Get ready to travel back in time to witness some of the greatest achievements, discoveries, and events of the 20th century in SimplyFun's new Social Sciences & Studies game, Time Jumpers!
Players take turns moving around the category portal to collect and fill their dashboards with cards to build an accurate historical timeline and meet certain goals like collecting a card from each category or having the largest span of time between two different years. Players earn points based on these goals, and the player with the most points at the end of the game wins! Time Jumpers can be played by 2-5 players ages 8 and up in 30 minutes.
A Celebration of the 20th Century
This pop culture and world history trivia game is sure to be your next game night favorite and a great one to add to your fun party game shelf! Time Jumpers highlights some of this era's amazing inventions, people, and more with six categories: Firsts, Discoveries, Inventions, Famous Figures, World Events, and Entertainment & Arts. Whether it's highlighting the first flight (in 1903), the end of World War I (in 1918), the invention of the microwave oven (in 1946), or the discovery of DNA identification (in 1984), there's no shortage of interesting historical facts to learn while strategically collecting cards and filling up your dashboard in Time Jumpers.
Setting up Time Jumpers
1. Each player chooses a dashboard and matching pawn and receives a bonus token to place on their dashboard.
2. Place the category portal in the center of the play area.
3. Shuffle the cards and deal one to each player. The player whose card is closest to 1999 goes first and places their pawn on the red space that says 'Firsts' on the category portal. Going clockwise, each player then places their pawn on the next category. Return the drawn cards to the deck and reshuffle.
4. Using the deck of cards, place three cards face up next to each portal row. Put the cards in chronological order for easier tracking.
5. Place the rest of the cards to the side, creating a draw pile.
6. Place the century spread and category focus score tokens by the category portal in descending-order stacks (8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). Place the time span, accuracy, and bonus token stacks to the side as they are distributed at the end of the game.
7. The player on the 'Firsts' category portal starts the game.
Let's play!
How to Play Time Jumpers
The object of the game is to either fill all 12 spaces of your dashboard or if it's not possible to complete every section of your dashboard, declare yourself done.
On your turn, you will do the following:
1. Choose a card from your portal row.
2. Place your card on your dashboard.
3. Replace the selected card with a new card from the draw pile.
4. Move your pawn.
Choosing a card
Choose one of the three cards that are in the same portal row as your pawn to add to your dashboard. On every turn, you must take a card, and you may not select cards from other rows.
Tip: When choosing a card, consider what other players are likely to choose as well as which rows may be getting new cards next round. Keep in mind your choice also affects your pawn movement options, so examine all card options before making your choice.
Placing your card
You may choose to place your card in any of the empty spaces on your dashboard, which comprises 12 spaces that make up four sections:
1. Century Spread: Each card needs to be a different category color, and cards must be in chronological order.
2. Category Focus: All cards need to be the same category color, and cards must be placed in chronological order.
3. Time Span: At the end of the game, the player with the largest gap between their two cards will earn the most points. The two cards must be different category colors.
4. Accuracy: At the end of the game, the player with a card that is the closest to the year 1950 takes the top accuracy token.
Extra points: At the end of the game, players also earn points for each decade (00s, 10s, 20s, etc.) they have displayed on their dashboard. There are 10 decades in a century, so if you play wisely, this can really add up!
Bonus token, replacing cards, moving your pawn, and earning points
Bonus token: Players can only move their cards once per game by turning in the bonus token received at the start of the game. If a player chooses to do this, they may rearrange multiple cards across different sections but not across completed sections or the detour space. It is important to be very thoughtful when placing your cards. If a player does not move any of their cards during play, they keep their bonus token which is worth one point at the end of the game.
Replacing cards: Throughout gameplay, replace the empty space left by the card you chose by drawing the top card from the deck. You may wish to rearrange the cards in the play area to keep them in chronological order.
Moving your pawn: After you have selected a card, placed it on your dashboard, and refilled the empty space around the portal, move your pawn. You may choose to move to either one of the adjacent portal categories or jump to the category whose color matches the card you just selected to place on your dashboard. Play continues clockwise with the next player until players have filled up their dashboard completely or have chosen to stop.
Earning points: During the game, players collect a score token when they complete their Century Spread (8–4 points) and again when they complete
their Category Focus (5–1 points). Token points are on a sliding scale, so the first player to complete a section will collect the highest number of points. Note that when playing with fewer than five players, some score tokens will be left over. All other tokens will be awarded at the end of the game.
The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner!
Skills Learned in Time Jumpers
Time Jumpers is within the Social Sciences & Studies game category. This includes lessons in history, as players will learn about some of the greatest achievements, discoveries, and events of the 20th century while they choose cards to fill up their dashboards. Strategy is another skill practiced in Time Jumpers. There are several ways to go about completing your dashboard and players must think strategically to complete sections on their dashboards first to gain the most points.
Game on!
Get ready to practice your time-traveling, planning, and accuracy skills while you learn all about the 20th century in Time Jumpers! For even more fun and learning in this category, check out all of SimplyFun's Social Sciences & Studies Games. Be sure to read the blog Learning Through Play Supports Back-to-School Success to see how this specific category of games can help prepare kids for success in school.