Board game review of Anachrony – Fractures of Time: Teleport Flux with the expansion

Even the basic game “Anachrony“was completely convincing in the test. A small part of the “Fractures of Time” expansion has already been shown there in the form of the solo mode. We have now dug out our exosuits again and are setting off on a journey through time. But now we can be in two places at the same time. Magic? No. In a remote mountain valley, the Amethynia Valley, something special has been created by the meteorite's toxic neutronium dust.

The meteorite also left its mark in the Amethynia Valley. The toxic neutronium dust has caused the flora there to mutate. Flower-shaped crystal formations were created. These synthesize a substance called flux. Only the inhabitants of the valley, the so-called machinists, know how to use it. They are willing to share their knowledge about the time rifts, but they remain silent about the side effects.

Fractures of Time In addition to everything you need to teleport, it also includes a solo mode with two opponents and a module with variable anomalies. The latter was not tested for this review. Below you will find out everything about flux cores, the fracture device, teleportation, the Chronobot and Chronossus.

A new path emerges

Before we start with the details about the new mechanics of the expansion, two new features should be presented Fractures of Time are included. On the one hand there is the new path of unity. In addition to the four paths included in the basic game, this one can now also be selected.
Its creation can be traced back to visions that many people had in the time after the time rifts first appeared. These sparked a feeling of community and empathy in them. So they came together on the new path of unity. It is also thanks to this path that the Amethynia Valley was discovered.

Unlike in the base game, there are now no longer seven epochs (four before and three after the impact), but only five epochs (three before and two after the impact). In addition, there is now an epoch zero, in which only a warp phase takes place. The paradox die must be thrown in the first round and time travel is possible directly in the first round. A super project is also below epoch zero.

Flux cores and fracture devices

At the start of the game, everyone (except the unit's path) receives one less energy core than their starting resources. That's why there's a flux core and a tired machinist.

Both are very helpful if you want to teleport. Flux Cores, which can be obtained like the Machinists on the new Valley map, are required to use the Fracture Device.
On your own turn, you now have the opportunity to teleport an already placed worker and exosuit from an action space on the main game board to any other action space. You can teleport to Amethynia Valley. You are not allowed to do it inside or away from the valley game board.

To teleport, place a flux core on the empty space furthest to the left of the fracture device. Then you roll the flux and glitch dice. If the flux cube shows a number that is greater than the number of free spaces on the fracture device, glitches must be placed. The location is dictated by the glitch cube.

A glitch blocks the game element it is on until it is removed. Buildings, target cards, exosuits, the time travel track, paradox fields or fields of the fracture device can be blocked. If you teleport a machinist, you don't have to roll the dice.

Machinists, like Genies, are a kind of wild card and can be used for any other type of worker except Genies. They never receive any bonuses on the actions they take.

Regardless of the worker type and the dice result, the selected exosuit and worker are teleported to the new action space and its action is resolved normally. The worker then returns according to the action (e.g. as an engineer awake from the mine).

In addition to flux cores and machinists, there is another new item that can be obtained on the valley game board. These are the technology cards. They offer a bonus that can be applied in the game. This ranges from one-off effects to permanent effects such as reducing construction costs. At the end of the game they also give victory points for a certain condition.

The fracture apparatus also offers some new action areas. They allow the removal of flux cores from the fracture device or the removal of two glitches from any location. These two actions are only available to machinists. Machinists can also place an achievement tile for two water on the fracture device upgrade board. This increases the space available on the flux apparatus.

After the meteorite strikes, there are two, three or four more collapse tiles depending on the number of players, which are placed on top of the collapse tiles from the base game. This means that the corresponding field can be used twice more.

At the end of the game, in addition to the plus points for technology cards, there are also points for upgrading the fracture device and minus points for glitches.

The solo opponents Chronobot and Chronossus

The Chronobot was the first solo opponent that Anachrony had. Improved in the meantime, it was the basis for Chronossus. This one is a little more “human” because the action selection mechanism has been adjusted. The two solo opponents hardly differed in their individual actions.

The solo opponents have their own tableau on which the action tokens move. The Flux Dice is used to select the action. The action under the token of the number rolled is activated. The token then continues to move along the prescribed route. In Chronobot, the paths are identical for all tokens except number 3. With Chronossus, the paths of the other tokens were also designed more individually, so that the actions are more balanced.

