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Anachrony

170 questions players ask about Anachrony. Pick one for the answer. See also the full rulebook.

Updated 2026-11-01.

  • Setup and components
  • Game turn and phases
  • Construct and buildings
  • Recruit, Research and World Council
  • Mine, Purify, Trade and Supply
  • Time travel, focus and warp tiles
  • Workers, Geniuses and morale
  • Superprojects
  • Leaders and Path abilities
  • Evacuation and Impact
  • Ending the game and scoring
  • Optional rules and classic modules
  • Solo play: the Chronobot
  • Editions and compatibility
  • Anachrony: Fractures of TimeExpansion
  • Anachrony: Future ImperfectExpansion
  • Anachrony: Exosuit Commander PackExpansion

Setup and components

  • What happens if the general supply runs out of water, resources or workers?
  • Are Path markers limited, and what if I run out?
  • Do I need the Exosuit miniatures to play Anachrony?
  • Is Neutronium a wild resource that can stand in for Titanium, Uranium or Gold?
  • How does the Path of Progress get its starting Breakthrough: random or chosen?
  • Must all players use the same side of the Player board, and must Path board sides match?
  • Should a 3-player game use the 2-3 player side of the main board?
  • How many buildings are available in the first Era?
  • Can I look at upcoming buildings in the draw stacks?
  • Does it matter whether the Anomaly tiles are face up or face down?

Game turn and phases

  • Do warp tiles removed during the Paradox phase change who rolls?
  • If several players gain an Anomaly, in what order do they remove their Warp tiles?
  • When I gain an Anomaly, must I retrieve a Warp tile, and can it be an opponent's?
  • Do I pay the Warp tile's cost or gain Time Travel points when an Anomaly lets me retrieve it?
  • Once I gain an Anomaly, do I stop rolling for the rest of the Paradox phase?
  • If players tie for the most Warp tiles on a Timeline tile, who rolls?
  • Can I pay an Anomaly's removal cost (2 Water plus resources) with mixed resource types?
  • Where does an Anomaly go, and can it cover a Superproject?
  • If the Anomaly stack runs out, does it refill immediately?
  • Do unused powered-up Exosuits stay powered for the next Era?

Construct and buildings

  • Where does a Superproject go on my player board?
  • Do buildings shift left when an Anomaly is removed, and can I replace a built building?
  • Do Superprojects count as buildings for evacuation or end-game conditions?
  • How does the Grand Reservoir discount work?
  • How does the Quantum Chameleon work?
  • How does the Exocrawler Superproject work?
  • Does Temporal Tourism work like a Power Plant?
  • What is the Secret Cabal Superproject's Breakthrough cost?
  • What does the Outback Conditioner do?
  • Do Life Supports 311 and 312 stack on the Supply action's water cost?

Recruit, Research and World Council

  • How do the two World Council spaces work, and when can they copy a Capital action?
  • Can I take the left World Council space just to become first player?
  • Can the World Council copy Mine Resources?
  • Do I still pay the printed water cost on a Capital action covered by a Collapsing Capital tile?
  • Can I set a die when copying a Capital action through the World Council?
  • Does the Research action give VP?
  • Does Librarian Cornella or Lab 411 let me set a second Research die?

Mine, Purify, Trade and Supply

  • Can I mix materials in Trade with Nomads, and what does an Administrator get?
  • Can the Tectonic Drill give me Neutronium?
  • Can I mix resource types when an effect gives or costs several T/U/G?

Time travel, focus and warp tiles

  • Can I set Focus to a past Era without paying back a Warp tile, and does the Time Travel track move?
  • Does the Time Travel track still advance after the Impact?
  • Can I leave Focus on the same past Era and pay back a second Warp tile there?
  • After setting Focus in the past, can I get it back to the current Era or build the current Era's Superproject?
  • How does Power Plant 114 work: two time travels, cost, and range?
  • Can I time travel back to the first Era from the first Era to score Power Plant VP?
  • When I send a warped worker back to repay a Warp tile, do I pay or get water?
  • Are Breakthrough tiles spent on a Superproject, and do they count for scoring afterwards?
  • Does the Temporal Tourism Superproject let me pay back a Warp tile?

