Chrononauts (2009 Edition)

Customer Reviews

Never gets boring! Review by LostDuck

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I've gotten into card games recently and was lucky enough to stumble across Chrononauts. Not only was the price attractive, but the replay value is high. I have yet to play it with more than 2 people, but so far it's so much fun we can't stop playing, the great amount of IDs and missions just add to the value of this game.

I'd recommend this game to anyone who enjoys card games that are easy to learn, and super fun. (Posted on 4/17/12)

fun and intelligent game Review by michael

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My coworkers and I played this game for the first time during one of our lunch breaks. Although at first the rules seemed long, we were able to learn it and play two games in 1 hour. It took a little while to completely understand the game, especially with the multiple ways to win. Perhaps because we are all web developers, we enjoyed the logic and humorous science fiction theme. The action cards can radically change your hand or your goals. All 4 of the players gave this game a thumbs up. (Posted on 3/27/11)

Like Fluxx, but better Review by Murray

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If you enjoy Fluxx, you will definitely like Chrononauts, which follows the same "Draw 1, Play 1" gameplay as Fluxx. The big difference, of course, is the theme and some of the goals of the game.

In Chrononauts, you will lay down 32 cards at the start of the game. These 32 cards represent the timeline as we know it and each card represents a year and an important event from that year. Some cards will be "lynchpins", which can be altered by players using various cards such as "Sabotage" or "Prevent Assassination". When a lynchpin is flipped over, revealing an alternate reality, it can affect other cards in the timeline.

These card, called "ripplepoints" are turned over and become paradoxes. If a player has the correct patch for the paradox, they can play it and draw an extra card and increase their hand size.

There are three ways that a player can win. If they managed to patch enough to increase their hand size to 10, they will win. Additionally, every player is given an ID card and a mission card at the start of the game. The ID cards shows what tweaks needed to be done on the timeline in order to create the reality that your character calls home. The mission cards shows what artifacts you need to grab from various timelines in order to win. Don't worry if someone has it already, you can always "Get there first"!

Chrononauts is quite fun, especially if you get into the theme and role play a bit. It's a great step up from Fluxx, which always seem bland in comparison. Some of the events are questionable, but you can always get expansions or tweak the cards themselves to suit your preference.

Overall, it's a simple and easy to learn game. It's good as a filler but has just barely enough meat to make a game session. (Posted on 4/16/10)

Chrononauts does time travel right, with just the right twist of timewarps and paradoxes to make this game truly interesting. Review by TR

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I have to say I like Chrononauts for a quick, fun game. It uses the time mechanic quite well, with players able to affect specific 'linchpin' points in the timeline, causing a cascade effect for the various years and events ahead.

In addition, there are 3 variable winning conditions available, making the game a bit of a guessing game on how close each player is to winning. With the ability for a player to win by just 'adjusting' the timeline to his preferred timeline, it makes the game have a touch of tension to it.

I also like the fact that Chrrononauts is quick and simple to teach, though the randomness in the cards can be somewhat over-whelming. Overall, a good filler card game that I've now added to my own backpack since it even has a solo variant. (Posted on 3/6/10)