Anachrony is in my top 10 games. Slots are very tight in all player counts. It is fiddly, but not overly so and it can be long, but doesn’t feel it. You’re always engaged. Mindclash games are also known for their iconography. It’s pretty, but not intuitive at all. Cerebria is another awesome mindclash game, but teaching it to people is painful. That game needs sleeves with actions written on the cards.
Did you play with the mechs or just the cardboard bits? Those plastic mechs go a long way to increasing the fun of the game.
Did you play with the a or b sides of the board? You really have to play the asymmetrical sides to appreciate everything going on and then choosing your starting resources should match up with the leader you choose.
Anachrony is also brutal, much like Trickerion, and you can hose yourself in later rounds. How many mechs do you send? How many resources are you going to request from the future? Control for 1st player while not an absolute, can be vitally important. You sometimes have to give up an action so you can secure it for the next round.
The most important thing you have to decide very early into the game is what are you going to focus on. You can win many different ways, but you have to pick one. You can’t really go for a balanced approach. I’ve won games where I didn’t even complete my cataclysm objective and instead focused on my player board and buildings that would give me an engine to generate points. You don’t lose points, if you don’t go there. Always expect the game to end the round the cataclysm is on. You can try and not use the main board, but most people try and end it there if someone is delaying so be careful.
The Chronobot is an excellent single player ai.
There is another expansion that game wth my copy that adds another board and the ability to mod your mech. Then you take the mech on an archeology dig to find items. Again you have to decide what your going to focus on. That said you can if you play right skip the entire main board and just do digs. I suspect that if all players are doing it you’ll have jump back and forth.
There is another expansion that focuses on 4 players. I haven’t played where two of the players are working towards stoping the cataclsym while the other two are trying to ensure it happens.
It takes 2 or 3 games to really understand the game and I’m still trying to master it. It is very easy to get distracted by super projects,cataclysm goals, and buildings. Don’t give up on it if you enjoyed it at all, I also recommend Trickerion. It’s another worker placement game they made. The story is the prestige meets willy wonka. You’re all 19th century magicians via to become the best performer. you’ll have to hire assistants, purchase materials, learn and perform tricks and visit the dark alley to altar the fates.