Workers, Geniuses and morale

  • How does a Genius work: which worker types can it stand in for?
  • Does a worker come back as the type it was placed as?
  • Can I use both Force Workers and Supply in the same Era?
  • Can I use workers I just reactivated on the same turn?
  • Can I place an Exosuit on a space and decline its action?
  • Does a Genius created by the Dark Matter Converter arrive Active or Tired?
  • Can I take the Supply action when I have no Tired workers?
  • Does the Engineer's Titanium discount apply to a second Construct action granted by a Collapsing Capital tile?
  • Can a Tired or busy worker be spent to pay a worker cost?
  • Do workers from the Cloning Vat arrive tired or active?

Superprojects

  • Do I pay both the asset cost and the Breakthrough cost for a Superproject?
  • Can the Dominance B-side place a Superproject on any two empty spaces, or sideways?
  • Can a Superproject hang off my board or be built where Anomalies sit?
  • Does a Quantum Chameleon Genius return motivated for Path of Progress?
  • Does the Grand Reservoir reduce Captain Wolfe's water-for-cores exchange?

Leaders and Path abilities

  • Can Treasure Hunter Samira get Neutronium, and is her second resource optional?
  • How does Patriarch Haulani's free action work?
  • Does Patron Valerian let me place two Exosuits in one turn?
  • How often can Librarian Cornella use Focused Research?
  • How does Matriarch Zaida's Saving Grace work?
  • Are the original pre-Essential leader abilities still used?

Evacuation and Impact

  • Is the Impact tile a Timeline tile or an Era?
  • Can I keep taking actions after I take the Evacuation action, and how often can I evacuate?
  • Is evacuating required to win, and do I spend the assets that the condition counts?
  • Is Evacuation scoring capped at 30 VP, and how does the -3 token apply?
  • Is the bonus on a Collapsing Capital tile mandatory?
  • How many Collapsing Capital tiles are used per Capital action?
  • After Impact, can an Exosuit I gain later go on a Hex Unavailable tile, and how many can I power up?
  • After Impact, can I still copy Capital actions through the World Council?
  • Does the Chronobot evacuate or take the -3 VP token?

Ending the game and scoring

  • Can I use a leftover powered-up Exosuit to untangle an Exosuit Warp tile at game end?
  • What happens to unpaid Warp tiles at the end of the game, and do I score for paying them?
  • If Earth is saved in the Doomsday module, do we still untangle the continuum?
  • Do Time Travel and Morale score every step passed or only the final one?
  • How does Archive of the Eras score the Time Travel track?
  • How do I count Time Travel ranges for the endgame condition?
  • Do Anomalies and Superprojects count as occupied spots for the most-occupied-spots condition?
  • Does a building covered by an Anomaly still score VP at game end?
  • How are ties on Endgame Condition cards scored, and what does the Forgotten Time Capsule do?

Optional rules and classic modules

  • With the Starting Asset Draft variant, do players still get the 0/1/1/2 water for player order?
  • In the Alternate Timeline variant, does the order I place two Warp tiles matter?
  • What are the extra ten Level 2 Experiment cards, and can I mix them in?
  • Are completed Doomsday experiments replaced immediately?
  • Can I move the Doomsday track without taking an experiment, and does the track score after Impact?
  • Can the game end in Era 3 by Saving Earth, and what if the Impact moves past Era 7?
  • Why does the rulebook advise against mixing Pioneers of New Earth with Doomsday?
  • Do adventure rewards that grant extra actions need extra workers or Exosuits?
  • Which worker do I lose when an adventure says to lose a worker, even if a Guardian is used?

Solo play: the Chronobot

  • Can I play Anachrony solo with just the base game?
  • Does the Chronobot take a minimum of three actions, and does it keep going after I pass?
  • What does the Chronobot pay to remove an Anomaly?
  • Can the Chronobot time travel to remove a Warp tile from the current Era or build a future Superproject?
  • What does the Chronobot do on a Supply/Recruit roll when its Morale is already at the end of the track?
  • Does the Chronobot game give me the second player's extra water?
  • How does the Chronobot choose resources when it mines?
  • How do stacked Chronobot command tokens resolve?
  • Does the Chronobot get Collapsing Capital tile bonuses, and does it flip tiles?
  • How does the Chronobot place Warp tiles?

