The 10 Times that T.I.M.E Stories Blew My Mind!

From my very first run of T.I.M.E Stories it became my favorite board game. We didn't finish it, no. We weren't even close. But we had a lot of fun, and I mean A LOT! Here are 10 times that T.I.M.E Stories blew my mind (oh and don't worry! There won't be any spoilers!).

1 - Laying out the first picture

Laying the first panorama picture cards side-by-side was an instant "Oh my gosh! I'm in love! Oohhh this is so cool!" kind of moment. The artwork is exceptional. It really does well - everything - from the board to the art - it's just stunning. Even picking up the box was like the game telling me "Hello." When we laid out the first few cards, taking in the wonderful panorama, it was like "Come and play" and I was like "You had me at hello." 

2 - Reading the very first card

The game does very well at pulling you into the story. It felt like we were in the place and time, and the stage was set for us to go on our adventure. The narrative is very good. We really got into the characters and setting the mood for the game. Right away we were in the experience.

3 - Navigating the different locations

T.I.M.E Stories does a very good job at providing a sense of mystery. What's in that room? What's in there? Where do we need to go? It was fun and engaging going into the different areas, finding clues, remembering where we'd been and what we'd found. This provided for a lot of discussion during the game, ideas bouncing off of each other in an endless kind of cycle. With each place came new secrets, drawing us into the game even more.

4 - Player interaction

This game is all about interaction. Because it is cooperative, you are all working together as a team. The genius behind T.I.M.E Stories is in how that interaction takes place. People move to a certain place in a location and once there they can look at the card. It might explain something important, or even give some crucial clues as to what's going on, but the player cannot read it word-for-word to the other players if they are not in the same space. Instead, they can explain in their own words what is happening, what they are seeing, and what new secrets might be unlocked because of it. It sounds like a simple concept, and in all honestly it is, but it really helps give this game something that a lot of other cooperative games lack. It was so much fun to see a player lift up a card and watch as their eyes lit up. Knowing they figured out something they'd try to explain it to me. It really made the experience all the more richer because of it, and I wouldn't change it at all.

5 - Puzzles. Oh the puzzles!

We absolutely loved the puzzles in the base game. It was fun figuring them out. Some of them were really tricky. We had a real problem with the last puzzle, but when we finally figured it out it was so rewarding! This worked because of the bouncing off of ideas from each other and going over the various clues we had collected. It was so great and exciting!

6 - The overall mystery

There's something so special and telling about not knowing. The whole game is centered around not knowing and taking the actions to figure out what it is that you don't know. Having that mystery keeps the fun going. You want to know more! You want to figure it out! You want to know what is in certain locations..!

7 - Losing

Surprisingly, this was one of the most rewarding and frustrating things that we faced. For one, it gave us time to go over what we had learned, what things we might have missed, what locations we need to visit (or revisit), and what we thought about the whole thing. There was also a great bit of revelation, if you will. Between plays I could not get the game out of my head. I kept piecing together different ideas that by the time we started the game up again I was fired up and ready to move forward. Rarely has a game excited me this much.

8 - Surprises

I won't say anything about this, but I was shocked. It's not really anything to do with the game play or scenario. There is a surprise that you will find if you've played the game and it is exciting.

9 - More scenarios

We absolutely cannot wait to play the second scenario in this series of games. Once I learned there is a connection between the scenarios, it made me all the more excited to play the first one.

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10 - The website

Just go to the Space Cowboys website and look at the video on the T.I.M.E Stories page. It's short and promotional for the game, but it was excellently made (I love me some good videos! It caught my eye and made me want to play even more!)

Well, there you have it...10 times that this game blew my mind. I absolutely enjoyed T.I.M.E Stories, and I will recommend it to everyone that I know because it is so well done. I think this special experience is definitely worth the money and time. I know that it was for me.