Chrononauts: A Review

As some of you may know, I am a nerd.  I collect comic books, I watch the occasional anime, and I dabble in collectible card games.  While I am at any of my local gaming shop, I always noticed the stand-alone card games on the shelf (Fluxx, Munchkin, etc.), but I never thought about actually buying any of them.

But, after receiving a copy of “Chrononauts” from the good people at Looney Labs, I am definitely going to look into trying a few more of these.

In this game, you play a time traveler lost in our time, represented by a 32 card timeline.  The timeline contains many every major events in world history from the Lincoln assassination to the Columbine massacre.

On the timeline are two types of cards.  Linchpins and Ripplepoints.  Linchpins are major moments in history that you can go back and change (such as stopping John Lennon’s murder or preventing the Pearl Harbor attack). 

Ripplepoints, on the other hand, cannot be easily changed.  Changing Linchpins will cause certain Ripplepoints to become a Time Paradox.  You can fix these by playing time Patches.  This might be the smartest thing to do because if 13 Paradoxes appear on the timeline, the game ends in a draw.

At the start of the game, each player draws an ID card.  It gives their character’s name, as well as three key headlines (moments on the timeline).  One way to win is to change history so those three moments are on the timeline. 

Another item in the game are artifacts from various points in time.  These include things like three versions of Mona Lisa (the real thing, and two different forgeries), a Beatles reunion album (from a history where John Lennon didn’t die), and a “Back to the Future Part II” inspired sports almanac.

Another way to win the game is to complete your designated mission.  These missions, like the IDs, are handed out at the start of the game, and they require you to collect three specific artifacts.

The game works on a simple “draw one card, play one card” rule.  If you can’t play a card, you have to discard one. 

Honestly, when I first explained the game to my friends, they seemed a little intimidated by it (there is a little more to it than I am mentioning in this review).  But, once we all got started with the game, everyone picked up on it very quickly, and we all loved the game.

In fact, one of the only problems with the game isn’t even a big one.  Certain Patches and Paradoxes don’t make a lot of sense.  How would the Titanic not sinking lead to the stock market crash and the Great Depression both becoming Paradoxes? How does the prevention of John Lennon’s murder lead to a gun ban in 1999?  Like I said, it’s a minor problem that doesn’t take away from the game itself.  It’s just something that might bug some of you.

Honestly, Looney Labs has come up with an awesome game, here.  And, if you aren’t interested in contemporary history, they also have a prequel game called “Early American Chrononauts” out there.  While I haven’t played it, I know that it has the same game mechanics (since both games can be merged to form a supergame called “ÜberChrononauts”), so it should be as good.

You can buy “Chrononauts” from your local gaming shop for around $20.  And, if you don’t have/can’t find a local shop in your area, head over to the Looney Labs website (http://www.looneylabs.com/) and buy it directly.

FINAL SCORE: 4.5/5