Editions and compatibility

  • What rules changed between the first printing and the Essential Edition?
  • Do all expansions work with the Essential Edition, and what does the Infinity Upgrade Pack include?
  • Should I use the updated leaders and Path boards, and the 'B' buildings, without Fractures of Time?
  • Does the Classic Expansion include the Doomsday Enhancement Pack?

Anachrony: Fractures of TimeExpansion

  • Do I have to swap in the Fractures versions of buildings 301-304 when playing the base game?
  • Which leaders change with Fractures of Time, and can I use the Path of Unity without it?
  • Can I blink to, from or between World Council spaces?
  • From which boards can I blink, and where does the blinked worker end up?
  • Can blinking let me evacuate a second time?
  • How do Operators and Geniuses differ?
  • How does Eldrin's ability work with the Fracture Device?
  • What can glitches be placed on, and how do they affect things?
  • What does the Fracture Device's Recall free action do?
  • What Breakthrough cost do the new Fractures Superprojects need?

Anachrony: Future ImperfectExpansion

  • How does Chronossus use Hypersync tiles?
  • How many times can the first three Agenda Benefits free actions be used per Era?
  • What do the Intrigues agenda tiles with the Doomsday icon score?
  • Is the agenda grid's 1 VP for 1 Neutronium exchange mandatory?
  • Can an Intrigues agenda combination give a player negative VP?
  • How do Quantum Loops work: water, first player, and Alternate Timeline?
  • Does Covert Operations HQ interact with Intrigues of the Council?

Anachrony: Exosuit Commander PackExpansion

  • Can a Guardian take a Capital action from its own space when the regular spaces aren't full?
  • Why are there extra Timeline tiles, and which do I use?
  • When do I do the Starting Asset Draft and the Endgame Condition Draft?
  • Is the Salvation B-side evacuation condition the one that scores Warp tiles in hand?
  • How do I tell which Era it is, and which Superprojects are face up?
  • Where does my Focus marker go at the end of an Era if I time travelled?
  • Is a Power Plant's range counted from the current Era or from my Focus, and can I stack ranges?
  • Can one time travel action pay back more than one Warp tile?
  • Can I remove a Warp tile from the present Era?
  • In the Warp phase, do I get exactly what is printed on my Warp tile?
  • What happens when I warp in an Exosuit, and what do I send back?
  • Does a Genius warp, and do I pay water to send a warped worker back?
  • When can I take free actions, and how many?
  • Is Force Workers a free action, and what does it cost?
  • Can I pass and then keep taking free actions?
  • When does the left World Council space change the first player?
  • How are building stacks shifted, and can I look at the secondary stack?
  • What do the hourglass numbers on abilities mean?
  • Does a third Paradox token from any source trigger an Anomaly immediately?
  • What happens if all my workers are killed?
  • Is the Mine pool just the five resources on the Mine card, or also the extra Uranium, Gold and Titanium?
  • How does Power Plant 113 work: cost, distance and VP?
  • What does Building 405 do?
  • How do Breakthroughs score at game end?
  • When does the game end, and does it end the instant the last Capital space collapses?
  • Can I request Warp tiles in the final Era?
  • Do Breakthroughs placed on an Exosuit upgrade count for evacuation or end-game scoring?
  • Can a Variable Anomaly's Hex Unavailable tile go on an Exosuit hex that is already unavailable?
  • Do solo objectives and Intrigues of the Council work against the solo bots?
  • Is the Starting Asset Draft used in solo play against Chronossus?
  • In a 3-player game with Fractures, what if I draw three Collapsing Capital tiles for the same action?
  • Can the game end in Era 4 with Fractures of Time?
  • How many Superprojects are face up in Fractures of Time?
  • Can I stack two Warp tiles with Compound Warp Technology?
  • Do Breakthroughs used for blink upgrades score at game end?
  • Must I use the A side of the player boards with Fractures of Time?
  • What numbers are on the Fractures of Time Flux die?
  • Can Prophet Augurus's ability repay a Warp token?
  • When does Chronossus pass, and what does a failed action do?
  • Which Chronossus actions use an Exosuit, and does it draw a Flux core?
  • Does Chronossus lose VP for leftover Hypersync tiles?
  • Does Chronossus acquire a Guardian every time it takes a World Council space?