Anachronism is a tabletop game

Tabletop game

Tabletop game is a general term used to refer to board games, card games, dice games, miniatures wargames, tile-based games and other games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface...

 with aspects of both miniatures and collectible card

Collectible card game

thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...

 genres. The basis of the game is war between various historical characters. The creators of the game, TriKing Games and The History Channel

The History Channel

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...

, have dubbed it "The Greatest Game in History". Anachronism won the 2005 Origins Award

Origins Award

The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...

 for Gamer’s Choice Best Collectible Card Game of the Year.

Description

The game is a contest of arms between two warrior

Warrior

A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...

s from numerous historical periods. Each game lasts a maximum of five rounds. The game is unusual for a card game in that it does not use shuffling as a randomization

Randomization

Randomization is the process of making something random; this means:* Generating a random permutation of a sequence .* Selecting a random sample of a population ....

 technique. Anachronism "decks" consist of five cards, and players do not draw cards or have a "hand" of cards. Despite the relatively small number of cards used in each game, card interactions and strategy can become surprisingly intricate, especially in the later rounds. Each player places his chosen warrior card on the playmat and his four support cards, face down, in slots corresponding to the first four rounds. The support cards may be any combination of inspiration, weapon, armor, or special cards. Each player flips his leftmost face-down support card at the beginning of each round. Initiative numbers on the support cards determine which player goes first in each round. The warrior cards may move and be turned (faced) as in a miniatures game. Support cards represent a variety of historical weapons, armor, items, deities, people, places or concepts such as the Norse

Nordic countries

The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

 sverd

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

 or Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese book Go Rin No Sho

The Book of Five Rings

is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645. There have been various translations made over the years, and it enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial artists: for instance, some business leaders find its...

. The game's name is derived from the ability to mix the various support cards such that the ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 Leonidas wearing a kimono

Kimono

The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

 may fight a Japanese ninja

Ninja

A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...

 who is wielding a gladius

Gladius

Gladius was the Latin word for sword, and is used to represent the primary sword of Ancient Roman soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early...

. Dice

Dice

A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...

 are used by both the attacker and defender to determine the outcome of battles.

Each warrior card has four stats: life, speed, experience, and damage:

• Life indicates the warrior's starting life total. Current cards have values ranging from 5 to 10.
• Speed shows how many actions the warrior can take each round. This is usually 3, but a few warriors have slightly more or less than this.
• Experience has subtle but far-reaching effects as an all purpose tie-breaking stat. It is the most variable of the statistics with current extremes ranging from 1 to 10.
• Damage shows how much damage the warrior deals with a basic attack. This is almost always 1. However, Aztec warriors usually have a base damage value of 0 and at least one warrior has a base damage value of 2.

Every warrior and weapon card has an attack grid showing what bonus or penalty is applied to attacks rolls to each possible space. Blank spaces on an attack grid indicate that the warrior or weapon can not attack that square. Attack grids are relative to the orientation of one's warrior, so skillful management of attack grids becomes very important to successful gameplay.

Elements

Every Inspiration and Warrior has an element reflecting the nature of the card.
Elements also identify card interaction. A popular example is Maui-Tiki-Tiki, who gains +1 to all attack rolls against fire warriors. Clearly, he is a water warrior.

• Fire "melts" Metal
• Metal "cuts" Wood
• Wood "penetrates" Earth
• Earth "absorbs" Water
• Water "puts out" Fire

• Fire cards, like Mercury, represent speed.
• Metal cards, like Horemheb the Restorer or Rokumonsenmon, represent strength.
• Wood cards, like Leonidas, represent longevity.
• Earth cards, like Zeus, represent experience.
• Water cards, like the Oracle of Delphi, represent intelligence.
• Wind cards, like Ninja, represent cunning.
• Aether cards, like Seti I, represent religious or spiritual cards.

Multi-player

Anachronisms standard rules are for two players, but official support and rules have been given for multi-player battles. Multi-player Anachronism is usually played with four players, either in teams or as a free-for-all. The standard four by four battlemat is used and additional starting rows are squeezed into the normally unused border rows. This means that each corner has an overlap of two starting rows, making it possible for two warriors to start adjacent to each other. Free-for-all style multi-player can also be played with only three participants.

This does not limit the number of participants to just four. Many players have created their own large mats, ranging from 5X5 to a giant 8 x12 mat. With this, it is possible to have six to even eight competitors playing.

Culture Shock

"Culture Shock" is an alternative method of play that restricts players to only use cards within their warrior's culture. For example, the Japanese Warrior, Ninja could never use the French weapon, Rapiere. As a result, players can still choose to play any one card, but the combinations are limited. Hence, Culture Shock is generally perceived as the best method of play to enable newer players or players with fewer cards to be able to compete against more experienced players with a larger selection of cards.

Sets

The initial game was released in three parts. The first part was a free demo consisting of the warriors Miyamoto Musashi, Beowulf, their support cards, and a playmat in the April 2005 issue of InQuest Gamer

InQuest Gamer

InQuest Gamer is a discontinued monthly magazine for game reviews and news that was published from 1995 to 2007. Originally, the magazine was named InQuest and focused solely on collectible card games ; InQuest, along with its competitor Scrye, were the two major CCG magazines...

. The second was a starter set

Starter pack

A starter pack is a sealed package of cards or figurines, designed to serve as the beginning of a collection, in collectible card games and collectible miniature wargames....

 featuring the warriors Spartacus & Achilles, their support cards, dice, and a playmat. The final portion was 16 warrior packs. Set 2 followed soon after, and TriKing attempted to release a new Set every 3–4 months.

