In the last few months I have already reported twice about Ornament Games. Once about the Publisher herself and the second time about her latest release Influencers! #fame #shame #gameWith their new release “Chrono Fall” announced for spring, Chris and Stefan are now entering new territory: a connoisseur game instead of a family game, space instead of earth, the future instead of the present.
I was already able to play it at SPIEL and was in the north of Cologne a few days ago for another game. You can find out what you can expect from Chrono Fall below.
The first idea for Chrono Fall came about about 8 years ago. Since then, the game has undergone many changes and developments. The mechanics, which are easy to learn at their core, have been refined, annoying and inelegant game elements have been cut, and a tech tree has been added. The print data is now ready and sent to the printer. So nothing stands in the way of a release in the spring. I would now like to report on my experiences in the vastness of space, which I was able to gather thanks to two games with prototypes.
Thematically, we are moving into a distant future. Humanity has discovered how to influence time. But as with all resources, it has wanted too much. The excessive influence has led to the collapse of the space-time continuum - the Chrono case – triggered. But there is still hope thanks to the players and the Protector. With their SPARCs (Space Research Cruisers), the players must keep routes clear for the freighters so that they can bring the rare resources from the exoplanets to Earth.
Time is running out
The sequence of a turn is easy to follow thanks to the good overview on the game board. At the beginning you roll two D20s to determine the x and y coordinates of the newly appearing rift. If there is already a rift or a planet at this point, the spatial integrity drops by one.
If the players have already researched the relevant technology, they can then influence the Chrono Matrix in the second step. Event cards are displayed here that at certain times would have even more serious effects than they already do. The more the technology is researched, the further the players can look into the future and the more they can exchange events with each other. However, this action "costs" the re-rolling of the two D20s. The reason for the Chrono Fall was precisely the tampering with time.
In the third step, the current event is now carried out. With the exception of the "energy crystals", these events actually always have negative effects. But sometimes they are particularly serious.
All good things come in threes
The fourth step involves the active person's actions. At the beginning you have four energy crystals that you can discharge for actions. The actions are: movement (1 crystal), scanning a rift (3 crystals) and neutralizing a rift, regardless of whether it is scanned or not (4 crystals).
You can also overcharge the energy crystals to use them in later turns for your SPARC's special ability or to use special effects that can be unlocked on the tech tree by scanning rifts. Once overcharged, energy crystals are discarded after the action and you should find new energy crystals as soon as possible.
In the last two steps, the freighters move one step, the active person recharges their energy crystals and refills the Chrono Matrix with a new event card.
Time is a relentless enemy
In Chrono case There is exactly one way to win: the Protector must be completed and the "Calculation of the Protector Impulse" must be researched. This one victory condition is offset by three ways to lose. If the spatial integrity drops to zero, the last card has been placed on the Chrono Matrix or the 100th Rift has been placed, the game is lost.
In addition to the basic rules described above, there are also three scenarios that make the challenge even greater.
Information about Chrono Fall: At the End of Space and Time
Number of players: 1 to 4 people Age: from 14 years Playing time: 60 to 150 minutes Difficulty: expert game Classification: Cooperative game, Pick up and Deliver, Disaster management Game idea: Stefan Scheidtweiler, Christian Schäfer-Scheidtweiler Illustrations: Samaneh Khoshbouy-Siakani, Daniel Wilwers Publisher: Ornament Games Official Website: Link Price: € 70 Publication: Spring 2024 |
Impressions
After two games with prototypes, I obviously can't evaluate everything about the game yet, but the game has already made an impression.
The most "obvious" thing is the difficulty of the game. Both of my games were lost and the other groups on playtest day were also unable to save the space-time continuum. The game is really challenging. The closer you get to the end, the tighter it gets. The Protector grows, the spatial integrity decreases and the supply of available Rifts also decreases. All of this can literally be seen.
The tension is really at its peak at the end of the game. Every action, whether random or not, could make the decisive difference. With a little more luck (we were missing two scan actions), we could have won our test game. So now there are points to learn from.
The luck factor plays a role here, of course, but apart from the dice rolls and the disasters that are triggered at three points when the spatial integrity drops, you always have influence over them. With the freighters you can always use an alternative route, or you should always keep one open, and your own SPARC should always have at least four energy crystals so that you can always free yourself.
Because something "bad" happens every turn, you are constantly chasing rifts, events and disasters. People who like to plan everything down to the smallest detail ten turns in advance may not be so happy with this game. Pandemic likes and who is interested in Robinson Crusoe Even if the umpteenth unpredictable onset of winter does not disturb you, Chrono case have a lot of fun.
As you would expect from a cooperative game, there is practically no downtime here. You always talk to everyone about every move. No one can manage everything on their own. The number of people also seems to adjust very well. At the fair, with two of us, we hardly had any problems getting in the way of the freighters, but we just couldn't get to all corners of space very well. A few days ago, with three of us, we were able to spread out better, but we also got in the way of a freighter more than once, which then got stuck in a traffic jam for two trains.
Although the game is so difficult to win, the actions and processes are very clear. Everything is kept as clear as possible so that there is no confusion. With a little practice, you can find your way around the 400-field 20x20 hex coordinate system. Don't be put off by the 30-page rule booklet. Everything is explained in detail and in a concise manner.
Beyond the game
Many things that are not directly important for the mechanical functioning of the game are also clearly and, above all, as realistically depicted in the game. For example, the six exoplanets that you have to travel to in the game for their elements also exist in reality. The distances were adjusted for the game, but the planet closest to the earth on the game board is also the closest to Earth in reality. There are also other facts about the planets on the game board. For these and other details, such as the names of certain game elements, Chris and Stefan got support from two astrophysicists from the Argelander Institute at the University of Bonn. As you would expect from Ornament Games, the back of the game board was used again to accommodate further exciting facts.
The two have also put a lot of love into the details in other areas. Apart from the two dice and the small feet of the SPARC standees, the game is plastic-free, uses FSC-certified wood and is produced in the EU. For what you get in terms of material and game, and even though the game is being released directly onto the market without crowdfunding, the price of €70 is more than reasonable (especially when you consider that a Everdell: Farshore has a RRP that is 30€ higher).
As an add-on, which will be available at trade fairs, there is a neoprene mat that can be used instead of the game board. An additional way to enhance the game even further are 3D-printed SPARCs and freighters, which were developed in collaboration with kleingedrucktes.org The exact availability and prices of the two additions have not yet been finalized.
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