Tides of Time Card Game First Impressions

Tides of Time is a 2 player drafting game?

That won’t work.

Play as an ancient civilization as they prosper and collapse through time. Build gigantic monuments, raise impenetrable fortifications, and amass vast knowledge as the ages pass. The greatest civilizations will leave their mark long after their collapse. From times long forgotten to times recently lost, civilizations will rise and fall as the tide of time carries them.

This is a very simple game where each player is dealt 5 cards, they pick one, reveal it simultaneously and pass hands. Eventually, they will draft all 5 cards into their tableau.

Each card has a scoring mechanism on it usually for having multiples or majorities of the 5 suits.

After scoring the 5 cards played, each player chooses one card of their 5 to keep and discard the rest. You put a token on the one you’re keeping and that’s yours for the rest of the game.

After 3 rounds players will have 7 cards each. That’s the 5 cards drafted in round 3 plus the 2 held over from the previous 2 rounds.

You score the 3rd round, add your points from rounds 1 and 2 and most points win.

Tides of Time Summary

It’s a very nice, fast game but only for 2 players. This system might be good with 3-4 although working out majorities across 4 play areas is probably quite fiddly.

With so few cards, if 2 players play often it would either get boring or super competitive depending on the players.

If I played 2 players’ games often enough, I’d own a copy of this for sure.

Update 11/06/2018

I don’t think I played this since that first time. For 2 player games, this has since been buried. Patchwork, Jaipur, Hanamikoji, and even Shadespire amongst others.

I mean, it’s good… But even after the few rounds I played, I was always trying to do the same thing. I know in the other games that’s almost the case, except Shadespire.

But hey, I wouldn’t turn it down if I needed a quick 2 player game, but it wouldn’t be top of my suggestion list.

Jesta ThaRogue