Space Cowboys ASMSCTS01US T.I.M.E. Stories

Note that this review now incorporates the original TIME Stories game along with the Marcy expansion pack, which seems fitting given that Amazon seem to combine reviews for the two products. The Marcy review is in an update at the end of the main review.This game follows a recent trade of innovation in board games, but at the time of writing there isn't really a detailed review that explains how the game works, so I thought it was worthwhile explaining the game mechanism.The game is co-operative, and all players operate as members of the T.I.M.E agency, an organisation that has to fix faults with the timeline. What that means in reality is that players must solve mysteries set in a different time period. They do this by being sent into bodies of different people in that time period (much like the tv series Quantum Leap) in order to piece together clues and complete their mission.In terms of game mechanics, there is only one mission in this box. Each time you play the game, you are undertaking a 'run'. During this 'run' you perform actions using your characters, and each action uses up 'temporal units'. You only have a finite number of temporal units, and when you run out of temporal units the 'run' (and game) ends and resets, and you must effectively start the mission from the beginning next time you play. The difference being that for the next 'run' you will already know how to solve the puzzles that you solved in previous 'runs', and don't therefore need to spend temporal units in solving those. You can also play as a different character in each run, and can therefore choose a character in a subsequent run that might be better suited to individual tasks. The idea is that each time you play you get further along and closer to completing the mission. Eventually you will either complete or lose the game entirely.It's worth pointing out from the start that the 'temporal unit' and 'run' mechanic, which resets your game several times but allows you to get further towards completion each time you play, really is excellent. As you would expect from a newly released board game, the production values are high and the artwork is excellent, but it is this mechanic that really immerses you into the game and brings everything together. I've never played anything quite like this, and I found that I was really getting involved in the overall story as I worked through each 'run'. The bottom line is that the gameplay here really does work, and if you are at all interested in the premise you are probably going to really enjoy T.I.M.E Stories.It is also worth noting that, unlike some other co-operative boardgames, there really is no danger of 'quarterbacking' here, which is where one player essentially dominates the others by taking control of the game and telling people what to do, which is for three reasons. First, characters will go to different parts of each area and 'explore' different cards, and whilst they are allowed to tell everyone what is on the card, they cannot show the card to them. That means that everyone playing has to be involved in exchanging information. The second reason is that there is usually not a 'clear' way to go in terms of choices, and when there is a disagreement a vote is taken, with the person that has the tie breaking vote changing each time you change location, so the chances of someone actually dominating in that regard is slim. Thirdly, and most importantly, this game is difficult, at least in terms of the mysteries not at all being straightforward. It is therefore very unlikely that one person will actually know the answers to the problems posed. All in all, it is a game that actively encourages players to all get involved and work together, and it does so extremely well.There are a couple of further points to deal with, both of which are questions that I had before I started playing. The first is that this is a game for 2 to 4 players, and I wondered whether you could play from one game to the next with players that didn't play the previous runs. The short answer is 'yes', because as long as you have players involved that were in the previous runs, they can inform new players of the information that they know, and in practice new players can then very quickly engage with the mission and become involved in solving the next stages of the game. I predominantly played this with my wife, but for one game we had another player as well, and the integration was pretty seamless. In an ideal world you would go through the entire mission with the same group of players, but actually it is perfectly easy to bring other players in if you want to.The other question is perhaps obvious at this stage, and relates to replay value. Basically, once you've finished the mission that comes in this base game, you can't really get the same experience playing it again. The game therefore has very finite replay value, and indeed we finished the first mission in only a handful of 'runs'. On the face of it that raises a question as to value for money, but to my mind that is a necessary trade off considering the nature of the game. The experience that you get with T.I.M.E Stories is narrative driven and is very different to other board games where you start fresh each time. The fact that it is a finite experience is a large part of what makes it so good, and to my mind it does offer good value for money. You just need to appreciate what you're getting in to before you buy it.That said, there's no need to sell the base game as soon as you finish it, because the developers have produced a number of expansions, with more promised. Each of these have an RRP of £20 (the base game has an RRP of £35), and each one has a completely separate mission. More expansions are promised, and as such you can continue to get value out of the base game by buying these expansions. This does sound like something that can result in you spending a lot of money, and it is, but only if you enjoy the base game. If you do, in my view these expansions offer a great way of keep the experience of the game going.Finally, a note about suitability for children. There is nothing in the game that makes it unsuitable for children per se, but the game is designed to challenge your deductive abilities, and it will likely be too challenging for smaller children. I have only played it with adults, but I would have thought it would be too challenging for children below the age of about 13.Overall, I can only recommend T.I.M.E Stories. Like Pandemic Legacy, it is the latest in a range of board games that offer finite experiences, but it is all the more immersive and memorable for it. If you like your co-operative board games and want to take your experience to the next level, this really is an essential purchase.UPDATE 14/02/16 - Updated to add a couple of pictures of the box contents before the first game, which I forgot to add to the review initially, and to add in a couple more details. This is still a clear five star game, and an essential purchase if you have even the slightest interest in the premise.UPDATE 06/03/16 - I have just finished the Marcy Case Expansion, and the has game solidified its five star rating for one main reason, and that is that it is different to the Asylum case in the core box set. By which I don't just mean that it has a different mission with different characters and a different story in a different time period. That would be a given. I mean that the Marcy case has a completely different focus and feel to the Asylum case (right down to having a different art style on the cards), incorporates new rules, including using a section of the board that I hadn't actually realised was even there in the first mission, and forces you to play a different way. I don't want to give away anything by way of spoilers, but I'll simply say that the Marcy case has more of a focus on combat and survival rather pure exploration, and consequently it actually feels like a different game at times rather than just an expansion. That is really encouraging, because is seems that Asmodee are willing and able to mould the core game to create genuinely different scenarios with each expansion, which practically guarantees than I'll be buying each expansion from here on out. But for the purposes of reviewing the Marcy case all you really need to know is that it is a five star expansion in terms of quality, and if you are yet to buy the core set, the fact that it seems that the game will be well supported with quality expansion packs should be a further reason to take the leap and buy a copy.

