Crazy Time
Crazy Time Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Principle of the Game
The players count the hours as they pass, while revealing the cards of their personal draw pile.
The goal of the game is to get rid of all your cards.
But Time has its Laws, and whoever forgets them will fall into a "Temporal Flaw"! They will then have to pick up cards that will delay their victory!
Components
110 cards, of which:
- 63 "Hours" cards
- 1 "Stop Time" card
- 21 "When?" cards
- 25 "What?" cards
Setup
Place the "Stop Time" card at an equal distance from all players.
The most punctual player shuffles the "hours" cards and deals them face down.
They deal the cards out evenly among the players:
- 15 cards each with 4 players,
- 12 cards each with 5 players,
- 10 cards each with 6 players,
- 9 cards each with 7 players.
The remaining cards are put back in the box until the next round.
Everyone stacks their cards face down in front of them to form their draw pile.
Course of the Game
The game proceeds clockwise.
The player who dealt plays first. They announce out loud "1 o'clock".
Then they reveal the top card of their draw pile and place it in front of that pile to form a second stack of cards: their discard pile.
When a player reveals a card, they must turn it over in the direction of the other players, so as not to see it before everyone else.
The second player announces "2 o'clock" and then reveals the top card of their draw pile in the same way. The third player announces "3 o'clock", and so on.
Each player announces an hour based on the last hour announced (one hour more, in general).
Once "12 o'clock" is reached, the count starts again at "1 o'clock", and so on. You will never say "13 o'clock", for example!
Each player announces an hour before revealing a card.
Laws of Time
During the first round you must respect two Laws of Time: the law "of the time machine" and the law "of synchronisation".
At the end of each round a new Law is added.
Law "of the Time Machine"
When a player reveals a "Time Machine" card
The counting is reversed: "3 o'clock", "2 o'clock", "1 o'clock", "12 o'clock", "11 o'clock", etc.
Careful! It is the direction of the counting that is reversed, not the direction of the turn order.
If a new "Time Machine" is revealed, the counting of the hours is reversed again.
Law "of Synchronisation"
When the hour shown on the card revealed by a player is exactly the same as the one they have just announced.
All players must slap the "Stop Time" card (with one hand, palm down). The last one to have slapped must "pick up".
Picking Up
When a player must "pick up", they collect the discard piles of all the players (including their own).
They keep 5 cards (or all of them if there are fewer) which they place under their draw pile. The rest is put back in the box until the end of the round.
If there were Laws of Time activated at that moment, their effects are cancelled.
It is their turn to play. They must announce "1 o'clock".
Overload Principle
If a card that has just been revealed should trigger several Laws of Time, then no effect applies: everything cancels out.
Temporal Flaw
If a player thinks that another player has not respected the rules of the game or the Laws of Time, they may shout "Temporal flaw!" while pointing at the player in question.
They then announce the rule or the name of the Law of Time that the other player did not respect, and that player must pick up.
Careful: if the accusing player was wrong, they are the one who picks up.
Special cases:
If a player makes a mistake and one or more players play after them, it is the last one to have played who picks up. They should have seen the mistake!
If several players make a mistake, it is the last one to have made a mistake who picks up.
Example: several players slap when they should not have.
"Tick", "Tock", "Tick", "Tock"
Sometimes a player is slow to play. Either because they do not know it is their turn, or because they hesitate about what they must say or do.
In that case, any player may say out loud, leaving one second between each word: "Tick", "Tock", "Tick", "Tock".
Then, if nobody has played, any player may shout "Temporal flaw!" at the player who, in their opinion, should have played.
End of a Round
A round ends when a player has no more cards in their draw pile at the end of their turn.
It can happen that a player reveals their last card but that afterwards, because of a "Temporal Flaw" for example, they have to pick up new cards; in that case the round continues.
You now know enough to play the first round: do it before going any further!
Choosing a New Law
After each round, a new Law of Time is added to those already in play.
The winner of the previous round starts by designating a player who must leave the room. That player will not hear the new law but will have to try to guess it afterwards.
Then they draw a "When?" card and a "What?" card.
The "When?" card indicates when this Law of Time will be activated.
The "What?" card indicates what must be done in that case.
If they do not like a card they may take another one.
They then give a name to this new Law of Time.
If possible, this name should evoke the content of this Law so that it is easier to remember.
All the players present must read this new Law of Time and make sure they have understood it properly.
The cards of the new Law are placed face down in front of the player who created it. They call back the player who left the room and simply tell them the name of the new Law of Time.
That player will of course have to respect it even though they do not know it: "ignorance of the Law is no excuse".
The Laws of Time added round after round remain valid for the whole game.
Careful! A player may leave the room only once during a game.
Guessing a Law of Time
A player who is trying to guess a Law of Time must wait for someone to pick up because of that Law before making a proposal.
They make a single proposal. If they are wrong they may make others later.
If they take too long to make their proposal, the others may say "Tick" "Tock"...
If they are right they remove 5 cards from their draw pile and put them back in the box.
If they have no more cards in front of them, they immediately win the round.
Do not look for complications: the Laws of Time are not very complex!
Following Rounds
The winner of the last round takes back all the "hours" cards (not forgetting the ones put back in the box) and deals them face down.
They deal the cards out evenly among the players and put the remaining cards back in the box, that is:
- 15 cards each with 4 players,
- 12 cards each with 5 players,
- 10 cards each with 6 players,
- 9 cards each with 7 players.
Before starting to play, each of the players who has won at least one round reveals a card. These cards cause no effect.
It is the winner of the last round who starts the new round.
End of the Game
The winner of the fourth and last round wins the game. They become the "GMT" (Grand Master of Time).