From a design perspective, Hounds and Jackals is the crown jewel of ancient Egyptian games. A complex, curved board with integrated drawer and elaborate dog- and jackal-headed playing pieces, this game has rarely been reconstructed due to the incredibly complex craftsmanship required.
Pandora Games produced this very small batch of 10 sets over a period of 4 years. Each has been meticulously hand-made, hand-painted, and hand-assembled over that period of time. We're proud to be able to make these available to ancient game enthusiasts!
While we based our design off the famous "palm tree" copy of this game, we were not striving for an exact replica. The original was carved out of ivory, which was not an option, so we altered the design to match our materials. Our board is milled out of wood, with the legs and playing pieces cast in solid resin. All pieces were originally hand-sculpted out of clay before being cast, ensuring that they bear the material traces of their sculpting. As a result, we made the feet of the board significantly sturdier than the ancient example and scaled the overall board slightly larger. Of the ten playing pieces in the game, there are two different sculpted jackal designs and three different hound designs.
The board comes in one of two designs: a brown painted version and a bone-white one. Both have bone-white board tops, but different sides and bottoms. The bone-white version is closer to the historical model. The brown version has particular flair. We have five of each type.
This set comes with a historically accurate astragalus (sheep knucklebone) that has been pitted and painted. This is what you roll to determine movement. This is a real astragal bone, a unique one for each game. Upon request, we can substitute a cast astragalus that contains no part of an animal for the real one in your copy of the game.
For this ultra-limited edition, game designer Zach Horton has created a new set of rules that vastly improve upon previous suggestions for how the game should be played. This version takes inspiration from the animal heads and makes strategic use of the directions they face for a tense and surprising two player experience. Printed instructions are included with the game.
This game is designed to be stored in the included hand-made storage and display bag, made out of a thick cotton, with draw string and embroidered "H&J" insignia. The complex bag is designed with a square bottom that perfectly fits the board and instructions. The playing pieces are stored in the board's internal drawer.
Each game comes with a numbered authentication card. Numbers range from 1 to 10 and are assigned randomly to customers.
This game hasn't been reconstructed since the 1990s, and only one complex reconstruction of this style has ever been attempted, to the best of our knowledge. That was decades ago, and only a single copy was made. We hope that by making ten copies, we can satisfy the dreams of the biggest ancient games fans out there.
We will not ever be making more copies beyond this single production batch.
Dimensions of board: approximately 4.5W x 7D x 4H inches.