Altering the Timestream with Chrononauts

While exploring the many fascinating shops in Manitou Springs, my wife and I came across this novelty toy store, The American Toy Factory. Unlike Toys 'R' Us, this store iss not so much about your typical dolls, action figures, Nerf guns, and video games as it is about clever, novel toys and games, all of which were made in the US.  The storefront window displayed one of those huge K'Nex rollercoasters that was, at least, five feet tall (if I recall correctly).  They had a lot of gimmicky toys (I mean that in a good way), such as the rapid fire rubber band gun (which is a great idea) and remote controlled toy robots that can play football (which are made by a company in Denver that is owned by the store owner, Kendall York).  If you're ever out in Manitou Springs (perhaps on your way to the Penny Arcade) don't forget to stop by here and check out their toys.

Anyway, while we were in there (I insisted.  I can't resist going into video arcades and toy stores.  I'm such a kid at heart.), we found they were selling a card game called Chrononauts.  I've heard of this game before, but neither my wife or I really had the impetus to pick it up.  Since I liked this toy store, I wanted to support it by purchasing something, so I egged my wife to get it (I didn't have enough cash).  The guy who rang us up (who, I believe, was the store owner) said this was a great game and even suggested an expansion to go with it (the expansion was only $3).  On our way back from Colorado, we stayed at a hotel in Kansas and the two of us played with her family in the hotel room.

The premise of Chrononauts is that each player is a time traveler from a different alternate Earth.  Each player uses cards to collect historical artifacts, get new time travel technology, affect other players, or alter events in the timestream (which is this grid of reversible cards with each card signifying an important moment in history).  When someone alters these "Linchpin" moments in history, it affects other events in the timestream, called Ripplepoint.  Say, for instance, your time traveler goes back to 1936 to assassinate Hitler before his opening speech at the Berlin Olympic Games.  Of course, this prevents most of the events of World War II (though it does not prevent the war, as, according to the game, Japan still wages war and the attack on Pearl Harbor still occurs).  Each event in the timestream that is affected due to the alteration of a Linchpin becomes a time paradox, as the timestream has ripped from the drastic change and is unable to rectify itself.

The Timestream (purple and red cards are Linchpins, blue are Ripplepoints,

and the ones with "black holes" are paradoxed Ripplepoints)

Of course, too many paradoxes at once is a bad thing, as it causes the collapse of the time-space continuum and all of reality collapses upon itself.  This causes everyone to lose the game, unless you're a certain time traveler (from one of the expansions) who needs reality to collapse in order to win.  To prevent this, players use time patch cards, which depict alternate events in history, that superimpose themselves on the paradox and repair the tears in the continuum.  Let's use our previous example.  Since Hitler was assassinated in 1936, Germany won't invade Poland in 1939, which structurally damages reality in that point in time.  A player can place a patch on 1939 where, instead of invading Poland, Germany remains a proactive part of Europe and they participate in the 1939 World's Fair in New York, where they introduce German Black Forest Cake to the people and it becomes a big hit.  This blitzkrieg of the culinary world nullifies the paradox of Germany's blitzkrieg of the European world, thus righting the balance of events.  Of course, others can use cards to revert events back to the way they were, preventing Hitler's assassination and discarding the patch, since the paradox is undone.

There are three ways to win Chrononauts:  The first way is to change events in the timestream and patch alternate events to where the timestream conforms to the time traveler's reality and they can go home.  Each character card has three events, one that is part of our timestream, and two that are altered events that are made possible by patching time paradoxes, that determine their home reality.  You can also try to fulfill the requirements of your mission card.  Each player is given a mission card at the start of the game.  The mission is to collect three items (some cards allow you to collect three of four items), either by playing them or by playing a card to steal them from someone else who has them.  The third way to win is by getting ten cards in your hand at the end of your turn (all of the ways to win must be done at the end of your turn, so someone can still screw things up for you before your turn comes up).

Despite the complex premise of the game, it's actually very easy to pick up and learn.  It was made by the same guy who created Fluxx, which has some of the easiest starting rules for a card game (draw a card, play a card).  The time travel concept is fun, and you don't have to move around any board.  As long as you have the right card, you can change any Linchpin in time.  There are some cards that you can play to change any Linchpin, regardless of where they are and whether they are our own history or an alternate one, but there are others that only allow you to change certain events, such as any disaster (Hindenberg, Titanic, etc.) as well as some cards that only allow you to take any altered Linchpin and revert it back to normal (keep in mind, you can only use these cards to change Linchpins in the timestream; you cannot directly affect Ripplepoints, you have to change the Linchpins they're attached to).  Don't let the easy learning curve fool you, though.  This game does require some tactical thinking, as you have to change events from a certain time to create a paradox in events down the way and fix them with the appropriate patch in order to "go home."

As a card game about time travel, this game was inspired by science fiction shows and stories that explored the concepts of time travel and features quite a few references to them (though I was surprised to find out that the game's creator is not a fan of Doctor Who, but I can see why).  If you want to find out more about his inspirations and the hows and whys of the alternate histories he created for the game, then check out his article, Mysteries of the Timeline, on the Looney Labs website.

Even though it may not be the cheapest card game out there (the core game cost $20), it's still a game that is worth the money.  There's even an Early American Chrononauts edition, which is kind of a sequel (or is it prequel, since it takes place in an earlier point in the timestream?) that can be combined with Chrononauts to create one big game.  I'm trying to push this game to be a regular for our game nights when friends come over (which will have some stiff competition from Blokus and, oddly enough, Hearts).

If you like fun card games, or are an avid fan of time travel fiction, then I recommend picking this up.  It's easy, fun, and a good way to waste an hour.