Published Sets

For the published Sets, cards were available in four different avenues. Each Set contained a Starter Box, with ten cards representing two warriors and their respective support cards. Released with the Starter were 16 Warrior Packs, each containing five cards representing a warrior and their support cards. Players could then mail in UPC codes to get the last two "Mail-in" Warrior Packs. Finally, by playing in sanctioned tournaments, players received exclusive promotional cards. Each pack always had the same cards, so there was no rarity or randomness, outside of promotional cards.

This format lasted through Set 7, the final release published by TriKing Games. Due to financial concerns, TriKing went on a "hiatus" in early 2007, from which it has yet to return. The company continued sending tournament kits, but had let go of its design team after they turned in the card text for Set 9. TriKing had little to no presence during the important 2007 summer conventions; soon after, they stopped sending tournament kits, and their forums have been in disrepair since October.

Players' Committee

Since then, players and designers have attempted to keep the game alive. Anachronisms Lead Developer released the finished card text for the unpublished Set 8, sanctioning it for organized play. He is in the process of doing the same for Set 9. Players in "The Coliseum" (an alternate Anachronism forum) have worked together to create a full set of card images, to be used online or printed at home. These resources can be found at Dystemporalia or the Anachronism Cantina.

A handful of dedicated players, along with a couple of former design team members, have formed the Anachronism Players' Committee (PC). Also based out of "The Coliseum," the PC is working to finalize Set 9 text, continue an organized play system, and develop the first post-TriKing release—Set 10.

Releases

Set #	Release date	Cultures featured	Notes
Set 1	April 2005	Greek Ancient Greece Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the... , Japanese, Norse Norsemen Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people... , Roman Ancient Rome Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....	Demo pack instead of mail-ins
Set 2	June 2005	Briton British people The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants... , Chinese China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... , Egyptian Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh... , Mongol Mongols Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...	No promotional cards with this set
Set 3	September 2005	French France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... , Germanic, Native American Native Americans in the United States Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as... , Scottish Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...	-
Set 4	November 2005	Irish Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... , Māori, Persian, Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... n	-
Set 5	February 2006	Aztec Aztec The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the... , Japanese Japanese people The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries... , Saracen Saracen Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam... , Spanish Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	First Set to Have a Previous Culture revisited
Set 6	August 2006	Chinese China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... , Pirate Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator... , Romanian Romanians The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania.... , Turkish Ottoman Empire The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...	-
Set 7	November 2006	American Frontiersmen Frontier Thesis The Frontier Thesis, also referred to as the Turner Thesis, is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that the origin of the distinctive egalitarian, democratic, aggressive, and innovative features of the American character has been the American frontier experience... , Greek Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites... , Tribes of Israel, Trojan Troy Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...	Last published release
Set 8	October 2007	African Kingdoms History of Africa The history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early... , Briton British people The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants... , Carthaginian Carthage Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC... , Roman Ancient Rome Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....	Released as card text
Set 9	February 2008	Italian History of Italy Italy, united in 1861, has significantly contributed to the political, cultural and social development of the entire Mediterranean region. Many cultures and civilizations have existed there since prehistoric times.... , Korean History of Korea The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began... , Norse Norsemen Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people... , Pirate Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...	Released as card text
Set 10	TBD 2008	East Indian India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... , Egyptian Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh... , Holy Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...  Roman Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State... , Tribes of Israel	Player-created, in development

Competitive Play

Anachronism featured a series of tournaments with high-profile prizes, such as a trip to one of various destinations in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. At the local level, Tournament Organizers and Mercenaries schedule and run tournaments of various sizes. The prizes for these events are often exclusive promotional cards. Each month, a new set of three promotional cards are sent to stores hosting sanctioned tournaments. Near the end of Anachronisms published run, TriKing began charging for these tournament kits. Since the advent of Set 8, all tournament kits are available online at Dystemporalia or the Anachronism Cantina.

There used to be a series of larger tournaments held over the late spring and summer months. Starting in 2006, TriKing began sanctioning Regional Qualifier tournaments. Open qualifier tournaments for U.S. Nationals and the World Championship were held at Origins

Origins International Game Expo

Origins Game Fair is one of North America's most prominent annual gaming conventions, second in size only to Gen Con. Origins takes place each year in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, in late June or early July....

, in Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. U.S. Nationals took place the next month in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

, at Gen Con

Gen Con

Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...

, which also had another open qualifier for Worlds.

The annual World Championship was held at Dragon Con

Dragon Con

Dragon*Con is a North America multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place once each year in Atlanta, Georgia...

 in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

. In September 2005, Mattieu Brochu won a new MINI Cooper as the grand prize of the first Anachronism World Championship. One year later, in September 2006, Garritt Pruim won a Toshiba

Toshiba

is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...

 laptop computer as the grand prize of the second Anachronism World Championship. In 2007, the World Championship was cancelled by TriKing, the day before the U.S. Nationals at GenCon.

Recently, the Players' Committee has attempted to revive Competitive Play, using online resources such at Apprentice

Apprentice (software)

Apprentice is a program that assists in playing Magic: The Gathering over the Internet and maintains a searchable database of Magic cards. It was developed by Dragonstar Studios from 1996-1999 and based on an earlier program from 1995 by Tan Thor Jen...

, LackeyCCG, and over AIM

AOL Instant Messenger

AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...

with an Online Playmat. The first tournament organized by the PC is offering the winner the choice of Set 10's final culture sweep.

External links

• The Official Anachronism site
• TriKingGames Forums -- The official group forums
• Dystemporalia -- A very handy Anachronism site
• Anachronism Yahoo Group
• Anachronism Cantina -- Site with Players' Committee updates
• Anachronism 101 Resource Site -- Fan site with scorecards, downloadable FAQ, Best Packs to Buy and more.
• Triking Portal Provider
• Brazilian Anachronism Forum
• French Anachronism Forum