That Time You Killed Me Review

Travel through time to murder your friends. Also there's elephants in hats.

That Time You Killed Me is exclusively for 2 players and is marginally similar to chess, if chess had 3 boards representing different time periods and paradoxes and murder. The objective is simple, remove all pieces of the other player from 2 of the 3 boards. Each player has one piece on each board and on their turn they can do two actions. They can simply move a space or they can move through time. This involves jumping to the same space on the next board in order. If they move forward in time, simply put the piece there. If they move backwards, they'll put a piece on the board and then replace the piece that moved because it's in the future and they'll eventually be there. I don't know time travel is confusing. You can eliminate pieces by squishing them against the edges of the boards. When you've taken both actions, you move your focus token to another board signifying where you'll be taking your next move.

There are also 4 additional modules that increase the difficulty and add in new scenarios to the game. They add in additional concepts such as trees that block you or can be knocked over onto other players. Or elephants with hats that you train and they can smash other players. It's silly but fun.

The Good: This game does an excellent job of not taking itself too seriously but there's still so much strategy and planning involved. Knowing where the other player is going next can give you some insight into what they're planning but you need to be a step ahead as well to be in position to block it. Damage control is key here because if you lose even a single piece your back is against the wall so getting new pieces out is huge but it can also throw off your strategy. The extra modules add so much to the game and even gives it an almost campaign feel to it with the final one.

The Okay: Because you're bouncing across three boards each game, it can be somewhat of a challenge to keep focused on what you are planning to do. You'll probably hit a fair bit of AP here because it's so simple to make a mistake and lose your game for you. It's also worth noting that the game without any of the additional modules is just fine. You'll want to add the extra bits for maximum fun and silliness.

The Not So Good: The time travel theme is a difficult concept for me to grasp. I've never been great with understanding the jargon and there is a fair bit of it going on here. While some players may see the game as an intense strategic battle across time periods, I just see three boards and an objective. Luckily, the gameplay itself holds up to keep me engaged in the game.

Final Thoughts: That Time You Killed Me really is one of a kind. While it draws comparisons to chess, I found it much more engaging than chess. It's simple to learn and difficult to master which is a phrase that's way overused but also a huge selling point to a game. If you've been following along for a while you'll know I like weird and silly and this has it in spades. While the theme is hard for me to wrap my brain around, the game itself is excellent and one that I'll gladly pull out and play with anyone.

Thanks to Pandasaurus for providing a review copy.