How To Play: Anachrony – Setup, rule summary and strategy

Quick Summary

In Anachrony, a strategic board game set in a post-apocalyptic world, players must navigate through time to rebuild society and secure victory. Through careful resource management, strategic worker placement, optimization of the tech tree, and utilization of faction-specific strategies, players can tip the scales in their favor.

Managing resources efficiently is crucial for success, allowing players to develop their faction, meet objectives, and complete projects. The placement of workers strategically grants access to valuable actions, enabling players to gather resources and mitigate risks effectively.

Optimizing the tech tree unlocks advancements that provide game-changing benefits. By calculating the timing and sequence of technologies, players can gain advantages over their rivals and shape the future according to their strategies.

Furthermore, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each faction assists in adopting tailored strategies that exploit unique abilities and mitigate limitations.

Ultimately, victory is achieved by completing objectives, projects, and leveraging advancements to score victory points. A keen understanding of the rules, careful planning, and adaptability are key to securing consistent victories in Anachrony.

Prepare yourselves for the challenges ahead, embrace strategic thinking, and forge your path to triumph in this immersive and intriguing board game.

Overview

Welcome to our comprehensive Anachrony strategy guide! Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the game, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and tactics to maximize your chances of victory in this captivating post-apocalyptic world.

In this guide, we will not only cover the basic rules and mechanics of Anachrony but also delve into the best strategies to help you emerge triumphant in your quest for dominance. From resource management to worker placement, tech tree optimization to time travel tactics, and faction-specific strategies, we will explore every aspect of the game to ensure you have all the tools at your disposal.

This guide is designed to provide both beginners and experienced players with a deep understanding of effective gameplay strategies. Whether you prefer a careful, methodical approach or enjoy taking bold risks, our guide will assist you in crafting a winning strategy tailored to your playstyle.

Let’s embark on this strategic journey together and unravel the secrets to conquering Anachrony. Prepare for exciting challenges, innovative mechanics, and thrilling battles as we equip you with the knowledge necessary to steer your faction towards ultimate victory!

What’s in the box

  • Main Game Board x1
  • Exosuit Action Board x1
  • Engineering Action Board x1
  • Era A, B, and C Action Boards x1 each
  • Leader Miniatures x4
  • Exosuit Miniatures x51
  • Worker Miniatures x72
  • Crisis Tiles x16
  • Resource Cubes (Plastic) x50
  • Water Tokens x25
  • Influence Tokens x36
  • Ownership Tokens x4
  • Time Tiles x9
  • Link Tiles x30
  • Building Tiles x104
  • Research Mats x4
  • Objective Cards x28
  • Project Cards x32
  • Event Cards x43
  • Special Action Cards x6
  • Player Discs x4
  • Victory Point Markers x37
  • Turn Order Marker x1
  • Rulebook x1

How To Play Anachrony: Rules Summary

1. Setting up the Game
  1. Assemble the main game board and player boards, placing the appropriate tiles and tokens in their designated spaces.
  2. Distribute faction boards and miniatures to each player, as well as objective and project cards for gameplay.
  3. Place the resource cubes, water tokens, and other tokens within easy reach of all players.

2. Understanding Turns and Worker Placement
  1. Each round is divided into several phases: prepare phase, actions phase, resolution phase, and cleanup phase.
  2. During the action phase, players take turns placing their workers on action spaces, activating the corresponding actions.
  3. Workers must be placed on available non-blocked spaces and there are different types of worker placements, such as standard placements, double operator placements, and assistant ramps.
  4. During resolution phase, players collect resources, resolve actions, and make adjustments according to gameplay effects.
  5. Cleanup phase involves returning workers, resetting certain game elements, and preparation for the next round.

3. Navigating the Tech Tree
  1. Utilize research action spaces to acquire technologies, referred to as advancements, which can offer unique advantages, resources, and abilities.
  2. When researching, players choose from available technology cards, considering short-term and long-term benefits for their faction.
  3. Advancements are organized into different tiers, and higher tier advancements require unlocking lower-tier requirements.
  4. Keep track of unlocked advancements and their effects, as they can shape strategies and future actions.

