Description

Tempus is a retro style card game that's fun for everyone! Inspired by the greats, like UNO, Skip-bo, Phase 10, and Rack-O.

Players control time to play all of their cards before their opponents!

Components: 1 travel case/game board, 1 instruction sheet, 168 cards, consisting of 12 each #1-#12 (clock cards), 18 n (wild) cards, and 6 Reverse time cards.

Reverse time cards: These cards dictate the counting order of the game. The first time they are played, they are played face up to change the direction to counterclockwise (backward) counting direction. The second time they are played face down to indicate clockwise direction. They are played to the side of the time zones, separate from the counting piles.

Objective: Play all of the cards in your countdown deck before your opponent! The game ends when a player has accumulated 365 points, and then the lowest score wins!

• Deal 12 cards face down to each player, each player flips their top card over and places it on top of their cards to create the countdown pile.
• Reveal 4 cards face up in the 4 time zones in the center. If any n (wild) cards are revealed, cover them up with another card until 4 clock cards.
• If any reverse time cards are revealed, they are played to the side of the time zones.

Play: The player to the left of the dealer draws cards until they have 5 in their hand. They may use cards from their countdown pile, hand, or discards to count the hours of the clock in the time zone, according to the direction (forwards or backwards) in the directional area.

Counting in Tempus is cyclical, like a clock. Players will count 11-12-1 in forwards direction, and 1-12-11 in backwards direction.

If a player can play all 5 cards from their hand in a single turn, they can draw 5 more cards and continue playing

All n cards must be covered by the next clock card in the sequence before that players turn is over. If it cannot be covered, it is removed from the time zone and placed at the bottom of their countdown deck.

A player MUST count at least one card in the Time Zone from their countdown pile, hand, or discard per turn. They must draw cards into their hands until they can. If a player has more than 5 cards after discarding, they must place the excess cards at the bottom of their countdown pile.

A player ends their turn by discarding 1 card into one of their four discard piles. Cards may be stacked, but only the current top card of each discard pile is playable. Any remaining cards in a players hand carries over to their next turn, where they will draw until they have 5 again.

Play continues to the left until one player has used all of the cards in their countdown pile. All other players add up their cards remaining in their countdown piles and add it to their score. (1-4: 5 pts, 5-8: 10 pts, 9-12: 15 pts, n: 20, RT: 25)

Once a player has reached 365 points, the game is over, and the player with the lowest score wins!

—description from the designer