Chrononauts
Encyclopedia
Chrononauts is a card game
that simulates popular fictional ideas about how time travel
lers might alter history, drawing on sources like Back to the Future
and the short stories collection Travels Through Time. The game was designed by Andrew Looney
in 2000 and is published by Looney Labs
. In 2001, Chrononauts won the Origins Award
for Best Traditional Card Game of 2000.
The 32 timeline cards represent significant events in (real) history of two types: Linchpins and Ripple Points. Players use Inverters to directly change the Linchpin events, changing to the alternative event on the reverse side of the timeline card. Changing a Linchpin also turns over one or more Ripple Point cards, exposing paradox
es. If a player uses a Patch to resolve the paradox, the player receives an extra card for his hand.
For example, turning the 1865 "Lincoln
Assassinated" card to "Lincoln Wounded" causes the 1868 "Andrew Johnson
Impeached" card to turn, leaving a paradox in place for that year (1868). This paradox can then be repaired by playing a Patch on top of the paradox that describes Lincoln's impeachment in 1868. (The game designers' historical reasoning behind this sequence of events, and many others used in the game, may be found here; this particular example is #12 on the list.)
The game can be won in one of three ways:
If there are ever 13 or more unpatched paradoxes on the timeline, then the universe is destroyed and all players lose (except Crazy Joe from the Lost Identities expansion).
In 2004, Looney Labs released Early American Chrononauts (EAC), a prequel to Chrononauts. Using the same game mechanics, EAC focuses on 32 more events, set from 1770 to 1916. It also introduces "Gadgets," a new card type that can affect the play of the game by allowing an extra turn or blocking other players from stealing Artifacts. Gadgets were retro-added to the third printing of the original game via the addition of two cards originally released as promos (see below).
In 2010, Looney Labs released Back to the Future, a licensed game based on the films of the same name and using a game mechanic similar to Chrononauts.
The Chrononauts and EAC timelines can be interconnected to create a third game, ÜberChrononauts, which requires players to satisfy all THREE winning conditions (though NOT simultaneously) to win the game. Looney Labs had discussed the possibility of offering another expansion pack of IDs that makes use of missions and events from both games to support ÜberChrononauts games, but has since backburnered the project in lieu of The Gore Years expansion described below (though one ID usable only for ÜberChrononauts--Spa Fon--was included with EAC).
Looney Labs has also released several promotional cards that can be added to Chrononauts and EAC games. Six of these are available singly from their site, although four of the six are now included in the regular printing of Chrononauts:
The two others still available only for single purchase are:
A seventh, titled Beatles Reunion Album was first included as a bonus card with the original version of Fluxx
Blanxx. It was made a regular card in the game's fourth printing in 2009.
An 11-card expansion pack was released on 4 December 2009, encompassing the years 2000-2008 and is entitled The Gore
Years. This set includes 5 new Timeline cards, thus adding a fifth "tier" to the timeline for the original Chrononauts or a ninth "tier" for ÜberChrononauts. It also includes 3 new Patches and 3 new Identities to add to the original or the Über game.
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
that simulates popular fictional ideas about how time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
lers might alter history, drawing on sources like Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
and the short stories collection Travels Through Time. The game was designed by Andrew Looney
Andrew Looney
Andrew J. Looney , better known as Andy Looney, is an award-winning game designer and computer programmer.- Biography :...
in 2000 and is published by Looney Labs
Looney Labs
Looney Labs is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, USA. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney.- Card games :...
. In 2001, Chrononauts won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Traditional Card Game of 2000.
Game play
Chrononauts is played with a specially designed set of 136 cards. There are 32 "Timeline" cards that form the game board (with four "tiers" of eight cards), 24 cards ("IDs" and "Missions") describing goals for the players, and 80 cards ("Artifacts," "Actions," "Inverters," "Patches," and "Timewarps") that make up the deck from which players draw.The 32 timeline cards represent significant events in (real) history of two types: Linchpins and Ripple Points. Players use Inverters to directly change the Linchpin events, changing to the alternative event on the reverse side of the timeline card. Changing a Linchpin also turns over one or more Ripple Point cards, exposing paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
es. If a player uses a Patch to resolve the paradox, the player receives an extra card for his hand.