4. Obtaining Victories and Scoring Points
  1. Throughout the game, players aim to achieve several objectives, complete projects, gain resources, meet certain game conditions, and more.
  2. Objectives and projects often require specific resources, technologies, worker abilities, or fulfilling certain game events.
  3. Successfully completing objectives and projects earns victory points, which determine the winner at the end of the game.
  4. Keep track of victory point markers and evaluate progress periodically to strategize for scoring opportunities.

Remember to consult the detailed rulebook for complete rules and clarifications. With these foundational rules, you can start exploring and immersing yourself in the compelling gameplay of Anachrony!

Best Anachrony Strategies

Mastering Resource Management

Resource management is a key aspect of achieving victory in Anachrony. Effectively managing your resources can give you a significant advantage over your opponents. Here are some proven strategies to help you make the most of your resources:

1. Optimize Production

  1. Invest in buildings and technologies that improve resource production.
  2. Prioritize activating worker actions that generate resources.
  3. Use exosuit workers strategically to maximize resource collection.

2. Balance Consumption and Storage

  1. Avoid stockpiling excess resources that can potentially be wasted.
  2. Monitor resource consumption rates to ensure you don’t deplete vital supplies.
  3. Consider building storage facilities to handle surges in production or to stave off resource shortages.

3. Secure Imports and Exports

  1. Assess the value of imported resources and strategically acquire them when necessary.
  2. Exploit trade routes and negotiate favorable deals to boost your resource acquisition.
  3. Consider exporting surplus resources for additional income or trade options.

By mastering resource management, you can establish a solid foundation for your faction’s growth and success in Anachrony. Utilize these strategies to efficiently gather, store, and utilize resources, ultimately giving yourself an edge in this post-apocalyptic world.

Mastering Worker Placement Strategies

Worker placement is a crucial mechanic in Anachrony that requires careful planning and strategic decision-making. To maximize your chances of victory, consider the following worker placement strategies:

1. Priority Placement

  1. Identify key actions that grant you a significant advantage and strive to secure those spaces early.
  2. Keep an eye on other players’ strategies and block their access to critical actions.
  3. Plan ahead and anticipate the actions your opponents might prioritize, ensuring you secure the most valuable spaces before they do.

2. Cascade Assignments

  1. Create a chain of actions by strategically assigning workers to unlock a sequence of desired effects.
  2. Look for opportunities to activate multiple actions in a single turn through clever placement and worker movement.
  3. Plan your worker placement sequence carefully to optimize the flow of actions and gain multiple benefits from a single worker placement.

3. Flexibility and Adaptability

  1. Remain adaptable and have backup plans in case desired actions are already occupied or blocked by opponents.
  2. Take advantage of flexible worker placement spaces that allow multiple workers or offer a choice of actions.
  3. Be prepared to change your strategy during the game based on the evolving board state and actions of other players.

Mastering worker placement strategies will give you a competitive edge in Anachrony. By understanding the importance of priority, cascading actions, and adaptability, you can optimize your worker placement decisions and pave your way to success in this post-apocalyptic world.

Optimizing the Tech Tree

The Tech Tree in Anachrony offers powerful upgrades and advancements that can greatly benefit your faction’s progress. To optimize your position on the Tech Tree and gain a competitive edge, consider implementing the following strategies:

1. Strategic Research Path

  1. Identify key technologies that align with your overall game plan and focus on unlocking those first.
  2. Prioritize technologies that enhance your resource production, worker efficiency, or provide unique bonuses.
  3. Engage in research based on future needs while keeping a balance between short-term benefits and long-term goals.

2. Unlocking Higher Tiers

  1. Plan your research to unlock higher tiers of technologies, as they often offer more significant advantages.
  2. Seize opportunities to fulfill tier achievements to gain access to more advanced technologies.
  3. Consider starting with less cost-efficient technologies to gain a foothold and expedite your progress towards higher-tier advancements.

3. Synergy and Advancement Combos

  1. Explore technology combinations that synergize well together to enhance specific strategies or actions.
  2. Look for opportunities to combine new technologies with existing ones in order to amplify their effects.
  3. Strategically utilize advancements that offer immediate benefits as well as those that lay the groundwork for future advantages.

By carefully navigating the Tech Tree with strategic research choices, unlocking higher tiers, and capitalizing on advancement synergies, you can optimize your faction’s progress and greatly increase your chances of victory in Anachrony.

