Part of what’s appealing about The Egypt Game is that its characters have a fantastical secret double life, but the story doesn’t involve any actual magic. The gods don’t start actually talking to them, there’s no Egyptian curse that afflicts the kids, there’s no weird supernatural horror tropes, there’s not even any magical realism. For once, I’m relieved that it doesn’t have any true fantasy elements; that makes the entire story feel plausible and grounded, and actually helps to emphasize the value of imagination. The Egypt Game is a form of playing pretend, but the kids still take it deadly seriously, which puts it somewhere between fantasy and reality.
We’re never given a reason to think that the children literally believe the Egyptian gods are real — in fact, we’re told that they don’t — but they behave as if the gods are real, complete with prostrating themselves before their altars and lighting incense, while chanting hymns that they wrote themselves. They know it’s a game, which is what makes it feel safe and fun, instead of like they’re actually messing with supernatural forces. But they’re also able to suspend their disbelief enough for their pretend-worship of the gods to feel real while they’re doing it. At that point, what’s the difference?