Catch Time Criminals and Jaunt Through History in Time Breaker

Take a trip through time to visit Stonehenge, the time of the dinosaurs, or the moon landing — trying to catch a criminal who is wreaking havoc on the time-space continuum.

In Time Breaker, players are time police trying to capture the time breaker, a dangerous rogue who is causing chaos throughout history. Beat your opponents to the arrest and earn that promotion!

Gameplay

At the start of the game you create a grid of five by five with time tiles. In the center is the Time Repair Agency headquarters and each other tile is a point in history. The time tiles are placed randomly each time you play. Each tile is also connected to two other tiles by chronological order using arrows (not necessarily adjacent tiles in the grid).

Each player draws three cards at the start of the game, places their pawn at headquarters and the time breaker is placed in the upper left corner of the grid. In order to win the game you must reach the time breaker, arrest him, and bring him back to headquarters.

On your turn you draw one card and then take one of three actions. You may jump from your current tile to one of the two tiles that are connected to it, you may play a card from your hand, or you may draw another card and immediately play it.

There are multiple possible card effects: some cards will have you move to an adjacent tile, some will jump you to a tile shown on your card, some have special actions (such as return you to base, allow you to play extra cards, or move opponents to you), some move the time breaker or cause a tile to be removed from the game (if one or more players are on a tile when it is removed, they are transported back to the base tile). When a tile is removed, the gate is considered to be closed — from now on, when a player tries to jump to this gate, they are transported directly to headquarters instead. There are also additional cards you can play during another player's turn that cancel out that player's card.

When you land on the space with the time breaker, you must announce that he is under arrest. The next time you move, the time breaker will move with you, but only if you are the one to move your piece. If another player uses a card that causes you to move, then you lose the time breaker. If more than one player has the time breaker under arrest at a time, he will go with the player who moves off the tile first.

Review

Time Breaker is a simple little game. It comes in a small box that takes up minimal space. The theme is fun, and works well with the tile laying. The fact that certain tiles are connected to each other regardless of positioning on the board, also means that you can do some neat jumps, plotting routes to take that will move you to the time breaker as quickly as possible.

The randomized board layout is another nice feature that ensures each game will be a little different. There is also a wide range of years and events featured on the tiles, which is a nice touch. Slowly having tiles removed from the game also ensures gameplay speeds up and the play area tightens as the game progresses.

On the downside, the winner can sometimes be determined by luck of the draw. For instance, if you choose to take the draw and play action when you have the time breaker arrested and just happened to draw the card that takes you back to headquarters, you’ve won, which leaves you feeling a bit nonplussed. However, it’s such a light game, and often a quick one, that it doesn’t feel too frustrating when this happens.

The time tile components are also a bit thin and flimsy, but the pawns are really fun to play with. The cards are good quality and the artwork is enjoyable.

Time Breaker is a lovely little filler that makes for a great start to the evening or end. It has a fun theme, quite simple rules, is easy to pack, and attractive to look at. If you’re looking for something light, check it out.

Pros: Fun theme, pawns are colorful, light and easy to learn gameplay

Cons: Tiles are a little flimsy, the game can be quite swingy

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.