Utilizing Time Travel Tactics

Time travel is a unique element in Anachrony that can grant you significant advantages when utilized effectively. To harness the power of time manipulation and secure your path to victory, consider implementing the following time travel tactics:

1. Managing Exosuit Placement

  1. Strategically position your exosuit workers across different turns to optimize their actions and resource collection.
  2. Anticipate future resource needs and borrow resources from the future using well-timed exosuit placements.
  3. Keep track of your exosuit deployment limits and ensure you have sufficient resources to recall them when needed.

2. Mitigating Negative Temporal Effects

  1. Consider the potential negative temporal effects of game events and plan your actions accordingly.
  2. Utilize technologies or faction abilities that offset or neutralize negative effects to maintain your momentum.
  3. Calculate the risks and benefits of certain actions based on the temporal effects they may cause.

3. Exploiting Positive Temporal Effects

  1. Identify game events and abilities that offer positive temporal effects, such as bonus actions or resource production.
  2. Cleverly time your actions to coincide with positive temporal effects for maximum benefit.
  3. Efficiently use your limited exosuit slots to take advantage of positive temporal effects before they expire.

By mastering time travel tactics and strategically managing your exosuit workers, you can bend the rules of time to your advantage and pave the way to victory in Anachrony.

Mastering Faction-Specific Strategies

Each faction in Anachrony possesses unique abilities and advantages that can greatly influence your path to victory. To maximize your faction’s potential, consider implementing the following faction-specific strategies:

1. Exploiting Faction Abilities

  1. Understand the specific abilities of your faction and leverage them to gain an early advantage.
  2. Adjust your gameplay strategy to align with your faction’s strengths and capitalize on their unique abilities.
  3. Look for opportunities to utilize your faction abilities to mitigate weaknesses or counter opponents’ strategies.

2. Adapting to Faction Weaknesses

  1. Identify and understand the weaknesses of your faction, such as limited actions or resource scarcity.
  2. Develop strategies that can compensate for these weaknesses and allow you to thrive despite them.
  3. Collaborate with other players to offset weaknesses through trade or cooperative efforts.

3. Innovative Faction-Specific Tactics

  1. Experiment with unconventional strategies that align with your faction’s unique abilities.
  2. Think outside the box and utilize your faction’s special tactics to surprise opponents and gain unexpected advantages.
  3. Collaborate with your faction’s specialists to perform complex actions and unlock powerful card effects.

By comprehending and effectively utilizing your faction’s abilities, adapting to weaknesses, and forging innovative strategies, you can tip the scales of victory in your favor and solidify your position as a formidable competitor in the world of Anachrony.

Conclusion: Forge Your Path to Victory

Congratulations on reaching the end of this comprehensive Anachrony strategy guide! Armed with the knowledge and insights shared within these pages, you are now equipped to embark on an epic journey through time and secure your place as a master strategist in this post-apocalyptic world.

By mastering resource management, worker placement, tech tree optimization, and faction-specific strategies, you have uncovered the keys to maximizing your chances of victory. Balancing your resources, placing workers strategically, unlocking powerful advancements, and leveraging your faction’s unique abilities will pave your way to success.

Remember, Anachrony is a game of foresight, adaptability, and calculated risks. Adjust your strategies based on ever-evolving circumstances, think several steps ahead, and harness the power of time travel to your advantage.

Through clever decision-making and a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics, you have the potential to emerge as a formidable contender and claim glory in the face of adversity.

So gather your resources, position your workers, research technologies, and outwit your rivals. Seize the opportunity to mold the future and triumph in Anachrony.

Good luck, strategist. The fate of humankind rests in your hands!

Want to know what we think of Anachrony? Read our detailed review of Anachrony here

Jamie in his proper element: With all of his board games
Jamie Hopkins

With years of dice-rolling, card-flipping, and strategic planning under my belt, I've transformed my passion into expertise. I thrive on dissecting the mechanics and social dynamics of board games, sharing insights from countless game nights with friends. I dive deep into gameplay mechanics, while emphasizing the social joys of gaming. While I appreciate themes and visuals, it's the strategy and camaraderie that truly capture my heart.