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"Navigating shifting walls and undead inhabitants, can you dodge and weave long enough to avoid being attacked and dash to escape?
Basic premise
In Entombed, players take the role of explorers trapped inside a pyramid waiting for the opportunity to escape. The inhabitants, however, think differently. Cursed for an ancient offence, they haunt the pyramid and will attack any and all explorers should they get their chilling hands within reach. Should this happen, any affected explorer becomes cursed and can only escape if they can pass on their curse to another explorer and thus become properly human again. Should all explorers become cursed, then it's game over as no one is left to escape.
The gameboard
The playing board represents the pyramid. The layout is in a grid, but there are wall pieces that help build the 'corridors'. These walls can be moved to reflect secret passages and give both a lot of room for maneuver but also an unpredictable element, so explorers can never truly feel safe. This is a nice mechanic, and although the game board is abstract and doesn't convey the cramped, narrow passageways one might find in a pyramid, the trade off is a simpler game to learn.
Gameplay
Each turn, in Entombed, players have the opportunity to move their explorers several spaces without backtracking. What influences the moves varies, but essentially explorers are avoiding inhabitants and cursed explorers until the escape routes become available and then there will be mad dash to flee. In addition, players will want to block off routes, shift walls to help themselves and hinder others and even open up pathways of attack for inhabitants. The way to control movement of walls is for the explorer to land on or move over 'wall' tokens. These can get placed according to the map design or by agreement between players at the start with a degree of symmetry being recommended.
There are a number of map options or you can agree to design your map, but ultimately with the rules on movement and shifting walls, a game of Entombed can be quite chaotic.
Any cursed explorers will move in the next phase according to a card draw determining the move. This phase is followed by the inhabitants and explorers take control of inhabitants and use this to move after competing explorers or to maneuver out of the way of their own.
Built into the game is a timer and after an agreed number of turns, the players have the opportunity to move their explorers to one of the corner squares and escape.
Components
Overall, for a game designed for simplicity and ease of learning and access for younger players, the components in Entombed work very well. The prototype I've played with has a nice gameboard, the character pieces are a nice solid block design and the remaining components have a good level of durability. Where I would recommend change is in the design of the pieces. The explorers and their cursed counterparts are very similar. I would prefer a colour distinction between explorers, even if only at the ends, so it is easier to differentiate between them. Also having a more distinct cursed piece would help too.
Personally I'd also like to see chunkier wall sections to convey a greater feel of narrow claustrophobic passageways. I know it's only a simple game, but still it would add a nice layer of immersion!
Experience of play
Ultimately, whether you like the game or not is down to what you want from a game and who you play with. Having a simple game is ideal for younger players and overall, the game works best if you play expecting a short, frantic but fun game!
What I enjoyed was the tactical planning and the chaos of the middle to later game as players jostled and scheme their way to a prime square near a corner.
Summary
Overall I would say this is a fun game, but perhaps for older players there is not sufficient variability for long term play, but geared towards younger players, or family gameplay, there is greater room for repeat play!