{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/2577",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 2577,
    "subject": "A Time-travel game",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2001-03-06T09:03:11+00:00",
    "last": "2001-03-06T09:03:11+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0030-0295@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Michael Andre-Driussi",
        "address": "mantis at sirius.com"
      },
      "date": "2001-03-06T09:03:11+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) A Time-travel game",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "As many of you probably recall, I have something of a mania about games.  A\nfew weeks ago I picked up a new one and I think it may be of interest\naround here, seeing as how much time we've spent playing around with\ntime-travel and paradoxes, especially with regard to Severian's narrative.\n\nThe game is \"Chrononauts,\" a card game by Looney Labs.  Because I am a big\nfan of Looney's earlier card game, \"Fluxx,\" I grabbed \"Chrononauts\" as soon\nas I saw it.  \"Fluxx\" is a great game; \"Chrononauts\" is another hit, maybe\neven better.\n\nTo set up the game, first you build the standard timeline (history as we\nknow it, from Lincoln's assassination to year 2000) as a grid of cards\n(thus the gameboard is made up of \"board\" cards).  Then you deal out secret\ntime-traveler identities and a secret mission (this is shades of\nEuropean-version \"Risk\") to each player.\n\nThe secret IDs: see, each player is from a different timeline that is =not=\nthe standard timeline; each player wants to alter the standard timeline in\norder to get home (i.e., win the game); but nobody knows what anybody\nelse's goal is, and thus how they might be inadvertantly helping another\nplayer win.\n\nOkay, back to the game.  You have your ID, you have your secret mission\n(which is an alternate goal--win the game by collecting three artifacts\nscattered through time).  You get three cards to your hand, and draw a new\none at the start of your turn.\n\nThe timeline is made up of \"linchpins\" and \"ripple points.\"  Linchpins are\nmajor turning points, where history could go one way or the other; ripple\npoints are the timezones most affected by turning linchpins.\n\nLet us say you play a \"Reverse history\" card and turn a linchpin; further\nup the timeline, the appropriate ripple points (keyed to that particular\nlinchpin) are turned over, and on the backside they say \"Paradox.\"\nParadoxes can only be repaired with Patches (another type of card), and\nthey are dangerous--if there are 13 Paradoxes on the board then the\nUniverse implodes.\n\nI've said too much already, but hardly enough.  Interested parties should\ncheck out the website for more information http://www/LooneyLabs.com\n\n=mantis=\n\nSirius Fiction\nCatalog and errata sheet at http://www.sirius.com/~mantis/"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}