Anachrony rules: how to play and how to score

Anachrony quick rules

The goal

You lead one of the four Paths that share a ravaged Earth. An asteroid will strike at the end of the fourth Era. To prepare, you construct buildings and Superprojects, make Breakthroughs and borrow assets from your future. The game lasts seven Eras at most, and the most Victory Points wins.

One Era

Each Era has six phases: Preparation (a new Superproject, buildings shifted, Recruit and Mine pool cards), Paradox from the second Era on, powering up Exosuits, Warp, Action rounds, then Clean up.

Exosuits and Action rounds

To act on the Main board, a Worker rides in a powered-up Exosuit. At the start of the Era, you place up to six on your Player board: those on the three bottom slots cost one Energy Core, and each empty slot gives one Water. On your turn, you place a Worker in an Exosuit on the Main board, or on its own on your Player board, or you pass. Each Free Action comes on top, once per Era.

Your Workers and your Morale

Scientists, Engineers, Administrators and Geniuses (who act as any of them) get tired after an Action, unless it keeps them Motivated. The Supply Action gets them back to work for Water and raises your Morale; the Force Workers Free Action costs no Water but lowers your Morale. Morale scores points at the end, or costs you some.

The Main board

Construct places a building or the Superproject in your Focus (no Administrators; an Engineer pays one Titanium less). Recruit brings a Worker and a bonus (no Scientists). Research, for Scientists only, gives a Breakthrough. These three Actions have few spaces; the World Council lets you take a full one, and its left space makes you First Player. There are also Mine Resource, Purify Water and Trade with Nomads.

Time travel

In the Warp phase, everyone secretly picks zero, one or two Warp tiles and gets their assets right away. Later, a Power Plant moves your Focus to the tile’s Era: you pay the asset back, take the tile back and your Time Travel marker advances. On each Era, whoever has the most Warp tiles rolls the Paradox die; at your third Paradox, you get an Anomaly, which blocks a spot and costs three points.

The Impact and Evacuation

At the end of the fourth Era, two of the three top Exosuit slots of each Player board are destroyed. Collapsing Capital tiles cover the Capital Actions: a bonus, but only one use each. The Evacuation Action opens: once per game, if you meet the condition on your Path board, you score its points, thirty at most; the last spot costs three of them.

End of the game

The game ends at the end of the seventh Era, or earlier, at the end of the Era in which the last Collapsing Capital tile became unavailable. Everyone then pays back the assets of their Warp tiles left on the Timeline, without advancing on the Time Travel track; each tile left costs two points.

Beginner pitfalls

Paying a Worker cost with a Genius (not allowed); sending a tired Worker back in time (it must be Active); trying to pay back a Warp tile without moving your Focus there; counting the Impact tile in a Power Plant’s range; running out of Water, which almost everything needs.

With Fractures of Time

The expansion adds the Amethynia Valley and its Operators, Workers who go anywhere but get no bonus. With a Flux Core, the Blink Action moves a placed Exosuit to another Action. Unless it carries an Operator, you roll the Flux and Glitch dice: a Glitch gets in the way and costs two points. After Era Zero, the game lasts five Eras; Technologies and the Fracture Device score points.

With Exosuit Commander Pack

The Pioneers of New Earth module adds the Adventure Action: your Power plus a die against a card’s value, for a reward or a failure; your Exosuit Upgrade board raises your Power. With Guardians of the Council, the World Council Action lets you enlist a Guardian, who acts without a Worker, like a Genius, and has its own space for a Capital Action.

With Future Imperfect

Four modules to choose from: Neutronide buildings, Hypersync (a Capital Action without an Exosuit, to take back later), Quantum Loops (a Quantum Loop card paid back with a Breakthrough) and Intrigues of the Council (a points grid built by the players, game end after the sixth Era). Each Hypersync or Quantum Warp tile left at the end costs four points.

How to score Anachrony

Buildings

The points printed in the bottom left corner of each of your buildings.

Superprojects

The points printed in the top left corner of your Superprojects, plus 3 points per Superproject with The Ultimate Plan.

Breakthroughs

1 point per Breakthrough tile, plus 2 points per set of one circle, one triangle and one square, whatever the icons.

Anomalies

Minus 3 points per Anomaly still on your board.

Warp tiles

Minus 2 points per Warp tile you could not pay back at the end.

Time Travel track

The points of the space your marker reached.

Morale track

The points of your marker’s space, negatives included.

Endgame Conditions

3 points per Endgame Condition card you meet, for every tied player too.

Victory Point tokens

All the points you gained as tokens during the game, Evacuation included.

With Fractures of Time

Minus 2 points per Glitch in play, the points of your Technology cards, and those of the rightmost uncovered space of your Fracture Device.

With Future Imperfect

Minus 4 points per Hypersync or Quantum Warp tile left on the Timeline; with Intrigues of the Council, the Agenda grid replaces the Endgame Condition cards.

Ties

The most Water, then the most Resources; otherwise, players share the victory.

Worked example

Emma scores 14 points for buildings and 9 for Superprojects. Her 5 Breakthroughs make one set: 5 + 2 = 7. One Anomaly costs her 3 points, one Warp tile left on the Timeline 2. She adds 10 points of Time Travel, 4 of Morale, 6 for two Endgame Conditions and 23 in tokens: 14 + 9 + 7 − 3 − 2 + 10 + 4 + 6 + 23 = 68.

Common mistakes

• Counting Evacuation separately when its points were taken as tokens.
• Forgetting the 2 extra points for each set of three Breakthrough shapes.
• Forgetting negative Morale points, or the 2 points lost per Warp tile left.
• Breaking ties at random: the most Water decides, then the most Resources.

How to set up Anachrony

Setup has quite a few steps. Follow the first three parts; add the part for each expansion you play; solo, finish with the last one.