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Take Time

18 questions players ask about Take Time, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.

Updated 2026-10-30.

  • Game Setup
  • Discussion Phase
  • Placement Phase
  • Resolution Phase
  • The Sleeve of Regrets

Game Setup

In a 2-player game, how many cards does each player start with?

The rulebook's setup and placement sections state this.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · Game Setup
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 2. Placement Phase
  • Jk_W · Community · 2025-11-30
  • Jk_W · Community · 2025-12-22

Each player starts with 4 cards in hand and keeps 2 more facedown unseen. After both players have placed 2 cards, each picks up the remaining 2.

Is a clock missing from the Rebirth sleeve (XII)?

Several players agree, and the rulebook mentions the Rebirth sleeve as extra content.

  • MaxenceSC · Community · 2025-10-25
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2026-07-27
  • nosewhoknows · Community · 2026-01-31
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · Completing the Game

No — the Rebirth sleeve holds a rules leaflet and a punchboard serving as the Rebirth clock, so nothing is missing. It contains modules that raise difficulty, not tests.

Discussion Phase

Can I sort the cards in my hand, for example in ascending order?

A publisher post answered this directly, and the rulebook says the same.

  • Stefan B · Publisher · 2026-01-26
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 1. Discussion Phase
  • jujulautre · Community · 2026-01-19

Yes — you may rearrange your hand whenever you like. You just can't use the arrangement to pass along information about specific cards.

Can players use signals or agreed codes to convey card values?

The rulebook lists allowed and forbidden examples, and community replies apply them the same way.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 1. Discussion Phase
  • Deelex · Community · 2025-11-29
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-12-26
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-12-26

No — signals such as card angle, blinking or counting seconds are forbidden. Talking about colours, general strategy and how quickly someone should play is fine, and agreeing in advance what a particular kind of play means is allowed.

In Chapter 3 and later, can the clock hand be moved after the cards are revealed?

Several players quote the Chapter 3 rules sheet; the base rulebook does not cover it.

  • hd42 · Community · 2026-02-12
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-11-22
  • Scolopacidae · Community · 2026-03-15

Yes — the hand is positioned in preparation but may be moved before the finished clock is evaluated, per the Chapter 3 rules sheet. The cardboard hand only marks your plan until then.

From Chapter 3, where must the clock hand start?

One player's reading of the Chapter 3 rules; consistent with the rulebook's hand rules but not confirmed officially.

  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-11-22
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 3. Resolution Phase

Anywhere — from Chapter 3 the segment totals only need to ascend clockwise from wherever the hand is placed, so any segment can be the start.

Placement Phase

In a 2-player game, when do I pick up the 2 reserve cards if a clock makes me draw an extra card?

Matches the rulebook's wording ('after both players have placed 2 cards'); the extra-draw interaction rests on forum replies.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 2. Placement Phase
  • tonyteshera · Community · 2026-01-10
  • MaxenceSC · Community · 2026-01-14

Pick-up is triggered by having placed 2 cards, not by holding 2 cards. So you can take the reserve pair and then draw the extra card, in either order.

When can I play a card faceup, and on which segment?

The rulebook explains the eye-symbol limit and the no-discussion rule.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · Playing Cards Faceup
  • Avantyr · Community · 2025-10-20
  • Deelex · Community · 2025-10-17
  • Pentarn · Community · 2025-11-15

On any segment, unless the clock or mission forbids it, as long as the group has placed fewer faceup cards than the eye symbols on the Reminder token. Each player decides per card, and the decision can't be discussed during placement.

How many cards can be played faceup in a test, and how do Bonus tokens add to that?

The rulebook describes the Bonus tokens, and forum replies confirm it applies at 2 players too.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · If You Fail the Test
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · Playing Cards Faceup
  • jujulautre · Community · 2026-02-08
  • Oiler1 · Community · 2026-02-08
  • jujulautre · Community · 2026-01-06

The limit is per test, not per chapter. It starts at the number of eyes on the Reminder token, and each failed attempt flips a Bonus token, adding one faceup card on later attempts (up to three, including at 2 players). Tokens flip back once you pass.

What does the placement rule 'next to this segment' mean on a clock?

Three players agree on the 'in that segment' reading; one table played the adjacent reading and found the wording poor.

  • Dominikach · Community · 2025-11-12
  • rhpenland · Community · 2025-12-28
  • Thorwolf · Community · 2025-12-28
  • kraasn · Community · 2025-11-24disagrees

It means the card goes in that very segment, not into the two neighbouring segments. The French wording is closer to 'in front of', and the English phrasing misled some players.

Resolution Phase

How is a 'closest to target' clock rule checked against the other segments?

Several players give consistent worked examples; no official statement.

  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-10-26
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-12-01
  • tool · Community · 2025-11-27

A segment passes if no other segment is closer to the printed target. A segment equal to the target always passes, and segments equally far on opposite sides of the target don't conflict.

On a clock rule, are segment totals or single card values compared to the target?

One reply states it, and it fits the rulebook's definition of a segment's value as the sum of its cards.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 3. Resolution Phase
  • Pentarn · Community · 2025-11-15

Segment totals — you compare the sum of each segment, not individual card values, at least on the first four clocks.

On Chapter VI clocks with a target such as 12 or 24, is it the sum of cards or the difference?

Two players agree, one quoting the Chapter VI leaflet.

  • caelir · Community · 2025-11-14
  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-12-15

The sum of card values, as usual. The difference rule only applies to the ordering of the sectors.

On a Chapter 6 clock, do equal differences satisfy the rule that differences must increase?

Based on one player's reading of the French rules and the picture; no official ruling.

  • jujulautre · Community · 2026-03-31

Yes — equal differences pass. The original French wording says the differences must not decrease, and the envelope 6 illustration shows equal steps.

How does the clock hand work on the fourth clock of Chapter VIII?

Two players read it the same way and played it so; the rulebook only says a printed hand marks the starting segment.

  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2026-03-25
  • pboivin · Community · 2026-07-09
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · Anatomy of a Clock

That clock has a fixed hand printed on it, so you don't place a hand token; the printed hand turns with the clock.

Can I move cards during resolution to satisfy a sector's symbol rule?

Reasoned from the clock 3 rule text; the asker accepted it, but no official ruling.

  • clownfeet · Community · 2025-12-26
  • Szpoti · Community · 2026-01-09
  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · 3. Resolution Phase

No — those symbol rules are met by what you play during the placement phase (for example, putting the highest or lowest cards there). Nothing is moved during resolution.

How does the double minus icon rule work when two sectors carry it?

Two players give the same reading, one from the French rules.

  • SevenSpirits · Community · 2025-11-27
  • Deelex · Community · 2026-01-05

Take the two lowest cards played: one of them must be in each minus sector. A tie for second lowest is fine.

The Sleeve of Regrets

What is the empty purple sleeve in the box?

The rulebook describes this sleeve as empty at the start.

  • Take Time rulebook · Rulebook · The Sleeve of Regrets
  • Deelex · Community · 2026-10-09
  • nosewhoknows · Community · 2026-01-31

It's the Sleeve of Regrets (XI), supplied empty on purpose. You put skipped clocks there and retry them later, so nothing is missing.