Quick Look: A Thief’s Fortune

April 24, 2019 by ludicryan

Ryan takes a Quick Look at one of his most anticipated games of 2018 - A Thief's Fortune from Artipia Games.

Having released at the end of 2018 A Thief's Fortune is a game for 1 - 4 players. And though it might take a few minutes to get around what you have to do in the game, the actions are actually quite simple.

After a sneaky thief finds more than they bargained for when out and about stealing they find themselves on the run from the authorities. For me, this has been one of the most compelling perspectives each player is put in around the tabletop. Everyone is playing as the same thief but in different timelines.

Each player is trying to present the most optimal (and lucrative) escape route for our thief in danger. And it's a simple detail like this which makes A Thief's Fortune stand out for me. It gives a compelling narrative and 'timey-wimey' reason why you and your friends are gathered around the board.

Players have to draft cards into their possible future timeline. these cards take the shape of locations, characters and events that the thief in their timeline will encounter. Following this, players will gain resources and put these cards one at a time into their present where they can then activate certain actions and influence the timeline of others.after putting enough cards into your present, the older ones will then filter into your past, scoring you those much-needed victory points.

Essentially the player is looking to load up their present with a veritable combo cornucopia where they can accumulate resources and victory points.

Though I'm in love with the premise and the timeline framework that is put around this timeline, I do have a couple of issues with the box. The box is actually twice the size it needs to be for the number of components that it contains and with space being a valuable resource in any board game collectors lives this might be a bit annoying.

There are also lots of cards but no box insert, so unless you have some elastic bands hanging around these cards will fly everywhere. These things are a pain but no major problem at all.

What are your favourite board games concerning time manipulation?

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