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[GendoIkari]

It's definitely lighter than Dominion and not quite as good, but Dominion is one of my top 3 games ever. 

I really appreciate the setup time.  There's basically none.  I shuffle a few decks, we all get our crowns, and we're playing.  This makes it really easy to introduce new people to.  There's some strategy, but it's all based around incremental advantages.  I happen to like that, some people don't.  There's some luck.  Not seeing any blue cards means you're in for a rough time, I've never seen someone without a single one win.  There's tons of little engines you can build.  They're all little, the game is short.  Chances are you score 5-6 cards to win.

In fact that leads me to my biggest drawback.  It's just so short.  I want to build a cool little engine and combo off the Age IV stuff, but it's really hard.  And a lot of the Age IV stuff is not comboriffic.  And everyone can disrupt you if you do get a combo down, meaning you'll use it at most once. 

If I wanted to improve it with expansions:

- More ways to be able to access unreal times. 
- More persistent cards, or more draw filtering. 
- Increasing the game length would not be the end of the world

All in all, a great game, and probably the best casual game I own, but it just misses a little amount of meat.  I almost want to see Donald go full Euro with the design and make a 2-3 hour game out of it, engine building, scoring, ruling different times, time shifts being difficult, new timelines being created... there's so much potential, I want more!

I am curious how things would work if you simply added a 5th Time (with 5 cards, probably chosen from the Time IV options, but maybe just any cards at all). Then you would need 40 points to win instead of 30; making the game longer; with more possibilities for engines.

[eHalcyon]

I"m pretty sure I've won before without persistent cards, but that's against weak AI in Gendo's implementation.  The game feels more fun when you have blues though.

[GreyICE]

Well I rather like math, so I've worked out some general relationships. 

1 action = $8
1 card = $4
1 VP = $4

Based on that, the ROI on some blue cards is nuts.  Like spies costs you $12 worth of resources to play, but will net you 4-5 useful cards over the course of the game, so is worth probably $16-20.  Prime Real Estate starts you $5 in the hole, but you can get out of that by the 6th crown there (and it isn't very good!).  Conspiracy nets you $4 every time you score, Friends in old places starts at -$6 to baseline and will earn you $10-$14 over the game, yeah. 

I wish there was more rule rewards, then you could rush a few things while others were gold starved and then get Gladiator's Gladius and stuff online, but that seems hard to do so far.  So far, if someone is missing blues (or only gets a Think Tank, that card is really situational) then they're usually far behind.

[Donald X.]

If I wanted to improve it with expansions:

- More ways to be able to access unreal times. 
- More persistent cards, or more draw filtering. 
- Increasing the game length would not be the end of the world

All in all, a great game, and probably the best casual game I own, but it just misses a little amount of meat.  I almost want to see Donald go full Euro with the design and make a 2-3 hour game out of it, engine building, scoring, ruling different times, time shifts being difficult, new timelines being created... there's so much potential, I want more!

Thanks. The file for this game is "time travel light." The intention was to make a somewhat light game. Previously it was a deckbuilding game, and it did take 2+ hours, and well it was just way too long. The paths of history premise also pushed me towards a lighter game. Still, good players beat up weak players. There are plenty of subtle things to learn.

I am betting people who like the game will love the expansion, but it doesn't actually address any of your things. I don't want that many ways to access unreal times; I want changing history to matter. The % of perpetual cards is based on not wanting the board state to get too complex. I like the game length.

The expansion pushes planning ahead, and provides lots of ways to be clever. It has some flavorful things and some exotic things.

I do not find getting perpetual cards to be significant. Yes Gang of Pickpockets is strong, that's a great opening play. But if you say go turn one Conspiracy and I never draw a perpetual card, I feel totally in that game. As you note, sometimes I can immediately compensate by ruling times instead. I have seen many victories from people with no perpetual cards.

People do like to draw them though. There is perpetual card envy.

For me, as you can see from the thread, the big mistake was having 7 of the "score or play or draw" zones. The expansion doesn't have any of those.

