But like all good time travelers, I’m getting ahead of myself. To understand the future of card-based time travel, you must first know what has gone before. In the game, up to six players take on the role of dimensionally-displaced Chrononauts, each bound to alter history to suit their own specific needs. Maybe you came from a world where the Titanic missed that iceberg or where Ronald Reagan was assassinated. And maybe I didn’t, so we would be working against each other to set up history they way we prefer it. The first player to change the Timeline to their own secret cause wins. Without the Gore Years expansion, the Chrononauts Timeline covers a series of world events from 1865 to 1999.

The Timeline of True History is set up in a grid of Linchpin cards and Ripplepoint cards, displayed almost like headlines on a newspaper. You’ll need some decent table space to lay it all out! Linchpins are singularly important historical events. In creator Andrew Looney’s view, they are also events that could be changed by the simple actions of one person. If a time traveler goes back to 1943 and makes off with some necessary equipment, the Manhattan Project is sabotaged. As a Linchpin event, a delay of atomic research means the US just might not drop the bomb on Japan… so August 1945, the end of World War II, is a Ripplepoint moment that depends upon the Manhattan Project’s existence. Change 1943, and 1946 as we know it suddenly vanishes!

Managing these Linchpins and Ripplepoints is the key component in how Chrononauts works. Creator Looney even received a patent for this particular gaming mechanic!

The Gore Years provides two new Linchpin events: 2000 and 2001. In 2000, time travelers now have the option to defeat George W. Bush with the infamous Florida Recount. The connected Ripplepoints are 2003 (”Saddam Hussein Captured”) and 2008 (”First Black President Elected”). Of course 2001 centers around the World Trade Center attacks, which can be undone by an “anonymous tip.” 2001 ripples to 2002 (”War Continues in Afghanistan”) and is also connected to 2003’s Hussein card. But note that even if you save the WTC, that doesn’t mean America gets away without enduring a major catastrophic event at the dawn of the new century…

Because although Linchpins represent an instant either/or situation (either John Lennon is murdered or he isn’t), Ripplepoints are not immediately set to an alternate event. When a Linchpin knocks out its associated ripple years, the Ripplepoints become Paradoxes. As giant nasty black holes in the space/time continuum, Paradoxes are very dangerous (in fact, if the players create too many of them, everyone loses!) and must be repaired with Patch cards. Patches provide some new alternate piece of history that heals the Timeline and magically everything make sense again. Even if it isn’t the sense you thought you knew.

In Gore Years, the Patch card for 2008 is “First Female President Elected”… Sarah Palin. It seems America was destined for an historic election no matter which way the timestream fell! Part of the fun is uncovering the connections between true history and Looney’s fictionalized events. Unlike many games where the cards are just cards, in Chrononauts you’ll find dozens of clever, entertaining stories scattered throughout. Andrew Looney is a lifelong science-fiction / alternate history fan, and it shows!

Visually, Gore Years matches up perfectly to the look and feel of the original 2000 design. Veterans will have no trouble shuffling these cards into the deck. In fact, the new edition of Chrononauts is identical to previous printings in most respects. It would be nice to see Looney Labs issue a full-blown Masterpiece Edition with painted artwork and modern card layouts (the entire game looks like it was designed in ten-year-old home desktop publishing software, and it probably was!) but the garage band aesthetic has been part and parcel of Looney Labs to no ill effect. Their biggest seller, Fluxx, has a similar no-frills tone.

If you are new to Chrononauts, the latest edition (version 1.4) will sell for $20 when it is released December 4. Gore Years is only $3, so it’s a complete no-brainer to add that in. For those of you who have purchased previous editions of the core game, v1.4 offers some minor text tweaks and a few new cards. v1.4 stands at 140 cards, has a new rulebook, and a much nicer tray-based box. Visit looneylabs.com to order, or visit your local gaming or comic store.

If you are interested in more time travelling, there is another optional expansion called Lost Identities that was initially released in 2001, adding a few new cards to the mix (but no Timeline events). In 2004, Looney Labs released a “sequel” to Chrononauts in the form of Early American Chrononauts. This game can be played by itself or in combination with the regular game, and provides a historical timeline of 1770 to 1916. All of the Chrononauts sets can be combined into a massive game known as UberChrononauts that makes for one incredibly fun evening. (Full disclosure: I participated in the EAC betatest and received credit in the rulebook.)