I have a confession to make. I totally bought Back to the Future: Dice Through Time on a whim. My husband loves the movies (we all enjoy them), and I saw this game and bought it for my husband as a gift. I didn’t read any reviews or watch a play-through; I didn’t even read the description! It wasn’t until after we got it that I realized what a risk I was taking, but I’m glad I did because this has been a winner in our house.
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Dice Through Time is a cooperative game, sort of similar to Pandemic. You need to get to different locations on the board to complete different actions. And while there are numerous references to the movies, knowledge of the movies does not help you play the game.
Back to the Future Game Components
This Back to the Future game (I believe there are other games based on the movie franchise that we haven’t played) can be played by two to four players. Each player gets a sturdy player mat with reminders of play order, dice actions, and a spot to put two cards. Player mats, dice (4 per player), DeLorean movers, and Biff standees are color-coded, so you always know what pieces are yours and where they belong in time. The board did start to fall apart on us along one of its folds, so we had to reinforce it with packing tape. Since then, it’s held up well.
To set up the game, place each Biff standee on the “Biff starts here” spot on its own color. Each player chooses a color and places their color DeLorean on the clock tower of the matching color. The OUTATIME marker has its own start space. Cards and tokens are shuffled, and a number of item cards are placed facedown on their spots next to their years. How many is dependent on how difficult of a game you’d like, from 2-5.
I will say right now that this is a more complicated game. My kids, husband, and I loved it, but when we tried to play it with my in-laws, my father-in-law got confused and frustrated and did not enjoy it. So if your family loves a game like Pandemic, which can get a bit more complicated and has lots of strategy, then this game is great. If you’re looking for something easy and low-key, then this isn’t the one for you.
Playing Dice Through Time
On each turn, start by drawing and placing event cards. The more players you’re playing with, the more event cards you place. Then everyone rolls their dice. Players then each get a turn to act, and one player needs to complete their actions before the next can begin theirs.
What action(s) you can complete depends on what you roll. These actions include:
- moving to the same location in another year
- moving to a different location in the same year
- removing paradox tokens
- moving Biff from your current location to another location in the same year
- removing event cards.
Before any players act, you’ll want to, see what everyone has rolled and plan your actions for the whole turn. You want to make sure that you’re able to act in the correct order and that your actions won’t impede others’ actions. This takes some practice, but it does get easier.
Sharing Dice
You can also place one of your dice on the board at the location you are at. Another player can go to the same location but in a later year and use that die. Make sure you don’t meet your other selves, though. If two DeLoreans occupy the same space and time at once, move the OUTATIME marker two spaces.
To clear events from the board, your DeLorean needs to be at the location and time of that event. Each event card has one or more icons on it. You need to use the dice with matching icons to clear the event. When you clear a location of all events, clear off the paradox token. You also get to claim an item from that year. Add it onto your player mat so that you can return it to its proper location.
At the End of Your Turn of Dice Through Time
Next, see which of the years has the most locations with events on it. Move the OUTATIME marker one space for every location that has an event on it in that year. If there are any paradox tokens in that year, then the OUTATIME marker is advanced an additional space for every paradox token in that year.
The last step in each round is adding the paradox tokens. In the year that advanced the OUTATIME marker (the one with the most locations covered with events), place a paradox token on each location that has an event card. Then the First Player marker is passed to the next player, and a new round begins.
If the OUTATIME marker lands on the GAME OVER spot, then the game is over. There are only 12 spaces for the OUTATIME marker to travel, so if you’re not careful, that could happen quickly. You win when you return all the items to their correct location and year.
Back to the Future is a Harder Cooperative Game
The directions seem complicated, and they are, to be honest, but you get the hang of it. Between Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters, and Castle Panic, my family has a fair amount of experience with cooperative games that require a lot of strategy and planning. We enjoy this kind of game, but everyone needs to be in the mood for it. If feelings are extra sensitive, anyone feels under the weather, tired, or just not up to it, we choose an easier game. I think we’ve always played on the easiest level and have been challenged. If you’re finding other cooperative games to be too easy, Back to the Future: Dice Through Time is a sure win!