For example, turning the 1865 "Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
Assassinated" card to "Lincoln Wounded" causes the 1868 "Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
Impeached" card to turn, leaving a paradox in place for that year (1868). This paradox can then be repaired by playing a Patch on top of the paradox that describes Lincoln's impeachment in 1868. (The game designers' historical reasoning behind this sequence of events, and many others used in the game, may be found here; this particular example is #12 on the list.)
The game can be won in one of three ways:
- The timeline can be altered so that certain events happen as described on a player's ID card. This represents the idea that each player comes from a different alternate timelineAlternate history (fiction)Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
and our "real" history is, for them, an alternate history. Most ID cards depict three key events; two that need to be "altered" to re-create the characters' reality, and a third which happens as it did in "real" history and must remain unaltered (or be restored if it is). - Each player has a Mission card detailing three Artifacts that can be retrieved through time travel. If a player collects all three of these artifacts, that player wins.
- A player whose hand contains 10 or more cards at the end of their turn wins.
If there are ever 13 or more unpatched paradoxes on the timeline, then the universe is destroyed and all players lose (except Crazy Joe from the Lost Identities expansion).
Expansions and spinoffs
In 2001, the company released Lost Identities, a set of 13 new IDs and one new Mission (The Most Toys) for Chrononauts. Most of these new IDs were created by fans of the game in a submission contest held on Looney Labs' website. Among the new IDs are:- Crazy Joe: Wins if the universe is destroyed by too many (12 or more) unpatched paradoxes, as he owns a business located outside it.
- Tyberius: A nod to the time travel episodes in the original Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series.
In 2004, Looney Labs released Early American Chrononauts (EAC), a prequel to Chrononauts. Using the same game mechanics, EAC focuses on 32 more events, set from 1770 to 1916. It also introduces "Gadgets," a new card type that can affect the play of the game by allowing an extra turn or blocking other players from stealing Artifacts. Gadgets were retro-added to the third printing of the original game via the addition of two cards originally released as promos (see below).
In 2010, Looney Labs released Back to the Future, a licensed game based on the films of the same name and using a game mechanic similar to Chrononauts.
The Chrononauts and EAC timelines can be interconnected to create a third game, ÜberChrononauts, which requires players to satisfy all THREE winning conditions (though NOT simultaneously) to win the game. Looney Labs had discussed the possibility of offering another expansion pack of IDs that makes use of missions and events from both games to support ÜberChrononauts games, but has since backburnered the project in lieu of The Gore Years expansion described below (though one ID usable only for ÜberChrononauts--Spa Fon--was included with EAC).
Looney Labs has also released several promotional cards that can be added to Chrononauts and EAC games. Six of these are available singly from their site, although four of the six are now included in the regular printing of Chrononauts:
- Really Fast Time Machine
- Teeny Tiny Time Machine
- Jade Statue of Tirade (the broccoli-like "mascot" of Looney Labs)
- German Cake (as in German Chocolate Cake)
The two others still available only for single purchase are:
- Mating Pair of Pterodactyls
- Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
's Joint
A seventh, titled Beatles Reunion Album was first included as a bonus card with the original version of Fluxx
Fluxx
Fluxx is a card game, played with a specially designed deck. It is different from most other card games, in that the rules and the conditions for winning are altered throughout the game, via cards played by the players.-History:...
Blanxx. It was made a regular card in the game's fourth printing in 2009.
An 11-card expansion pack was released on 4 December 2009, encompassing the years 2000-2008 and is entitled The Gore
Al Gore presidential campaign, 2000
Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Carthage, Tennessee on June 16, 1999. Gore became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2000 presidential election on August 17, 2000...
Years. This set includes 5 new Timeline cards, thus adding a fifth "tier" to the timeline for the original Chrononauts or a ninth "tier" for ÜberChrononauts. It also includes 3 new Patches and 3 new Identities to add to the original or the Über game.
External links
- Official Chrononauts site and EAC site
- ÜberChrononauts rules
- List of Chrononauts (and other Looney Labs games) promo cards
- Chrononauts PC (Java implementation, originally at www.chrononautspc.com)