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Ancient Society Presents

Senet

You vs. Tira of Egypt

You 5 on board
Your turn Cast the sticks to begin.
Portrait of Tira of Egypt
Tira Mistress of the Houses 5 on board
Your Record Autosave ready
Games0
Wins0
Win rate0%
Win streak0
Best streak0

Use the arrow keys to move focus between houses. Press Enter or Space on a highlighted house to move that piece. Home moves focus to House 1 and End moves focus to House 30.

Thirty Houses · New Kingdom-inspired Senet game
You have passed
Tira has passed
Cast –
Your cones Tira's sacred tokens Legal move

Game Record

Newest move first

    Special Houses

    Select a house to see the rule used in this reconstruction.

    nfr

    House 26: House of Beauty

    The ancient rules do not survive intact. These mechanics combine well-attested board features with a modern reconstruction chosen to create a coherent playable game.

    About the reconstruction

    What is archaeologically secure: Senet used a board of thirty houses arranged in three rows of ten; pieces traveled along a winding course; casting sticks or bones determined movement; the final houses were specially marked; House 26 commonly used the nfr sign and House 27 used aquatic imagery.

    Ancient Society Reconstruction: a five-piece playable synthesis using swapping, protected pairs, three-piece blockades, immediate return from Water, mandatory House 26, and exact endgame throws.

    ISAC Reconstruction: follows the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures educational workbook, including its opening draw, the special House 15 restart, the choice presented by House 27, and its different House 30 exit rule.

    Seven-Piece Extended: uses fourteen alternating starting pieces, inspired by Timothy Kendall's original seven-piece configuration, while deliberately retaining the Ancient Society mechanics. It is labeled as a hybrid rather than as the complete Kendall rules.

    No mode is presented as the lost original rules of Senet. The surviving evidence spans many centuries, and the game itself almost certainly changed during its long history.

    Historical basis

    What you see is based on surviving Senet material

    The visual treatment draws on New Kingdom game boxes with wood, ivory and blue-green faience, while the rules remain an openly identified modern reconstruction because no complete ancient rulebook survives.

    Learn more about Senet Ancient Egyptian Gods Ancient Egyptian Music 🎵

    Ancient Society · Senet

    Choose a Reconstruction

    No complete ancient Egyptian rulebook survives. Choose which modern reconstruction you want the game and Tira to use.

    Ancient Society Reconstruction

    A coherent five-piece rule set designed around the most commonly reconstructed Senet mechanics while clearly identifying uncertain rules.

    Ancient Society · Senet

    How to Play

    Move all five of your pieces beyond House 30 before Tira does.

    1

    Cast

    Throw the four sticks. Light faces determine a move of 1–4; four dark faces count as 5. Throws of 1, 4 and 5 grant another cast after a successful forward move.

    2

    Move

    Choose one highlighted cone and move it the exact number cast. Pieces follow the winding course from House 1 to House 30.

    3

    Pass

    Land on a lone opposing piece and the two pieces exchange places. Two adjacent pieces protect each other; three consecutive pieces form a blockade.

    4

    Pass Beyond

    Guide every one of your five pieces through the final houses and off the board. The first player to pass all five wins.

    1 light = 1 + another cast2 light = 23 light = 34 light = 4 + another cast0 light = 5 + another cast

    Keyboard: Use the arrow keys to move between houses. Press Enter or Space on a highlighted house to make that move. Home jumps to House 1 and End to House 30.

    15☥

    Second Life

    In this game, Water sends a piece back here, or to the nearest open earlier house.

    26𓄤

    Beauty

    Every piece must land here exactly before moving farther. This reconstruction also grants another cast.

    27≋

    Waters

    A hazard. In this rule set, landing here immediately returns the piece toward House 15.

    28III

    Three Judges

    The piece waits for an exact throw of 3 to pass beyond the board.

    29II

    Two Judges

    The piece waits for an exact throw of 2 to pass beyond the board.

    30☉

    Horus

    The final house in this reconstruction. An exact throw of 1 passes the piece beyond the board.

    The ancient rules are incomplete. The names and mechanics above follow a playable reconstruction and are not presented as a surviving Egyptian rulebook.

    Senet was played in Egypt for millennia. Surviving boards use thirty houses arranged in three rows of ten, and players moved through the grid in a winding, boustrophedon course.

    By the New Kingdom, Senet had acquired funerary meaning. Tomb scenes such as Queen Nefertari playing against an invisible opponent connect the game with successful passage through the dangers of the afterlife.

    Luxury boards could be made as wooden boxes with ivory or faience inlays and storage drawers. Simpler boards were also scratched into surfaces, showing that gaming was not confined to royalty.

    Well attested

    Thirty houses, three rows of ten, winding movement, special decoration in the final five houses, casting implements, and cone/spool-shaped pieces.

    Strong reconstruction

    Racing pieces toward and beyond House 30, passing opposing pieces, blocking movement, and the importance of House 26 before completing the course.

    Rule choice used here

    The exact treatment of Water, protection, blockades, House 15, bonus throws, and bearing-off requirements. Other modern reconstructions differ.

    The journey is complete

    You Have Passed

    All five of your pieces have successfully left the board.