Timeline Rules

Timeline is a card game that will challenge your general knowledge. The goal is to place your card in a chronological order by referring to the cards that are already on the table.

Contents

109 double-sided cards

The Cards

There are different versions of the game, each of which have a different theme:

• Discovery
• Inventions
• Historical events
• Monuments
• Art & Literature
• Music

Here, we’re going to be explaining Inventions. However, this explanation can also be applied to all the other themes.

On the face of the cards you will find:

• A picture of an object
• The card’s title

On the back of the cards you will find:

• A picture of an object
• The card’s title
• The object’s date of invention
• The card’s theme
  

Goal of the Game

Be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

Setup

• Shuffle the cards.
• Deal the cards according to the number of players. (Consult the table below.)
• Attention! Deal the cards face up, so as not to reveal the dates.
  

• Every player will place their cards, face up, on the table without looking at the date.
• The remaining cards, also placed face up in the center of the table, will form the draw pile.
• Turn over the top card of the draw pile so that it’s face down (the date side is shown). It will serve as the starting card.
  

How to Play

• The youngest player starts.
• Play moves in a clockwise direction.
• Based only on the title and picture, the player chooses one of their cards and places it next to the starting card.
  • The player’s card is placed on the left of the starting card, if the player believes that the object illustrated on their card was invented before the object on the starting card.
  • The player’s card is placed on the right of the starting card, if the player believes that the object illustrated on their card was invented after the object on the starting card.
• A player can also choose to place their card between two cards.
• If two cards have the same date of invention, they can be placed next to each other.
• Once placed, the player’s card will be flipped over to reveal its date of invention.
• If the player has guessed correctly, their card remains on the table.
• If the player has guessed wrong, their card is returned to the box and the player draws a new card, which they will keep face down (the date side is hidden) in front of themselves.
  

End of the Game

• As soon as a player correctly places their last card, the game is over, and that player is the winner.
• If several players place all their cards correctly in the same turn, the players who fail to do so are eliminated from the game.
  • The players still in the game each draw a card and play it.
  • The first player to correctly place their card wins.

Official rules in PDF

Explore the official Timeline rule in PDF.