Pieces are not captured by movement; pieces are removed only through laser effects.
The laser travels along the center lines of the board squares. Mirrors can redirect it. Depending on what it strikes, the beam may reflect, stop, damage a piece, destroy a piece, leave the playable board and interact with the surrounding mirror arena, or eventually return to the board.
The playable board is surrounded by a ring of two-sided edge mirrors. A laser leaving the main board is not necessarily gone—it can strike these mirrors, travel around the outside of the board, and later be reflected back into play.
After every completed action, the ordinary edge mirrors may change orientation. Each mirror independently has a 25% chance of flipping to its other diagonal orientation. Players therefore control their pieces, but nobody controls the arena.
The four corner mirrors are fixed and never change orientation. They route the laser from one side of the surrounding mirror arena to the next.
A laser can consequently follow a long and unexpected route around the board before returning. When it re-enters the playable board, it behaves normally and can strike either player's pieces—including the King that fired it.
FIRE does not mean “attack the opponent.” It means “release the laser.”
Your Pharaoh King is the piece you must protect. It may move one square orthogonally and does not rotate.
A King is destroyed by one laser hit, regardless of which player fired the laser. Destroying the opposing King immediately wins the game. If your own laser is reflected back into your King, your opponent wins.
Ordinary mirrors move one square orthogonally and may rotate 90° clockwise or counter-clockwise as a turn action.
Only the diagonal mirror face reflects the laser. A beam striking the reflective face turns 90° away from the solid body and continues.
A beam striking the solid/back side destroys the mirror and stops there. Your own laser can destroy your own mirror.
The Double Mirror moves one square orthogonally and may rotate 90°. Both sides are reflective, and the Double Mirror cannot be destroyed by the laser.
After moving, it becomes movement-locked. It may still rotate, but it cannot move again until you successfully move another eligible piece or your Pharaoh King. Rotating another piece, PASS, FIRE, or merely rotating the Double Mirror does not reset this lock.
A Guard Tower may move one square orthogonally until it has been damaged.
The first laser hit permanently damages the side from which the laser entered and the Guard becomes dug in. From that moment onward, it can no longer move.
A Guard must be struck from three different sides to be destroyed. A laser hitting a side that has already been damaged causes no additional damage.
The laser stops when it strikes the Guard, whether or not that particular side was already damaged.
This means repeatedly firing down the same line cannot destroy a Guard. The attacker must find laser routes that reach it from different directions.
DESTROYED GUARD TOWERS: On the third unique-side hit, the Guard Tower collapses and leaves permanent rubble on its square.
The rubble blocks movement for the remainder of the game. No piece may enter that square, and temporary columns cannot rise there.
Rubble provides no protection from the laser. A laser passes straight through the rubble square without stopping, reflecting, or otherwise interacting with it.
Each player has one Cannon. The Cannon is fixed in position and cannot be destroyed by a laser. A laser striking a Cannon stops there.
The Cannon has two permitted firing directions and may be rotated between them. Rotating the Cannon uses your entire turn.
FIRE also uses your entire turn. After firing, the Cannon enters cooldown and cannot FIRE on your next turn. You may perform another legal action during that turn; afterward the Cannon is ready again.
Once fired, the laser follows the board and mirror geometry wherever it leads. Your laser can damage or destroy your own pieces, including your own Pharaoh King.
The arena periodically raises four stone columns from beneath the board. The columns are controlled by the arena, not by either player.
All four columns rise simultaneously on randomly selected empty squares. They remain raised for exactly three completed actions, then retract together.
After remaining underground for a random period of 8–16 completed actions, four columns rise again at new valid locations.
A raised column occupies its square. Pieces cannot move onto or through that square.
The columns are immune to the laser. When a laser strikes a raised column, the beam stops at the column and causes no damage.
Because their locations and timing are independent of the players, columns can temporarily block movement, interrupt a laser route, shield a piece—or suddenly disappear and reopen a route.
PASS and FIRE count as completed actions for column timing.
Click one of your pieces to select it. Selecting a piece, or changing which of your pieces is selected, does not use your turn.
Use the four directional controls on the Ankh to move an eligible selected piece one square north, south, east or west. Use the left and right rotation controls to rotate an eligible selected piece 90° counter-clockwise or clockwise.
PASS ends your turn without moving, rotating or firing. FIRE fires your Cannon when it is ready.
A successful move, rotation, PASS or FIRE uses your one action and ends the turn. An illegal action does not use your turn.
Click the central blue Scarab to open these game rules. CLOSE, clicking outside the Manual, or pressing Esc returns you to the game.
