Temporum

Smaller box and compact rules reference for Donald X. Vaccarino's card game of time-travelling shenanigans, including its Alternate Realities expansion.

It’s basically a card game

The table setup of this game is pretty minimal with the board acting more like a place mat that provides the timeline layout and tracks each player’s crowns across the four time periods. It’s not required for play in any way so I removed it entirely.

The same game setup with the board on the left and without it on the right. The board-free version keeps the card pyramid and path markers, with crowns grouped beside each row.

Original box has massive amounts of air after removing the board, my replacement box is 1⁄4 of the space while still fitting the cards and tokens.

My replacement box packed with cards and bagged tokens, nesting inside the much larger original box.

Original money tokens were one-sided, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a board game. Luckily I had a spare set of coin tokens from Scythe, which have a suitably multi-cultural feel while also being better quality.

Original Temporum money tokens on the left, several showing blank backs, and replacement Scythe coins on the right, showing designs on both sides.

I condensed setup and the main rules into a double-sided reference card, with two–three players on one side and four–five on the other. The split matters for both starting money and ruling a time period. With two or three players, only the player with the most crowns rules, and a tie means nobody does. With four or five, the players in first and second place can both rule, subject to the tie rules. Separate sides keep those differences with the instructions for the relevant player count.

The reference also includes the expansion’s hourglass-token procedure and the four phases of a turn: change history, move, visit a Zone, and check for victory.

Both sides of the rules reference, with setup for 2-3 players on the left and 4-5 on the right, followed by numbered turn phases and reminders using game-piece icons.

Acknowledgements

Game design by Donald X. Vaccarino
Cover art by Alayna Lemmer
Rules reference is using Quiroga Serif Pro, Leto Sans Condensed, with icons from Font Awesome 5.

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