At the beginning of 2022 it was over Kickstarter the time travel game Trekking Through History successfully financed thanks to 4.731 supporters. A total of $256.613 was raised to make the game a reality. The game appeared on the market in 2023 and took place with Game factory also a sales partner for the German market. For Spiel 2023, a German version was also available in well-stocked specialist retailers. You can find out how the latest game in Charlie Bink's Trekking series performs in this review.
With its time machine, the company Wayback Tours has turned time travel into a popular holiday attraction. As so-called time tourists, we are getting ready for our three-day trip through human history. Every day we visit central events from history, but we don't have much time and we have to be careful to keep the events in chronological order. If we divide our time well and visit as many events as possible, we could become the most prestigious time tourist in living memory.
Simple gameplay
We play trekking over three rounds (= days), in which we try to fill our travel plans with experience tiles as best as possible. The number of moves in the round is determined by which cards we take from the display. At the beginning of our turn we choose one of the 6 cards on display. These have small clocks in the lower part that determine how far we move our player marker (in the form of a pocket watch) on the clock face. There are a total of 12 fields on the clock face - if we reach the last field, the current round is over for us. We can slow down progress on the numeric keypad using so-called time crystals. For each crystal we spend, the number of steps we have to move decreases when we take a card.
After we have taken the card and moved the pocket watch, we receive the rewards of the card and the space in the display from which we took it. The rewards are different types of experience tiles that we place on our travel plan. We then place the selected card in our current stage. This must be placed in chronological ascending order. If this is not possible, the current stage is completed and a new one is started with the current map.
Once all players have reached the 12th field on the clock face, the day ends and a new one begins. All experience tiles go back into the supply and each person chooses a new travel plan. The next round then begins.
As long as possible chronological journeys
We collect prestige points (= victory points) through our travel plan and stages. If we get an experience tile, we place it on the top space of the corresponding track. Some fields have points or crystal bonuses. As soon as a tile is placed on a corresponding field, we receive the bonus.
Stages, on the other hand, should be as long as possible. The bigger a stage is, the more points we get at the end of the game. If at some point it is not possible for us to continue our stage with the cards from the display, we can also decide to “visit an ancestor”. This card is a limited wildcard that, when placed cleverly, can extend our stages.
Information about trekking: travel through time
| Number of players: 1 – 4 Age: from 10 years Playing time: 30 - 60 minutes Difficulty: Higher family game Long-term motivation: medium Classification: Set Collection, Time Management Author: Charlie Bink Illustrations: Eric Hibbeler Publisher: Game Factory, Underdog Games Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2023 Language: German Cost: 39,99 Euro |
Conclusion
Trekking – Travel through Time is a fairly simple family game, but it offers a lot of scope for tactics. Especially with two players, you have to think a lot about what you might take from the other player or what might be left lying around in the hope that it won't be snatched away. Trekking with four people is a bit more luck-intensive, but still offers enough space for reflection. Here the cards rotate much more quickly and you may be faced with a completely new selection when it's your turn again.
When it is your turn depends on how far back you are on the number pad. The person furthest back takes their turn. This sometimes means that - if you think about it carefully - you can have a turn 2 or 3 times in a row and thus have more influence on your luck. This simple principle of taking a card, advancing time, receiving bonuses and placing them draws you into a real flow. If you are suddenly allowed to do something 2 or 3 times in a row, this flow is even greater. Trekking literally manages to captivate you and is fun and exciting throughout the entire game.
What's also great is that trekking simply has excellent material. The display is a play mat on which the cards can be easily picked up. The experience tiles are all made of solid plastic and feel good in the hand and the box is equipped with a perfectly designed inlay so that all the game material is stored well and safely. Many people can learn a lesson from this quality. The game also comes with a rock-solid solo mode and a small bonus expansion. For the price of €39,99 you can hardly complain here.
Trekking – Travel through Time can be recommended to casual gamers as well as those who play a lot. It is very easy to learn, has enough space for reflection and is therefore perfect for games with non-playing parents on holidays, for example. With a playing time of around 45 minutes, it's also nice and short and offers the perfect duration for you to want to start a second game. In our tests, all types of games were completely enthusiastic. We would therefore highly recommend trekking.
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Game Factory 646098 Trekking, travel through time,... * |
30,47 EUR |
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