TimeLine

What is TimeLine

TimeLine is part of the Hip Pocket Games series and includes a deck of 48 cards. Additionally, players will need a pawn and a common supply of about 30 markers in each of four different colors. The cards form a timeline, allowing players to move back and forth through history to find cheap commodities and then sell for profit. Of course, all this time travel will shift the timeline, and thus the market for each of the four commodities.

The cards have four pathways from the left to right sides, which cross over each other. They also have a waypoint representing one of the commodities (sheep, neckties, Picassos ... just suggestions from the designer, as they are all pretty abstract!) that can be picked up cheaply at that point in time.

The object is to score 21 points by picking up commodities and selling them at points in the timeline where they are worth obscene amounts of money. However, picking up a commodity changes the timeline in subtle ways: in the game, it means moving a card up or down by a slight amount, which disconnects its current pathways and connects them to new pathways.

Game details

Players

2–5

Age

+10

Duration

10 min

Difficulty

Medium

Type

Board game

Year

2003

Mechanics

Commodity Speculation · Pattern Building · Pick-up and Deliver

Categories

Abstract Strategy · Card Game · Economic

Designer

James Ernest

Publisher

Cheapass Games