Components
- 40 Trick Shift cards
- 1 eight-space Time Loop
- 4 Travelers, one in each player color
- 1 Present Marker
- 8 recommended Time Loop event tiles
- Score tracking method
The Cards
Each card has one rank from 5–14 and two possible suits.
Suit pairs:
- Hearts ↔ Diamonds
- Clubs ↔ Spades
Rotate a card 180° to change its active suit. Its rank never changes.
Cards normally rank 14 high to 5 low .
The suit shown upright at the top of the card is its active suit. Only the active suit matters during play.
Setup
- Choose a dealer.
- Return all cards to their starting orientation and shuffle the 40-card deck.
- Deal 8 cards to each player. Set the remaining 8 cards aside face down for the round.
- Build the Time Loop using the recommended events: Hearts Trump, Shift Two, Diamonds Trump, Take the Lead, Clubs Trump, Shift Two, Spades Trump, Lowest Wins.
- Randomly place the Present Marker on one Time Loop space.
- Beginning with the player to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise, place each Traveler on the next four spaces clockwise from the Present Marker.
Playing a Round
Before every trick:
- The rearmost Traveler moves clockwise to any open Time Loop space before reaching the Present Marker.
- Resolve the event on that space.
- Move the Present Marker to the space the Traveler just left.
- Play the trick.
A Traveler must move and may pass other Travelers, but may not stop on another Traveler or pass the Present Marker.
All Time Loop events are mandatory.
Time Loop Events
Trump
The four Trump events are table-wide.
The indicated suit becomes trump for the upcoming trick only.
Players must still follow suit if able. Any trump card beats any non-trump card. If multiple trump cards are played, the highest trump wins.
Shift Two
This is a personal event. Only the player whose Traveler selected this event resolves it.
That player must rotate exactly 2 cards in their hand to their alternate suits.
If they have only 1 card remaining, they rotate that card instead.
Take the Lead
This is a personal event. Only the player whose Traveler selected this event resolves it.
That player must lead the upcoming trick.
Lowest Wins
This is a table-wide event.
There is no trump for the upcoming trick. Players still follow suit normally, but the lowest card of the led suit wins.
For that trick, 5 is strongest and 14 is weakest .
Playing a Trick
The leader plays one card. Continuing clockwise, each other player plays one card.
Players must follow the active suit led if able. If unable, they may play any card.
Normally, the highest card of the led suit wins. Off-suit cards cannot win unless they are trump.
Breaking the Loop
After the trick is resolved:
Winner: Discard the card you played.
You may also discard one additional card from your hand with the same active suit as your winning card . This additional discard is optional.
All other players: Rotate the card you played 180° and return it to your hand in its alternate suit.
The winner normally leads the next trick unless Take the Lead changes the leader.
Going Out
The round ends when a player has no cards remaining after winning and resolving a trick.
A player cannot go out by losing their final played card because that card shifts and returns to their hand.
Scoring
Only the player who goes out scores.
They score 1 point for every card remaining in all opponents' hands .
Example: If the other players have 2, 4, and 5 cards remaining, the winner scores 11 points.
End of Round
After scoring:
- Collect all 40 cards.
- Return them to their starting orientations.
- Rotate the dealer clockwise.
- Shuffle and deal a new round.
Do not reset the Time Loop.
Leave all Travelers, the Present Marker, and the Time Loop layout exactly where they ended the previous round.
The cards reset. The timeline does not.
End of Game
Play 4 rounds, so each player deals once.
After the fourth round, the player with the most points wins.
If tied, the tied player who won more rounds wins. If still tied, share the victory.
Alternate Time Loop
For the standard game, use the recommended eight Time Loop events listed in Setup.
For greater variability, players may replace one or more of the four non-Trump events with alternate Time Loop events.
The four Trump events always remain in the Time Loop.
Choose the eight events during setup and return all unused event tiles to the box. The selected Time Loop remains unchanged for the entire game.
Quick Reference
Before each trick: Rearmost Traveler moves → resolve event → move Present Marker → play trick.
Win: Discard your played card; optionally discard one additional card of the same active suit.
Lose: Rotate your played card 180° and return it to your hand.
Round end: First player with no cards scores 1 point per card remaining in opponents' hands.
Game end: After 4 rounds, highest score wins.