ChronoCrisis (2000)

Thanks to a nasty computer virus, most of the researchers from University of Chicago’s Department of Temporal Archeology are lost somewhere in time. In ChronoCrisis, players take on the role of crafty collegiate researchers to collect clues that can lead to the whereabouts and whenabouts of their lost colleagues. The trick, of course, is to minimize interaction with the “natives” and not damage the flow of history. Players search for clues in five different time periods – Ancient Greece, Legendary Baghdad, Feudal Japan, Elizabethan England, and the Harlem Renaissance – in attempt to deduce and pinpoint the location of the lost time travelers. Players collect clue cards through detective work, and can also steal clue cards from their unsuspecting opponents. When a player collects a set of clues from the same time period, he or she can attempt to make contact and confirm if the individual they’ve been tracking is indeed a fellow time traveler. The player’s hunches will often be correct. But invariably these hunches are sometimes wrong, and players have to plan ahead to make sure they’re able to deal with feisty natives. The first player to rescue five lost time travelers wins. The catch, however, is that this target number of five increases whenever a player encounters a native. ChronoCrisis is a quick, free, print-and-play card game for 2-4 players. Download the game in the BGG Files section.