Gaming with the Family: Timeline review

Over the course of Memorial Day weekend, quite a few board games were played with my family.  We're on a series of posts that takes a look at a few games played from the perspective of what worked / didn't work for enticing my family into the hobby. 

Timeline

    2-8 players
    15 min to play
    ages 8+



How to Play

Timeline is a game where each theme (I'd brought 3 versions to try with my family - Inventions, Music & Cinema, Historical Events) includes a set of 109 cards. Every card has a picture of a person, place, event, or object on one side and the same picture on the other side, but with a year the pictured thing took place. Each player is given four cards placed on the table with the year side facing down. One card from the pile placed in the middle, thus creating the "timeline". On a players turn, they must select a card and place it to either the left or the right of a card in the timeline based upon chronological order and then flip the card to see if they were correct. If they were, the card stays. If not, the card is discarded and the player must draw a new card to be placed in their hand. Play then moves to the next player. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.

Thoughts

gameplay - B
components - C

Gameplay is easily understood and works well with those who don't play many games. It helps that difficulty ramps as you play. It's easy to place a card when there's only one or two options, but as the timeline grows, it becomes increasingly challenging to choose correctly. You'll also find the difficulty to be dependent upon your knowledge of the theme. However, unless your knowledge of the theme is akin to Wikipedia, you'll almost always come across cards that trip you up.

One of the great things about the game is that downtime really isn't an issue. You'll either be thinking of what you want to play next or laughing at others for how many years off they were with their choice. With larger player counts you'll likely end up with multiple players placing their last card during a round. This is resolved well by an elimination playoff with each remaining player drawing a single card until only one player remains. This may take a few rounds to complete, but it tends to go quickly.

In regards to the components, art on the cards isn't amazing, but does give you enough to help make an educated guess on the era from time to time. Card size is a bit small, but any larger, would create a timeline too long for most tables. Do enjoy the tin box it comes in, although wish that the various versions would stack better. Overall the components are adequate, but nothing that really stands out.

Yay:

• ease of teaching- able to explain and start playing in less than a minute to almost anyone
• accommodating - works well with various group sizes (we played with anywhere from 2 to 6)
• short length of games - allowed for repeat play with players being able to jump in/out
• various themes - players gravitated to a certain theme based upon their knowledge/interest
• size - easy to pack and play almost anywhere there's a flat surface
• cost - inexpensive, usually can find for around $10

Meh:

• limited replay - once you start to remember the dates on the cards, the games become less interesting (possible to mitigate this by having multiple versions of the game to play on their own or even mixed together)
• minimal strategy - not a ton of tactical planning here

Timeline: Historical Events ended up being my dad's favorite game of the weekend

While it's doubtful it will see much playtime in my gaming group, Timeline is a game that definitely will be played again with my family. Not one of my favorites, but it will remain in the collection to be played in the right setting. Set expectations appropriately and you'll be find this to be a quick and enjoyable game that can be played with a wide variety of people.

-NA

Family Meeples: 4/5




My Meeples: 3/5