[GreyICE]

Donald X replied to me!   

Early blue cards have been a very significant factor in every game since the first few.  But maybe we're stuck in a particular meta.  But they do offer like $12-16+ worth of benefit if you play them early, which is fairly disgusting - like an extra action or so. 

Maybe we're just stuck in a meta.  I've only played maybe 25, 30 times, so for me it's still fairly young.  I'll try avoiding blues when I'm not given them early and see what happens more.

Oh and the expansion is a must-buy of course.

[eHalcyon]

Have you seen Gendo's online implementation?

[tastor]

I am betting people who like the game will love the expansion

So ummm is the expansion official?

[Donald X.]

I am betting people who like the game will love the expansion

So ummm is the expansion official?

I won't know for sure it will happen until the printer has the files and there's a date for it. It's tentatively happening though. Alayna has agreed to do the art and it's waiting on her finishing another project. The design/playtesting has been done for a while.

[popsofctown]

Donald X replied to me!   

Early blue cards have been a very significant factor in every game since the first few.  But maybe we're stuck in a particular meta.  But they do offer like $12-16+ worth of benefit if you play them early, which is fairly disgusting - like an extra action or so. 

Maybe we're just stuck in a meta.  I've only played maybe 25, 30 times, so for me it's still fairly young.  I'll try avoiding blues when I'm not given them early and see what happens more.

Oh and the expansion is a must-buy of course.

You're that mafiascum guy aren't you?

[GreyICE]

Hi pops, I remember you.  Yeppers!

Although I think I've been playing on Isotropic nearly as long as I play on MS.

[Voltaire]

I am betting people who like the game will love the expansion

So ummm is the expansion official?

I won't know for sure it will happen until the printer has the files and there's a date for it. It's tentatively happening though. Alayna has agreed to do the art and it's waiting on her finishing another project. The design/playtesting has been done for a while.

[Voltaire]

Early blue cards have been a very significant factor in every game since the first few.  But maybe we're stuck in a particular meta.  But they do offer like $12-16+ worth of benefit if you play them early, which is fairly disgusting - like an extra action or so.

I strongly suspect it's your group's meta - though I see more people win with blue than without, it's not a big difference. They're totally more fun, though.

[GendoIkari]

Early blue cards have been a very significant factor in every game since the first few.  But maybe we're stuck in a particular meta.  But they do offer like $12-16+ worth of benefit if you play them early, which is fairly disgusting - like an extra action or so.

I strongly suspect it's your group's meta - though I see more people win with blue than without, it's not a big difference. They're totally more fun, though.

If you think the blue cards from the base set are cool, just wait until you see spoilers.

[Voltaire]

If you think the blue cards from the base set are cool, just wait until you see spoilers.

Not this again...just kidding totally worth it.

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

Early blue cards have been a very significant factor in every game since the first few.  But maybe we're stuck in a particular meta.  But they do offer like $12-16+ worth of benefit if you play them early, which is fairly disgusting - like an extra action or so.

I strongly suspect it's your group's meta - though I see more people win with blue than without, it's not a big difference. They're totally more fun, though.

If you think the blue cards from the base set are cool, just wait until you see spoilers.

That's not the best blue card.  The best blue card is                   moat    .

[M0G3L]

hey, does anyone know if Temporum will be released in Germany? and when?

[Donald X.]

hey, does anyone know if Temporum will be released in Germany? and when?

I have been expecting it but still have no date.

[LibraryAdventurer]

So I just played a 3 player game on Gendo's Temporum site that lasted until turn 21. A few turns in, I was thinking there's no way I'm going to win this one, then on turn 19, I'm thinking "how did the game last this long?". And I did end up winning.
I had Ice Age, Inquisition, and Bureaucracy on the same board.

[GendoIkari]

So I just played a 3 player game on Gendo's Temporum site that lasted until turn 21. A few turns in, I was thinking there's no way I'm going to win this one, then on turn 19, I'm thinking "how did the game last this long?". And I did end up winning.
I had Ice Age, Inquisition, and Bureaucracy on the same board.

