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In Escape from 100 Million B.C., players are stranded time travelers, hurrying to reassemble their ship because a nearby volcano is about to blow. There are dinosaurs to dodge, time rifts to close, and castaways from other eras who got pulled back due to paradoxes. Each time traveler has unique abilities and stats which will aid in repairing the time ship. You must be careful not to disrupt the timeline too much or the volcano will erupt, wiping out proof of the expedition altogether.
The game includes the following components:
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Game board
• 1 Time Machine sheet
• 6 Hero sheets
• 181 cards, including:
- 35 Carnivorous Creature cards
- 35 Herbivorous Creature cards
- 25 Aquatic Creature cards
- 25 Adventure cards
- 40 Equipment cards
- 21 Paradox cards
• 15 Equipment Crate cubes
• 12 Six-Sided dice (1 red and 11 white)
• 203 Cardboard tokens, including:
- 9 Time Machine parts
- 1 Paradox marker
- 1 Difficulty marker
- 1 Emergency Recall tracker
- 1 First Player marker
- 6 Time Rift markers
- 6 Time Castaway markers
- 5 Carnivorous Creature markers
- 5 Herbivorous Creature markers
- 4 Aquatic Creature markers
- 30 Will tokens
- 20 Wound tokens - 30 Ammo tokens
- 84 Map tiles
29 Plastic Standee stands
29 Standees:
- 6 Heroes
- 5 Herbivorous Creatures
- 5 Carnivorous Creatures
- 4 Aquatic Creatures
- 6 Time Castaways
- 2 Sentry Bots
- Dynamic threat management with moving Time Castaways
- Engaging exploration that feels directional and deliberate
- Exploding-dice mechanic provides satisfying bursts of success
- Compact box size and approachable scope for a light-to-mid-weight game
- Loot system doubles as a paradox engine, adding strategic depth
- Tile artwork and iconography are underwhelming and can feel dull
- Rulebook is poorly organized with confusing examples and few player aids
- Non-combat encounter deck feels lean; could use more variety
- Time travel paradoxes, exploration of a dangerous past, and assembling lost tech while managing paradox
- Volcanic prehistoric Earth, 100 million years ago, time-displaced travelers attempting to repair a time machine
- Array
- Arkham Horror
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character stats and dice resolution — characters have Brawn, willpower, speed, and health; dice pools determine success
- Exploration with tile placement — as you move, you reveal new terrain tiles that create a maze-like map with barriers
- Item-driven paradox dynamics — loot has paradox values and can alter your strategy and scoring depending on when used
- Paradox management and game ending — paradox track progression can trigger various endgame outcomes, including volcano eruption
- Time Castaways recruitment test — recruitment tests pit your willpower against an opposing pool to win over Castaways
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- supremely fun
- sense of wacky fun
- adventure while keeping things from spiraling out of control
- the loot is a threat management system
- I miss this size box; it's easy to store and I appreciate it
- the rulebook is really bad; refer to community summaries for clarity