The Curse of Ra

Overview

The Curse of Ra (not to be confused with the 1990 game of the same name) is a shareware mahjong solitaire game developed by Philippe Mussler and published by Used Star for Windows PCs in 1998.

A nikakudori-style mahjong solitaire game with an ancient Egyptian theme, The Curse of Ra has players solving puzzles to conquer the dynasties of Re in order to lift a curse on his brother Ra. Along with a 50-level campaign, the game includes a series of simple "solitaire" levels (in a randomized 10×4, 14×6, 16×8, or 18×10 rectangle), a built-in level editor, and local multiplayer (both simultaneous in two-player Battle mode and hotseat in 2-4 player Relay mode).

Along with a unique Egyptian-themed tileset, the game includes an arcade-style system (with scoring, a countdown timer, limited lives, and power-ups) and special tiles (Walls that obstruct nikakudori paths and Flowers that attract tiles in the same row/column in their direction).

It also received a retail release at the same year by eGames as Rahjongg: The Curse of Ra (also known simply as Rahjongg, with later versions also known as Rahjongg: Egyptian Mahjongg).

The original version received seven expansions, including five "Mission Packs" (Ra's Revenge, Ra's Empire, Ra's Vegas, Roman Invasion, and Greek Odyssey) and two alternate level sets (Junior Edition for easier levels and Expert Edition for tougher levels). The game later received an official port for the iPad on March 29, 2012 as Mahjong: The Curse of Ra.