These Nerdz have been obsessed with Sci-Fi shows and have recently binged, Travelers (Netflix) and Life on Mars (BBC). When I saw T.I.M.E. Stories’ playthroughs on the social media, it was evident that The Garage required some Time Travel games.
Our first acquisition was T.I.M.E Stories, a time-traveling decksploration board game created by Peggy Chassenet and Manuel Rozoy and published by Space Cowboys. This game, like the binge-worthy shows, sends players through a time looping series of games.
The players become Agents from the T.I.M.E Agency and are sent on missions to different places in time to fix the anomalies and return to base. Complete the task in time, or you will be recalled back to base, where you will have to start your mission over again. If you failed and sent back to complete your mission, taking notes is crucial, we found out the hard way. These notes will assist in future missions.
What we enjoyed was the mechanism for collaboration. When a player gets to read the back of a card, they have to explain what they’ve just read to their teammates rather than just reading it verbatim. Once you advise the team on the next goal, the group works together to advance the mission.
The base game comes with only one mission in the box (Asylum). You are briefed with the primary mission goal and sent back in time to the asylum. The next step is to explore and get clues, these actions costs a Temporal Unit or TU, and you have a limited amount of TUs available until you have failed and the mission ends. You work through different rooms, locations and even fight battles to uncover more pieces of the puzzle. Each character has unique skills and stats, choose wisely when picking your T.I. M.E character!! This leads to the unique role you play on the mission.
The artwork in T.I.M.E Stories is stunning, and each expansion has an entirely contrasting look.
We wished the starter game included more than one mission due to, once you complete your mission, that game is done. There is no replayability. Other legacy games have numerous rounds to the end of a campaign that lends to time played fulfilling. Once we finished The Asylum, we wanted to jump into the next scenario. Fortunately, we thought ahead and did have the next expansion, The Marcy Case. We have them all and are spacing them out to not binge the whole series.
Days after completing the first game, we found ourselves still talking about how we played and what strategies we would do different and use for the next mission. Mirroring how we at The Garage we converse after a binge-worthy show.
T.I.M.E Stories is a very well-designed and conceptualized game that we thoroughly enjoyed.
T.I.M.E STORIES
A game by Manuel Rozoy.
Artwork by Benjamin Carré, David Lecossu and Pascal Quidault.
2 to 4 players.
Aged 12 and up.
Duration of a game: approximately 90 minutes per session (a save system is included in the box, allowing you to play a scenario over multiple sessions).
If you enjoyed The Asylum, you should check the expansions. Each scenario contains a new world, new characters, new rules, and new surprises.
T.I.M.E Stories: The Marcy Case
T.I.M.E Stories: A Prophecy of Dragons
T.I.M.E Stories: Under the Mask
T.I.M.E Stories Expedition Endurance
SuZan Smith Nerdz Garage