Timeline is a card game where each card depicts a historical event, invention or discovery on both sides, with the year in which that event occurred, invention or discovery was made on only one side. Players take turns placing a card from their hand in a row on the table. After placing the card, the player reveals the date on it. If the card was placed correctly with the date in chronological order with all other cards on the table, the card stays in place; otherwise the card is removed from play and the player takes another card from the deck.
The first player to get rid of all his cards by placing them correctly wins. If multiple players go out in the same round, then everyone else is eliminated from play and each of those players are dealt one more card for another round of play. If only one player has no cards after a bonus round, he wins; otherwise play continues until a single player goes out.
- Easy to learn and teach
- Fast rounds suitable for casual play
- Educational by highlighting historical events
- Can feel repetitive across plays for some groups
- Requires familiarity with historical events to maximize scoring
- History and chronology
- Historical timeline; events placed in chronological order
- Card-drafting/ordering mechanic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- placing events in chronological order — Players attempt to place event cards in the correct temporal order to earn points
- set-like collection or order constraint — Gameplay centers on ordering rather than combat or resource accumulation
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is as close to a game changer as I can imagine because it's really just feels good.
- If you don't play Dead Reckoning, seriously folks, let's talk about your gaming. Do you even game?
- This right here just slides in there. Very simple.
- This is a very, very small print.
- This is as close to a game changer as I can imagine because it's really just feels good.
References (from this video)
- very accessible and quick to teach
- great for families and casual play
- depth may be shallow for heavy gamers
- chronological ordering of events
- timeline/history theme
- family-friendly, accessible
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- timeline ordering — place cards in date order based on clues
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Detective Club is going to be one where you have these different cards that are all different kinds of images that are really beautiful and very unique
- it's a clever timeline; accessible and easy to explain to anyone
- the expansion really elevates the gameplay on Aquatica
- it's the best slaughter game and it's very deep, but accessible
References (from this video)
- Accessible trivia with broad appeal
- Good for groups; easy to teach
- Dating ambiguities can cause disagreements
- Limited strategic depth
- historical chronology and dating
- Various historical events arranged in time order
- date-based trivia with sequencing
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- order/sequence — Players arrange cards in chronological order based on event dates
- set/collection or timing — Players align cards along a timeline relative to each other
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we're board gaming soul mates I first knew when I saw this it's called timeline
- timeline a trivia game of guessing dates
- cartographers you will love this game
- welcome to is what we call a flippin right game
- the crew is a trick-taking game just like any other you've played
- anomia as another game to keep in your trailer
- it's amazing how being put on the spot can stop someone's brain from working
References (from this video)
- very simple rules
- quick to play (10 minutes)
- attractive packaging
- multiple thematic variants
- easy to swap between versions
- works well for less extroverted groups
- takes up some table space when laid out
- educational
- historical
- quiz-based
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- board games are sort of absolutely central to my life really and my being my makeup and also to my relationship the relationship with evenness that's what we do we play games
- the thing about this one is I want simple games I want games which are very very small I want to be able to put them one on each of the tables
- I'm very proud of the games I've made I want to be able to show the games off to people I haven't seen for a long time
- this is what I would call a pure game it's one mechanism and that mechanism is fun that mechanism is just lying to your friends or telling the truth
- I would play this any time I absolutely love it
- it's a card game classic okay it's a staple
- every time we end up laughing every time we attract a big crowd
- it's a really good game for children but it's also a really good game for adults who don't play many games
- the great thing is I've got a German version so I can put that you know where the German contingent at the wedding can play it
- the ingenious thing is the fact that there's always a match between two two cards but only ever one thing matches it's a mathematical marvel
- it's gonna be a game that that the German people can easily pick up without me needing to have a separate sort of German Edition
- a bunch of my friends will feel more comfortable sitting down and playing a board game than they will dancing and getting rekt
References (from this video)
- Accessible, requires only rough knowledge
- Welcomes casual players to participate
- Wits and Wages
- Fauna
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trivia/Timeline guessing — Players estimate historical dates relative to other cards.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This list is all about hopefully it'll give you some ideas of games that you might want to pick up yourself.
- Auctions are challenging; the more you play, the more you start to feel how much those power stations are worth.
- Not everybody is going to have totally accurate general knowledge and it welcomes players in to just have a go.
- I split you choose is a mechanism that could be used more broadly; it creates delicious tension and stress at the table.
References (from this video)
- educational and approachable
- easy setup and quick rounds
- good for varied player counts
- chronological ordering
- Historical events
- educational/quiz
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- order placing — players place event cards in what they believe is the correct historical sequence
- self-checking/instant feedback — the group quickly verifies correctness, often without long explanations
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a small card game
- it's easy to explain
- you can start playing without explaining the rules
- one of those cards is like the person you need to find
- you can mix and match these sets as well
- it's a cooperative trick taking game
- mind bug well that's freshy this is a really freshy
References (from this video)
- simple to teach
- solid filler with broad appeal
- replayable with multiple sets (inventions, history, etc.)
- varies by set; can feel light
- chronology and history
- inventions and historical events timeline
- educational, approachable
- Zoo Loretto (in its lineage of history/cultural sets).
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- set placement / sequencing — players place a card into an evolving timeline; the card shows the year; the goal is to order cards correctly and get rid of cards
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a mind-bending chaotic game, you'll either love it or hate it
- it's garish right it's bright pink
- an absolute classic
References (from this video)
- engaging trivia-like feel
- family-friendly
- historical knowledge gaps may hinder some players
- chronology
- historical timeline
- guessing with a dynamic timeline
- Trivial Pursuit
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- timeline placement — players add events to a chronological timeline.
- trial-and-error guessing — correctness yields points and incorrect events are removed.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- In this video I'm talking about my top 10 games to play Christmas.
- What you need are board games.
- Whose go is it? Yours!
- Pictionary is so last millennium.