Time to Panic
Time to Panic Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Work together to construct a correctly ordered timeline of events, arranged from the smallest to the largest numerical value. The fewer mistakes you make, the better your final score. A perfect game results in a completely accurate timeline with no misplaced events.
Components
- 1 Rulebook
- 36 Timeline Cards
- 54 Panic Cards
- 8 Guide Cards
- 16 Player Tokens
- 6 Gap Tokens
Setup
Setup the Timeline Deck
Shuffle the timeline cards and place them face-down in the center of the table.
For a shorter game, remove cards 1-4 and cards 33-36.
Choose a Panic Deck
Choose 1 of the 3 panic decks:
- Mild Panic: Easy
- Panic: Medium
- Total Panic: Difficult
If you are playing solo, remove the 5 cards noted with a * in the bottom right corner.
Shuffle all panic cards in the chosen deck to form a face-down panic draw pile near the timeline deck.
Setup the Starting Timeline
- Place a gap token in the center of the table.
- Place 1 face-down timeline card on each side of the gap token.
- Place 1 face-up timeline card at both ends of the timeline.
Deal Cards
- Each player draws 4 cards into their hand.
Gameplay
The game is played in turns, moving clockwise around the table. On each turn, follow these steps:
1. Play a Card
- Choose 1 card from your hand and place it in the timeline.
- You may place it at the leftmost or rightmost end of the timeline.
- If there is a gap at the end of the timeline, you may play next to it.
- Alternatively, you may replace a gap with your played card.
2. Activate the Card's Ability
After playing a card, resolve any special ability printed on it.
3. Bonus Action
Then, activate the ability of a card adjacent to the one you just played. If you can trigger a bonus action, you must. They are not optional.
If the timeline draw pile is not empty, perform the following 2 steps:
4. Draw a New Timeline Card
Refill your hand back to 4 cards by drawing from the timeline deck. If the deck is empty, you do not draw.
5. Draw a Panic Card and Resolve It
After you resolve the panic card, your turn ends and play continues clockwise.
Continue taking turns until each player has exactly 1 card left in hand. At that point, the game ends, and those remaining cards are discarded.
Face-Down Cards
Players may not share any information gathered from face-down cards other than using player tokens. If a player places a face-down card or gains knowledge of a face-down card (through a Peek or Trade action) they may place 1 of their player tokens on the card.
Player tokens are double-sided and have 2 ways to share information:
- Arrow (Left or Right): Suggests the card should move in that direction.
- Checkmark (Flipped Token): Indicates that the card is in the correct position.
Your placed token follows the card whenever it is moved. You may look at the card again at any time and update your token's direction accordingly.
If an ability causes you to "un-know" the information on the card (such as the Paradox Shuffle panic card), remove your token. Multiple players may place their tokens on a single card.
Timeline Card Abilities
Activator
Use the ability of a face-up card adjacent to the Activator card.
An Activator card may use another Activator card. An Activator card cannot use a Delete card. If there is a gap token between your card and another card, they are not adjacent.
Collapse
Discard any group of face-up cards that are in perfect order (minimum of 2 cards with no gaps, not optional).
Replace the discarded group with a gap token. If you Collapse the original card played as part of the group, you do not get a bonus action.
Delete
Remove any card from the timeline and replace it with a gap token.
Delete cards cannot be activated as a bonus action or via an Activator. A Delete card may remove itself.
Flip
Flip any face-down or face-up card on the timeline.
If you flip a card face-up, immediately resolve its ability. After using its ability, proceed with your bonus action of your originally played card.
Peek
Look at any face-down card on the board privately, then you may place a player token on the card.
Switch
Switch any 2 cards or gaps on the timeline. You may switch face-up and/or face-down cards, moving any player tokens with their cards.
Trade
Take any card from the timeline (whether face-down or face-up) into your hand. Place any other card (not the card you took) from your hand to the timeline face-down, then you may place a player token on it.
