Curse of the Pharaoh: The Quest for Nefertiti
Encyclopedia
Curse of the Pharaoh: The Quest for Nefertiti is an ancient Egypt
-themed casual game
in the adventure
genre. Set in the 1930s, this game was released by its developer, Ph03nix New Media, for the Windows
operating system
on March 10, 2008.
The story begins in London of the 1930s. The player takes on the role of Anna, an archaeologist who discovers a letter from her stepbrother William, asking for her help. William informs Anna that, during his expedition
in search of the tomb of Nefertiti
, he has encountered a terrible plot with implications of a government conspiracy
and cover-up. William implies that he is in danger and asks Anna to come looking for him should she not hear from him within two weeks. The game begins with the player attempting to find clues to locate William.
The journal left to Anna by William is incomplete, and during the course of the game, additional pages to that journal will be revealed to the player, outlining William's journeys through the locations the player is playing through, and providing the player with valuable clues.
in its main gameplay mode, plus 4 minigame
levels. The main gameplay mode includes the three following types of levels:
s which, can be purchased in the in-game store using coins that the player is expected to collect within levels.
)
The player must turn over two scarabs at a time, if the symbols on their undersides match, those scarabs are removed from play. The player must clear all the scarabs within 2 minutes. This game has 3 rounds.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
-themed casual game
Casual game
A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games...
in the adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
genre. Set in the 1930s, this game was released by its developer, Ph03nix New Media, for the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
on March 10, 2008.
Story
The story of the game is told through both in-game cutscenes as well as journal pages that the player must collect. These journal pages allow the player to unravel the story as they work through each of the 53 levels of the game.The story begins in London of the 1930s. The player takes on the role of Anna, an archaeologist who discovers a letter from her stepbrother William, asking for her help. William informs Anna that, during his expedition
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
in search of the tomb of Nefertiti
Nefertiti
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only...
, he has encountered a terrible plot with implications of a government conspiracy
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
and cover-up. William implies that he is in danger and asks Anna to come looking for him should she not hear from him within two weeks. The game begins with the player attempting to find clues to locate William.
The journal left to Anna by William is incomplete, and during the course of the game, additional pages to that journal will be revealed to the player, outlining William's journeys through the locations the player is playing through, and providing the player with valuable clues.
Main Gameplay
Curse of the Pharaoh consists of 53 levelsLevel (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
in its main gameplay mode, plus 4 minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
levels. The main gameplay mode includes the three following types of levels:
Spot the difference levels
The player must find all 10 differences between the pictures on each side of the screen, additionally the player will collect and keep one such item in their inventory, to be used to solve a puzzle in that level, or some other level within the same world."Secret Room" levels
The player must locate 4 objects within these rooms. The 4 objects to be found will be indicated by silhouettes that appear in the player's inventory. The player must also find 5 pieces of a mask, when completed this mask will serve as the key to open the following Logic Puzzle Level.Logic Puzzle levels
The player must unlock these levels with mask keys found in "Secret Room" levels. Then he or she must use the objects in his or her inventory to solve the puzzle presented by the room.Minigames
Curse of the Pharaoh includes 4 minigameMinigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s which, can be purchased in the in-game store using coins that the player is expected to collect within levels.
Simon Says Game
The player must follow the pattern of lights and complete a certain number of rounds to win.Scarab Game
(aka concentrationConcentration (game)
Concentration, also known as Memory, Pelmanism, Shinkei-suijaku, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards...
)
The player must turn over two scarabs at a time, if the symbols on their undersides match, those scarabs are removed from play. The player must clear all the scarabs within 2 minutes. This game has 3 rounds.