Because why not. These are my personal opinions of card strength; meaning how often it's a good idea to play one card over another. These don't take into account the score values at all; obviously which card you want to play in any given situation is going to also depend on leaving yourself with a card that you want to score. I think that for a lot of these, it's probably a complete toss-up between certain ones, so cards that are within the same few rankings are likely actually equal.
Of course I'm no expert in Temporum. This is nothing like a Dominion list that would be based upon thousands of games by people who have spent time discussing strategy and learning everything about the game. It's more like the initial reactions that people have when trying out new cards for the first time. I have played a fair amount of real-life games, and a huge amount more against the AI. But I'm sure that if Temporum really picks up, then a while from now I'll look back on this thread and think that some of my thoughts were just way off.
Here's the full list of cards and what they are:
http://pittersplace.com/temporum/Cards.html.
Anyway:
#30 - Think Tank - In many setups; this simply won't produce more than $11.
#29 - Prime Real Estate - So this has a theoretical max of $16 (not $17, because the money you get for moving the last crown to Time IV is worthless). But if you're leaving yourself with just 1 crown needed, (and you aren't going to score that crown for free with some other effect), you've done something wrong. So you'll probably get at most $13 from this, and only $7 of it is right away.
#28 - Step on a Butterfly - $12 is a good amount, but the effect is just so situational.
#27 - Predict the Future - Same as Step on a Butterfly really, but the effect is probably slightly more useful.
#26 - Kill Your Grandfather - This can be compared to a few other cards which draw you 2 cards... and it's way worse than them. Only good to play when it's the last card in your hand.
#25 - Shogun's Katana - Will often only be worth $12. If you can get it up to $16 then it's awesome of course, but it's hard to rule that many Times.
#24 - Bag of Loot - The best thing for this card probably is to just play it once and then score it later. $7 isn't enough to keep playing it repeatedly. I'm very surprised that this doesn't produce $8, given the standard values that seem to be present (a card is with $4; playing a card is worth $12).
#23 - Black Market - This is probably going to be worth only $13 or $15 most games; and of course only half of that is immediate.
#22 - Treasure Map - The second card that draws 2 cards. Produces $1 more than KYG, and doesn't make you discard your hand. In most setups you'll probably find yourself wanting to visit Time IV anyway.
#21 - Gladiator's Gladius - Another card which can draw 2 cards. Or 0, or 1, or 3. But 2 is probably the most reasonable thing to shoot for. And it gives more money than the other 2; and you get the cards immediately. But still; it's not that easy to rule 2 Times.
#20 - Mayan Ritual Knife - Similar to Shogun's Katana; but I feel the effect is stronger because it can add an entire extra turn to your opponents' game.
#19 - Explorer - Of course with most of the perpetual cards, playing them early is key. But this one seems even more so; because you want to be drawing early. I almost think it's only worth it if it's in your opening hand. Otherwise, you just won't make enough money off of it.
#18 - Infected Rat - I always have trouble actually getting this to work.
When comparing hand sizes, you just played a card. And tying in handsize doesn't make them discard; so you need to have 2 less cards than your opponents when playing this for it to work. Maybe it's just because I tend to hoard cards more than my opponents. And if it doesn't hit all opponents, then it's probably better to just draw a card instead.
#17 - Trinket - Really hard to judge as a card, because it's really not like a card at all. It's more like a token that says "instead of drawing this card, just take $4." So it's pretty much in the middle.
#16 - Barbarian Horde - Hard to score more than a couple with this. You could play a pure drawing strategy of course. Heck, you could theoretically win just by visiting Pax Buddha 11 times in a row. Though that's almost certainly going to be too many turns; especially with the free card you're giving your opponents.
#15 - Investments - This has the potential to generate plenty of money; and you won't have to wait very long to get it.
#14 - Crown Jewels - I think that due to the variety of cards you'll often need to find yourself drawing more cards than you'll end up playing or scoring by the end. Turning them into $4 each is good.
#13 - Golden Goose - Probably the best of the cards that do nothing other than give you money. $16 is just a lot. Yeah, your opponents get money too, but play this at the right time and they won't be able to do much with it.
#12 - Artist - Kind of like Bag of Loot, except you get a new, random cards instead. For me, that's better than getting Bag of Loot. Plus it gives $1 more. Also like a reverse Rats. Normally I favor hurting opponents over helping yourself, but Artist works every time.
#11 - Settlers - Sometimes 1 more crown is all you need. It can also double the number of possible cards that you could score to win.
#10 - Engineer - The effect is situational, but it gives the full $12. It can be pretty strong in the end game when you need specific scoring values.
#9 - King's Sword - Pretty close to strictly better than Settlers. Of course you don't always rule even a single Time, and Settlers could be a pretty strong turn 1 play. But even if this just scores you 2 crowns; that's great.
#8 - Inventor - The fourth "draw 2" card. So it gives the least amount of money... but there's no drawbacks or conditions to the +2 cards, and then both of the other options are great too. This card will probably give you whatever you need.
#7 - Friends in Old Places - The king of money-generating cards. This can easily be worth $18. Of course you don't get it all at once.
#6 - Tulip Stocks - Almost always better than MRK. Losing $5 can really hurt.
#5 - Papal Tiara - At first glance this seems like it's the same as Trinket. So why so much higher? 2 reasons. You need money to score a card; so after you play a card, usually what you want to do next is to score a card. But also, this gives you a way to score cards outside of Time I. Quite often the Time III locations are stronger than the Time I location; plus you have options of which one to visit. So being able to score in Time III is just good.
#4 - Secret Society - This should draw you plenty of cards. Of course, normally the last card it draws you will be wasted.
#3 - Conspiracy - When played early and played right, this should basically give you an entire extra score... as in an extra card, an extra turn, and the extra money you would need to make that score.
#2 - Anubis Statuette - Man this does good stuff for you. So $2 isn't much of course. But then it's just about an extra turn. An extra turn that's way better than a normal turn. The ability to go to unreal zones can just easily be what you need.
#1 - Gang of Pickpockets - Another card that you of course need to play early; hopefully as your first play. But if you do, you'll probably only need to spend 1 turn actually drawing cards.
