Timespan: four cards in a row decide your civilization

August 5, 2026

The rules are online, and in the meantime, the longest discussion on the BGG page concerns the cover illustration. I've read the twelve pages and the summary sheet, and the thing that decides games comes down to four cardboard tiles.

→ Timespan on Frogames · €69.99 · pre-order

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Mechanics · worker placement · tech tree · asymmetric powers · offer drafting · simultaneous play · income engine

From Stone Age to Space Age, in ninety minutes

Timespan puts a civilization in your hands and lets you guide it through history, from the Stone Age to the Space Age, in three eras that fit into one evening. At the beginning, you take two boards: one for civilization, choosing from Egyptians, Greeks, Vikings, Babylonians, Mexica, and Chinese, and one for technology, either by choice or random draw. The difference between civilizations is not an initial advantage that fades away, because it remains on the table until the end. Egyptians get three coins where others get two, Vikings move their ship twice without paying wood, and Chinese start with an extra card in hand. And the technology board dictates which powers you can unlock by advancing in science. In front of you, you already have three cards: the Shaman, Fire, and the Wheel.

From then on, you play cards of people, inventions, and constructions, from Marie Curie to the printing press to Notre Dame, and each one lines up in front of you and becomes something you can do. Meanwhile, you advance on the culture and science tracks, and send out explorers, first with a ship, then a hot air balloon, and finally a spaceship. And you build wonders, which are the large cards that stay outside the line, are worth points, and give you two points every time another player sends their camel there. There's no map to conquer, no armies, and no one can attack you. The player with the most points at the end of the third era wins.

How a round plays out

Repeats five times, within three eras

Where points come from · peace with every income · cards in timeline and in the graveyard · wonders built and visited · gold and the rarest luxury tokens · the two vision cards of adjacent players

Peace is not spent, it is counted

Peace is not a resource and not a currency, because it is not accumulated, spent, or exchanged. It is just a dove symbol printed on some cards and wonders, and with each income, you count how many you have in plain sight in front of you. That number does two things and nothing else: it moves you further up in the order of choosing offers, and it gives you one point per dove, up to a maximum of ten.

However, that line of cards only has four slots, so each new card pushes out the oldest one and takes away the doves it had on it. Those who rush to play cards fall behind in the selection order and stop earning those points, while those who keep them in play see others take the best cards before them. This is the crossroads that returns every round, and it has no right answer. Some keep their line static and live off passive income, while others let it flow to get to modern cards, which cost more and yield more. Peace is the first thing you pay when you grow.

Promotional material Alion – by Dr Ø

Who put their name on this box

Kristian Amundsen Østby and Kenneth Minde sign together on Automania and then Bad Company, the only two boxes Minde has in his ludography. Østby, on the other hand, comes from Escape, Santa Maria, and Revive, and co-founded Aporta Games and then Alion with Kjetil Svendsen. The Dr Ø in the brand is him, as he is a doctor by profession.

As for the cover, there has been discussion since January, when a reader asked if the illustration was AI-generated. Østby responded by citing the drafts that Nilanjan Malakar shared throughout the work, and those who want to get an idea can find his YouTube channel with 143,000 subscribers. In June, Svendsen reiterated this, while Gjermund Bohne is responsible for graphics and iconography.

What's inside, for seventy euros

The setup page also includes 56 discovery tiles, six civilization boards and six technology boards, plus the hourglass that advances on the time track, while no one says anything about the insert, so that part of the count remains open.

Sources seem to disagree on the number of cards, because the publisher announces 175 and the manual counts 172, but the difference is the starting cards, which each player receives from a separate deck.

Promotional material Alion – by Dr Ø

You don't beat a score alone, you close two objectives

In solo play, there's no automa to move and no fake opponent, so you just play your game. To win, you must complete both vision cards, which are the secret objectives you choose at the beginning, like reaching the end of the science track, playing six inventions, or delivering one luxury of each type. The score does not decide victory.

Points are looked at later, and are used to mark a medal, with one hundred points for bronze and one hundred seventy-five for platinum. You can start randomly or take one of the nine scenarios, which set initial civilizations, technologies, wonders, and objectives, and that's where replayability lies. Two things change compared to a full table. The offers you choose from are fewer, from two to five depending on how much peace you have in sight. And at the end of each action phase, a new wonder arrives to visit by paying a coin, otherwise the camel would remain still.

The three eras

The hourglass advances and changes what you can explore

Sources · official rules, BGG page, public responses from authors and publisher. Where the rules don't cover it, I haven't filled in with my own words.

The cover has been debated for seven months.
The four squares that decide the game, almost nothing.
The rulebook has been out since July, and it speaks louder than any thread.

Timespan on Frogames · BGG page
Timespan · Kristian Amundsen Østby · Kenneth Minde · Nilanjan Malakar · Alion – by Dr Ø · worker placement · Calibro · 2026 · Frogames