The playing of board games, as a family or with friends, is lots of fun and a great way to spend some quality with each other. We have lots of board games in our house and have regular game nights where we play a variety of different games. Whilst we do have classic games such as Monopoly and Scrabble, we don’t have the classic strategy games of Draughts or Chess (even though I loved to play Chess as a child), both of which have been around for 100s of years. But we do have a new strategy game, for a new era, a game that is “easier and quicker to play than chess, more intriguing than draughts, and more exciting than both.” That game is a board game called Prometheus.
Prometheus is a strategy board game for 2 players aged 7+ with a playing time of around 20-30 minutes. It is a game that requires logic, strategic thinking, planning and daring to be able to beat your opponent.
In the box:
- 50 Playing Pieces (25 Black, 25 Gold)
- 2 Storage Bags
- Playing Board
- Instructions (Rules/Instructions)
Prometheus is a strategy board game, invented by former teacher and head of maths Christopher Curtis, where the aim is to capture your opponent’s pieces (Pyras, Tetras and Cubes) and ultimately capture their Sphere piece. If you have ever played draughts, you will know that it is played with 12 identical “counters”. Chess is played with six different types of playing pieces that can move in various fashions. Prometheus has four different types of playing pieces that move backwards, forwards and sideways, just not diagonally and they have different move values depending on how many vertices (corners) each piece has: a cube has eight vertices, a pyra has five vertices, a tetra has four vertices, and a sphere has zero vertices (so cannot move and stays in a fixed position on the board).
It is a simple game to learn and play, with a quick game play so that you can easily play more than one game with friends and family without getting bored. The real challenge is to see your way past your own and your opponent’s moves to build a strategy to always be a least one step ahead.
To set up the game, each player selects a colour that they want to play with (gold or black pieces). The pieces are they positioned over 3 rows on each player’s side of the board – cube pieces on the back row, pyras (the bigger of the pyramid pieces) are placed on the second row and the tetras (the smaller of the pyramid pieces) are placed on the third row. Each player will have a sphere piece left over – you will have to place this on the back or second row, sacrificing a cube or a pyra piece.
Playing and movement is simple with the aim of ultimately capturing your opponent’s sphere piece. Each player makes their starting move by moving one of their tetra pieces by up to four spaces (backwards, forwards, left and right moves, no diagonal moves, and pieces cannot be jumped). On the first opening moves no pieces can be taken. Moves are then taken in turns, to strategically position your pieces to capture your opponent’s pieces with the aim of taking the sphere. The winner is the player that captures their opponent’s sphere.
Overall, I have loved playing Prometheus and cannot recommend it enough. If you like games like Chess and Draughts, then you will love Prometheus. It is more complex and interesting to play than Draughts and easier to play and understand than Chess, but still requires good logical thinking and strategic planning to win. With gameplay of approximately 20 to 30 minutes it is also a quick game to play a few rounds.
The pieces are good quality and I love that each player’s pieces are in their own drawstring bag.
Whilst the rules and game play are simple to understand, it does take three of four plays to really get into the swing of the game and understand the fine nuances between the different pieces and their movements. Then it does become a very addictive and extremely enjoyable game to play.
It really is an excellent simple and challenging game. A fantastic game to get that old grey matter working and the kids loved it just as much as the adults.
Whilst Prometheus is an excellent game it also encourages cognitive skills, problem solving skills, promotes brain growth, and is excellent for helping with teaching tactics, planning, forethought and helps build self-confidence and self-belief in what you are doing.
Chess and Draughts have survived the test of time and are still be played today, and I think that Prometheus will have the longevity of both those games as well. It is a quick game to play with lots of fun but without the complexities of chess whilst being just as strategic.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £24.99 (Standard Edition) / £245 (Colour De Luxe Edition) / £295 (De Luxe Edition)
For more information, visit www.prometheusconcept.com. Also available from Amazon here.
Disclosure: I received this item for free for the purposes of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
