Card games
Timeline
ZygomaticFrédéric Henry2010
- players
- 2–8
- minutes
- 15
- years
- 8+
In the box
Timeline game
Box details
- Designer
- Frédéric Henry
- Publisher
- Zygomatic
- Mechanics
- Chronological OrderingTrivia
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Be the only player to have correctly placed all your cards in the shared timeline. On your turn, place one of your cards before, after or between two cards of the timeline, then turn it over: correctly placed, it stays; wrongly placed, it goes back in the box and you draw a new one. At the end of a round, a single player with no cards wins; if there are several, only they carry on until only one finishes.
Checked against the official rules · September 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
4 cards each, Picture side up, 1 date starts timeline
- Each card shows an event, invention or discovery on one side, and the same thing with its date on the back.
- Shuffle the cards picture side up, without ever looking at the dates.
- Everyone gets 4 cards, placed in front of them picture side up. Experienced players can take more.
- Turn the top card of the draw pile date side up: it is the starting point of the timeline.
How to play
Place in the timeline, Check the date, Mistake: draw again
- The youngest player starts, then play goes clockwise.
- On your turn, place one of your cards in the timeline: before, after, or between two cards already there.
- Then turn the card over to read its date.
- Correctly placed: it stays in the timeline, date showing.
- Wrongly placed: it goes back in the box, and you draw a new card to put in front of you.
- Two events from the same year go side by side, in either order.
Scoring
No points, Cards left
- There are no points: you count the cards left in front of each player.
- In Marquoir, everyone starts at 4 and takes off 1 for each correctly placed card; a mistake does not change the count.
End of the game
Only one with no cards, Checked at round's end
- At the end of each round, check whether anyone has run out of cards.
- One player with no cards: they win.
- Several players with no cards in the same round: only they carry on, drawing one card each, until only one finishes.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Does the round end as soon as a player places their last card?
No. The round is played to the end: the players after them still have a chance to finish too, which extends the game.
Can several Timeline boxes be mixed?
Yes. All editions play the same way and their cards can be combined in a single game.