Wow. Yeah attacks slow the AI down a crazy amount. But that's quite a long game.

[eHalcyon]

Expansion is coming in Q1 2016 (or Q2 at the latest).

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21004375#21004375

[LastFootnote]

Expansion is coming in Q1 2016 (or Q2 at the latest).

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21004375#21004375

I'm really looking forward to it. I think Temporum turns off some hobby gamers because the base game is just too simple for their taste. The expansion really adds a lot of more interesting/complex stuff (obviously, since the simple stuff has already been done).

[GendoIkari]

Expansion is coming in Q1 2016 (or Q2 at the latest).

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21004375#21004375

I'm really looking forward to it. I think Temporum turns off some hobby gamers because the base game is just too simple for their taste. The expansion really adds a lot of more interesting/complex stuff (obviously, since the simple stuff has already been done).

I'm concerned that if someone didn't really like Temporum, they aren't going to bother playing again with the expansion. Also, the majority of the time that I've introduced people to Temporum, it has been with the expansion. Or at least, with the player cards from the expansion, not with the new zones usually. And even then, it's been very hit or miss.

I think I've said this before, but the biggest complaint I get is that it feels like there aren't meaningful choices. And the reason it feels like this is that the best choices are only slightly better than the worst ones. People are used to games where a good/experienced player will absolutely crush a bad/new player, not one where he will only just barely win.

[LastFootnote]

I'm concerned that if someone didn't really like Temporum, they aren't going to bother playing again with the expansion. Also, the majority of the time that I've introduced people to Temporum, it has been with the expansion. Or at least, with the player cards from the expansion, not with the new zones usually. And even then, it's been very hit or miss.

I think I've said this before, but the biggest complaint I get is that it feels like there aren't meaningful choices. And the reason it feels like this is that the best choices are only slightly better than the worst ones. People are used to games where a good/experienced player will absolutely crush a bad/new player, not one where he will only just barely win.

Yes, that's fair. A lot of the meaningful choices are related to controlling time in order to use the zones that most benefit you, but that's exactly the mechanic that new players most often forget to take advantage of. Also it's often so easy for another player to deprive you of the zone you need, making it much more dangerous to plan ahead.

[eHalcyon]

Expansion is coming in Q1 2016 (or Q2 at the latest).

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21004375#21004375

I'm really looking forward to it. I think Temporum turns off some hobby gamers because the base game is just too simple for their taste. The expansion really adds a lot of more interesting/complex stuff (obviously, since the simple stuff has already been done).

I'm concerned that if someone didn't really like Temporum, they aren't going to bother playing again with the expansion. Also, the majority of the time that I've introduced people to Temporum, it has been with the expansion. Or at least, with the player cards from the expansion, not with the new zones usually. And even then, it's been very hit or miss.

I think I've said this before, but the biggest complaint I get is that it feels like there aren't meaningful choices. And the reason it feels like this is that the best choices are only slightly better than the worst ones. People are used to games where a good/experienced player will absolutely crush a bad/new player, not one where he will only just barely win.

Wait, you already have it?  Play tester copies?

[LastFootnote]

Expansion is coming in Q1 2016 (or Q2 at the latest).

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21004375#21004375

I'm really looking forward to it. I think Temporum turns off some hobby gamers because the base game is just too simple for their taste. The expansion really adds a lot of more interesting/complex stuff (obviously, since the simple stuff has already been done).

I'm concerned that if someone didn't really like Temporum, they aren't going to bother playing again with the expansion. Also, the majority of the time that I've introduced people to Temporum, it has been with the expansion. Or at least, with the player cards from the expansion, not with the new zones usually. And even then, it's been very hit or miss.

I think I've said this before, but the biggest complaint I get is that it feels like there aren't meaningful choices. And the reason it feels like this is that the best choices are only slightly better than the worst ones. People are used to games where a good/experienced player will absolutely crush a bad/new player, not one where he will only just barely win.

Wait, you already have it?  Play tester copies?

Yes.