Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation Hints

How do I play the senet game?

• 1 of 8: If you don't already have them, you need to find the rules to the game.  Read them for a general idea of what you're trying to do.
  • I'm in a room with a giant game board. What's next?
• 2 of 8: Once you have the rules, a trap door above the ladder on the west side of the game room (that is, the ladder opposite the one that you had to climb to find the rules) will open.  You can now climb the ladder to reach a balcony where you'll find four black and white sticks on the wall.
• 3 of 8: You get the first turn.  Start by rolling the sticks on the wall -- walk up to them and press ACTION.  You can move a single piece one space for every white stick you roll, or you can move a piece six spaces if you get no white sticks.  Pick which piece you want to move by standing on the appropriately colored tile.  If you roll a six or land exactly on one of the ankh squares, you get another turn immediately; otherwise, the computer moves a piece, and you then get to roll the sticks again.
• 4 of 8: All of your pieces enter (or re-enter) the game at the same space, and all of the computer's pieces also enter at the same space.  They then follow a set path as follows:
  
                                    .  .  .
                                 1  2  3  4*
  16*  15  14  13  12* 11  10  9  8* 7  6  5
                                 1  2  3  4*
                                    .  .  .
  
  The first four squares for either side are "safe" spaces, where the other side isn't allowed to move.  Pieces then join the same path at square 5.  You must land exactly on the ankh at square 16 to reach the end -- and the first player to get all three pieces to the end wins.  (Stars indicate the ankh squares.)
• 5 of 8: If you land on the same square as one of the computer's pieces, you return it to the start of the board (and vice-versa).  You can't land on any of your own pieces or go past square 16.  If you don't have any valid moves, you lose your turn.
• 6 of 8: The computer seems to keep only one piece out and moves it whatever its roll dictates.  However, I preferred to play with two different pieces at a time. That way, you usually have multiple options, so it's easier to capture the computer's piece or land on an ankh square and get an extra turn.  On the other hand, leaving out all three pieces will just make you vulnerable and may even limit your options by clogging up the board.
• 7 of 8: Of course, you don't want to leave both of your pieces vulnerable to capture. I often ended up moving one piece far ahead of the computer's piece and keeping the other one closer to the start of the board, moving it only to land on an ankh or the computer's piece.
• 8 of 8: Note that the most likely roll is a 2 (it comes up an average of 6 out of every 16 times), followed by a 1 or 3 (each comes up 4 of every 16 rolls), and finally a 1 or 6 (each only shows once every 16 rolls).  If you need to leave a piece vulnerable or are trying to figure out how close to get to an ankh square, keep these numbers in mind.

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