Move
Move any card to either end of the timeline or a gap. This moved card does not create a gap.
Any collapsed, discarded, or deleted cards should be placed face-down in a discard pile at the edge of the play area. These cards may not be looked at.
Bonus Action Restrictions
- If the adjacent card is face-down, its ability cannot be activated.
- If the adjacent card's ability is Delete, its ability cannot be activated.
- A bonus action cannot be taken if there is a gap between your played card and the card you wish to activate.
- Your played card's final position determines what bonus action can be used.
- If your originally played card has been collapsed or Deleted, you cannot take a bonus action.
Panic Cards
After drawing your timeline card, immediately draw and resolve a panic card. If you did not draw a timeline card or the panic card deck is empty, do not draw a panic card. Panic cards never activate timeline abilities.
Break
Delete (remove) an amount of gaps specified by the card. Remove as many gaps as possible. If there are no gaps, nothing happens.
Inversion
Flip an amount of face-down and face-up cards specified by the card. The cards must be chosen before they are flipped.
Scramble
Shuffle an amount of cards and return them to the timeline in a face-up or down position specified by the card.
If the amount of cards required to shuffle exceeds the amount of cards on the timeline, all cards are returned face-down. Shuffled cards must be returned to the locations originally occupied on the timeline.
Reversal
Switch the cards furthest to the left and right on the timeline. If only 1 card remains on the timeline, nothing happens.
Surge
Add a card to both sides of the timeline. If there isn't enough cards, follow the card in order as much as possible. If there is a gap on either end of the timeline, the card should be placed on the outside of the gap.
Communication Rules
Since this is a cooperative game, players may discuss strategy. However, you must never reveal specific number values or abilities in your hand. Do not give clues that could help another player determine the exact value of any card.
Allowed Statements
- "I would like to play on the right side next turn."
- "I'd like to place a card in that gap!"
- "I'll be able to fix that, don't worry!"
Not Allowed
- "I have the 3 card."
- "This face-down card is a 19!" and "This face-down card is a Flip!"
- "I have the perfect card to put between the 8 and the 10!"
- "I'll be able to fix that, I have a Delete card."
Remember: If you have placed your player token on a hidden card, you may not share ANY additional information beyond what your token indicates.
Some panic cards may cause you to lose previously known information. Note-taking is not permitted, so you must rely on your memory alone.
End of the Game & Scoring
The game ends when all players have exactly 1 card remaining in hand. Those cards are discarded immediately. Proceed to final timeline assessment!
Final Timeline Assessment
- Flip over all face-down cards: Once every player has played their final card, reveal all face-down cards.
- Select cards to remove: Identify and remove any cards that would result in a correctly ordered (ascending) timeline. For example, if the timeline shows: 32, 4, 6, 8, 22, 13, 14, 25. Players might decide to remove cards 32 and 22 to achieve a proper sequence.
- Score: Your team's final score is the number of cards removed.
Scoring Scale
- 0, Perfect Timeline: You did it! The timeline is flawless. Even your high school haircut somehow looks good now.
- 1-2, Minor Haywire: The timeline mostly survived, but a few things are...off. Good luck explaining why chinchillas now run Congress.
- 3-5, Barely Holding Together: Time clings to coherence... just barely. The universe now sustains only frogs. Oh also, watch out for the time goblins.
- 6+, Total Collapse: Congratulations! You've collapsed all of existence into a screaming void. Hope you like non-being!
Hard Mode
Looking for an extra challenge? Once you've achieved a perfect score on total panic difficulty, try this variant:
- Hand sizes are now 3 instead of 4.
- Final timeline cards are played instead of being discarded.
Helpful Reminders
- Once the timeline deck runs out, you no longer draw panic cards.
- In a solo game, you will likely run out of panic cards before you run out of timeline cards.
- It is possible to chain multiple Flip card abilities by flipping Flips.