From: "Jonathan R. Ferro" Subject: Re: Time Travel games... Dave> Time Agent by TimJim/Prism Dave> Dave> Here time is laid out in a series of outflowing hexagons. A more Dave> complex model of time than in Time War, tiles are flipped up to Dave> reveal lines that represent flows of technology to the present or Dave> sometimes important galaxy changing events. As you connect lines Dave> to the present or disconnect lines or reverse certain events by Dave> turning tiles or spending money, you change your per turn revenue Dave> and victory points in the present (they're not always Dave> compatible). It can be a time consuming game because of the effort Dave> in trying to trace invention lines to the present sometimes. Plus Dave> the constant calculations needed to determine the effect of Dave> reversing events/inventions can bog you down. Plus this game Dave> really needs six players. It has six races and with less than six Dave> players, you play more than one race. Since each race has Dave> different priorities, trying to play up to three at once can be a Dave> real headache. And most distressing of all, there exists a Dave> possibility for a win by one of the races in the first 3 Dave> turns. It's a gamble, but if taken, even if they don't win, all Dave> the tiles in the game get turned up and spoils a lot of the rest Dave> of the game for everyone else. This is the one big reason I prefer Dave> Time War to Time Agent. OK, deep breath. 6 players: Not needed. If you have only 5, just randomly choose a race to leave out. If you have only 4, shanghai somebody who's just kibitzing a Magic game and force him to learn how to play. If you have only 3, play Web & Starship instead. Doubling up on races is an outside variant for if you're really bored. Tracing invention lines to the present: Except for the invention of time travel itself, these only need to be checked at the end of each game turn after every player has taken his turn. Obviously, you need to know for your own strategy, but this is why you watch the board during other people's turns. Determining effects of events: Again, only necessary at the end of each game turn, which is why there is a supply of "Event Altered" chits to mark which ones you haven't factored in yet. At any time you can ask for a full accounting, which transfers the effects of all altered-but-unrecorded events up to the master track so that everyone can look at the current standings. The "Buralti Lightning" strategy: I've pondered this for some time and see no way that it can be done before the Buralti's fourth turn. Our group has simply learned to attack the Buralti right out of the gate (similar to starting a game of Empires in Arms by looking around the table and saying "OK, France is evil, right?") so that by the end of turn 3 it is obvious that the prospect of the game ending is just too iffy for the Buralti to chance it: if little else is known, there's only a ~50% chance that turning off the primary invention of time travel will actually end the game, and if 10-15 VPs have already been shaved off of the Buralti's initial lead there's another ~60% chance that either Hyperdrive or Cold Fusion will be off, dropping him down to 3rd place or worse. If the Buralti player goes for it anyway, a diplomatic arrangement can be made by which one race (usually either the Fiolli or the Veneb) is sponsored to go back and kill him in exchange for the Fiolli Alliance or Venebian Philosophy events being paid for by the other races. If no such agreement can be made, you can at least all agree that the Buralti should be made to go last during turn 3 so that everyone else can effectively get an extra turn and then everyone can take a whack at the lone guy waiting to enter the top of the board. Summary: it's a multiplayer game, so having these kinds of joint-vs-separate problems arise is a *good* thing. Turning the tiles up spoils the game: Only if the person going immediately after the one turning up the tiles actually wins on his turn. If the game survives, the extended "sudden death" period is very exciting and is the point at which the "terrain" of the energy paths really comes alive. P.S. We haven't had a game take longer than four hours in months now. -- Jon "apologist for the BEST DAMN SF GAME EVER MADE AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT" Ferro