/pic6559015.jpg)
This Didn't Happen is a card game about changing history to nullify the apocalypse. Travel through time with 1-4 players, gathering supplies, changing events, and fiddling with the time-stream. Each player has a unique time traveler with individual strengths and weaknesses.
The goal is to change key events throughout history and cause enough changes that the apocalypse doesn't happen. Changing one event can cause others to change, too! With planning and precision, you can change several key events by changing only one event. However, without planning or caution, you may cause the world to tumble into an even darker timeline! Remember, if anything goes wrong: This didn't happen!
Players travel from event to event, either by waiting for time to move them or by using the Time Machine. Players collect supply cards, which help them during random events or which can be used to change the event their character is on. Changing an event can affect future events, softening them up and making them easier to change, or changing them outright. Changing too many events may cause a change to the End of the Era, resulting in an earlier apocalypse.
—description from the designer
- Strong thematic cohesion with time-travel mechanics
- Cooperative play that rewards planning and communication
- Asymmetric powers and two-sided characters add variety
- Note-taking enhances memory and learning value
- Fiddly components and potential table hog due to setup
- Prototype cards can be slippery; movement requires counters to avoid revealing hidden info
- Rules setup complexity for new players
- Time travel and timeline manipulation to prevent disasters
- Alternative timelines across medieval era, great war era, and lunar era; time travel to avert an apocalypse
- Cooperative puzzle-solving with evolving narratives and ripple effects
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric Player Powers — Two-sided character cards with mode switching that changes abilities.
- Asymmetric player powers and character progression — Two-sided character cards with mode switching that changes abilities.
- Cooperative play with note-taking — Players collaborate and may take notes to track symbols and ripple effects.
- End-of-era apocalypse condition — Specific end-of-era cards create an apocalypse if not mitigated.
- Hidden information with symbol matching — Players peek at hidden symbols under events to plan changes.
- Resource Management — Collect resources to pass tests and influence the timeline.
- Resource management and parity to pass tests — Collect resources to pass tests and influence the timeline.
- Timeline alteration and ripple effects — Altering events in one era can ripple through later eras creating chain reactions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a game you can play with between one and four players
- it's a very thematic game
- it's a unique setup