I've had this idea floating around for a while now, and thought I'd finally share it out there with other designers in the hopes that you may be able to help get past a sticking point I currently have.
The Game Idea:
Players are time travellers who each have their own agenda for the world. Over the course of the game, they jump up and down the timestream playing something (I haven't decided whether is should be cards or something else), or they can exit the timestream to complete a different action (something slow maybe an extra turn) but the benefit is they can reenter the timestream at any point.
Time jumps will be limited so you can't jump from the start of the time stream to the end for instance, but can jump into the next era/timezone. Once in a time zone players can do things, whether by card effect or some mechanic I don't rightly know yet. These things affect the future, and possibly even the past.
I also haven't decided whether this should be a competitive game where players each have a set agenda to complete and are battling each other, or if this should be a co-op game with a possible hidden traitor who is trying to stymie the heroes.
I imagine the game played on two 3 fold boards similar to Takaido, one board is prior to 0AD, the other after. I am tempted to use a similar mechanic where landing on a particular time allows you to draw a card from a number of set decks, but you also have the choice of playing a card to that location.
Maybe the played card, replaces the original icon. Maybe a card as an effect (future, present or past), and an icon that shows what this space now generates, if landed on in the future.
I have even considered the idea of a resource, namely time energy. Jumping requires this energy, as does changing the timestream and running out, automatically ejects you from the timestream in order to refill and gather more. Naturally certain points within the stream will generate time energy and could be contestable points in a competitive games.
My big issue at the moment is board space and how to create an effective space where cards could be played, or whether cards are even the best way to do it.
One idea may be that each era/Time ZOne can only handle a set number of changes before collapsing, thus limiting the number of cards to be played.
Another maybe oversize tokens, that show icons that indicate a Timestream effect and the location effect.
I'm unsure at the moment and would like some thoughts. Also I would like some thoughts around effects.
I was thinking;
Evolutionary:
Effects that change humanity maybe devolves or evolves. Many possibly need prerequistes to play
Temporal:
Affect time itself - may lock down a zone for jumping, may drain time energy, may increase the cost of effects in the future, and vise versa
Societal: Rising civs, war, etc
Catastrophic: Major disasters