For anyone that has read other reviews, be warned, when people say it's a game with many runs, they just mean sessions. In reality, there are 2 runs that you most likely will lose, due to lack of time or a party wipe, and then on the 3rd one the game adds a rule where you have infinite time and a party wipes just makes you lose time, which I don't see the point of since you have infinite time.I have not finished the game yet, I'm one or two puzzles away from winning, but I already feel disappointed. The Time travel is just a gimmick to allow for multiple expansions in different settings, but in reality the game doesn't do anything with it, and the only interesting thing, the Rogue-like gameplay where you are supposed to run the same scenario several times being stronger and stronger each time, is tossed aside after the second game over. At which point you can freely explore everyhing without worrying about TU or dying.I understand that after you finish the scenario, you will be graded according to your performance, which as far as I know (will confirm in the future) it only affects future expansions, so really even that part only matters if you spend more money with them.It has a lot of plastic that you won't use at all since, again, it's made so that you are not really buying a full game, you are just buying a "demo" and then you buy the expansions to get the full experience.Characters are not really that distinct between each other, some are kinda interesting but the individual mechanics are extremely simple and one dimensional (This guy has to be with someone at all times or you lose TU, this girl can heal if she gets the killing blow, this old lady has nothing especial but high resistance, etc) so there is not really much of a reason to play with different characters, other than for the heck of it.It looks pretty, the art work is really nice, but the story is cliche and mediocre, the characters don't stand out beyond their portraits, and the gameplay itself it's simple and counterintuitive, again you are first introduced to the game where you are told you shouldn't even open the cards before reading the instructions and after a few hours of trying to understand the overly complicated instructions and jumping into the game, you realize that half of them don't matter after the second run.Is a really expensive Demo that doesn't even deliver on its very simple promise of GroundHod day gameplay.

After buying and playing all the Unlock! we could get his hands on, my husband thought that maybe SpaceCowboys would have other artful games and that's how he found out about Time Stories.Time Stories is like a themed-computer game where each game is a cartridge.T.I.M.E Stories: AsylumThe first game of Time Stories immersed us into the futuristic story of time travellers. We got to a time where Europe was dealing with mental health illnesses and how the time period view spirits and magic.This is like playing Sherlock Holmes just futuristic. Because this is more of deduction, it's best to take down notes.Also, because of the theme, the art work also shows hideous faces - being a scaredy cat, my husband briefed me not to use my imagination too much and just focus on the story - and with this in mind, I enjoyed the game immensely!T.I.M.E Stories: Marcy CaseThe second game piqued our deduction skills. The story was so much different from the first game. Kudos to the team for great story telling. For the second game, we were transported to another time and another country. There seems to be an overarching storyline for Time Stories as a whole so after finishing this game, we were asking for more!