In general, you compete with solo opponents primarily for the actions “Research”, “Recruit”, “Build”, the mine and the actions on the valley game board. He can also carry out time travel and exchange sets of all workers/resources for victory points. For selected actions that cannot be carried out, the solo opponent always scores one victory point.

In addition to the selection mechanism, two other changes should be mentioned. Chronossus performs a variable number of actions per round. From an initial pool of five empty and five full energy cores, he draws three and charges the drawn number of charged energy cores plus three (or plus two after the impact) of exosuits. The Chronobot always charges six (or 4 after impact) exosuits and passes after the human has passed or when all exosuits are placed.

There are no objective cards in the game against the Chronobot. Against Chronossus there are three random solo objective cards, each showing specific conditions that can be fulfilled in three stages. For example, at the end you get one point for eight water, two points for twelve and even points for eighteen.

The Chronobot only works with the base game. Chronossus supports almost all extensions and modules.

Conclusion – Fractures of Time

If you look at the basic game Anachrony, the first thought that probably comes to mind is that this game can offer so much and yet no expansion is actually needed for a full gaming experience. This idea is also completely justified. With just what the basic game offers, you can play countless games in ever-changing constellations without it becoming even remotely boring.

But why anyway? Fractures of Time?

It offers that special something in the form of the teleporting action that doesn't exist in the basic game. Unlike many other expansions that simply add something "on top" that can be added, but hardly influences the feel of the game itself and is hardly integrated into the core, teleporting is at the core of the game.

Instead of more or less classic worker placement, there is now a lot more movement in a round. A place that has once been occupied can become available again. In order to still be a decisive step ahead of the other players, you have to use your fracture device at the right time so that you don't free up a potentially important action location for the others. Likewise, you have to be ready to teleport when the desired location has just become available. Finding the right timing here takes a bit of practice.

The entire mechanism surrounding teleportation, from the machinists to the flux cores to the fracture device, just feels like it belonged in the game from the start. Not only does the unit path interact excellently with the new mechanics, but you also have no problems using this action with the paths from the base game. Since flux cores, like all other resources, are rare, teleporting doesn't get out of hand. In some rounds you only teleport your workers once and otherwise concentrate on other actions.

In terms of the quality of the components, the expansion is similar to the basic game. Stable cardboard tokens convey a valuable feeling. The miniatures included are also very well made. However, since they are only for the new path (the Exosuit Miniatures Set is available for the other paths), I only used them in solo play.
Just like in the basic game, the game material is completely language-neutral. This certainly makes sense for consistency, but like the Super Projects and Leader Abilities, the Tech Cards aren't that easy to understand, even with repeated play. Many symbols only appear once. Since you now have to deal with two rule books, it's really annoying.

Apart from that, there are no problems with understanding the game that can be attributed to the rulebook. Here everything is clearly explained and provided with suitable examples so that no questions remain unanswered.

Conclusion – Chronobot and Chronossus

The two solo opponents who are in Fractures of Time included are excellent. The Chronobot does give you a great gaming experience, but it feels a bit out of round in some corners. He is sometimes difficult to deal with, especially because of the charging of all sorts of exosuits.

If you then learn the few changes that need to be taken into account for Chronossus, you will have one of the best solo bots as an opponent that there is. You know which four actions are possible and you also know the probabilities for them, which allows for a certain level of planning.

The rules for how actions are handled are very clear and can be carried out quickly. If something doesn't work, you simply get a victory point. Especially in terms of clarity and brevity of the actions, this is one of the best solo opponents David Turczi developed it. 

Since the Chronobot only supports the base game, Chronossus will have to be used anyway. If you already need the expansion for solo play, there is every reason to use teleportation in solo play as well. Similar to the energy cores used to charge exosuits, Chronossus uses a pool of charged and empty flux cores. If he draws a charged flux core, an exosuit is moved.

Like the changes to exosuit charging and action token movement, the solo objective cards are real improvements that provide a little more guidance in solo play.

The presence of the solo mode alone was the deciding factor for me to get this expansion. I've never regretted it. It took me a while before I dared to teleport, but the expansion is worth it just for this additional, perfectly interlinked mechanic. Together you have an outstanding overall package that will make every expert player's heart beat faster.

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