How to Play Anachrony: Exosuits, Workers & Time Travel

Anachrony is a worker-placement game built around a unusual resource: things you borrow from your own future. In the Essential Edition, each Era follows the same broad rhythm—prepare the board, deal with paradoxes, power Exosuits, warp assets into the present, take worker actions, then clean up.

How a round of Anachrony works

Each Era is divided into phases. The exact setup around the Timeline changes as the game advances, but the core sequence is consistent:

1. Preparation: refresh the building offers and reveal the next Superproject.
2. Paradox: players with unresolved Warp tiles may gain Paradox. Accumulating too much Paradox can create an Anomaly.
3. Power Up: decide how many Exosuits to power. Exosuits are required for most actions on the main board.
4. Warp: optionally request resources or workers from the future by placing Warp tiles on the current Timeline space.
5. Action Rounds: players alternate taking one action at a time until everyone passes.
6. Clean Up: retrieve workers and Exosuits, resolve end-of-Era effects and advance the Timeline.

Workers and Exosuits

Your workers can take actions on your personal Path board without an Exosuit. To use most capital spaces on the main board, however, a worker must be placed inside a powered Exosuit. This makes the Power Up phase an important commitment: powering too few suits can restrict your turn, while powering more than you actually use wastes resources.

Worker types are not interchangeable in every situation. Scientists, Engineers, Administrators and Geniuses receive different bonuses or satisfy different requirements. A strong turn therefore starts before placement: match the worker type to the action you expect to take.

The main actions

The central board gives access to the actions that drive most economies. You can generally use them to:

• Construct buildings that improve your engine and score points.
• Recruit new workers.
• Research for breakthroughs and Superproject requirements.
• Acquire resources needed for construction, powering Exosuits and other costs.
• Use late-game spaces that appear or change after the Impact.

Because action spaces are limited, timing matters. Taking a scarce capital action early can be more valuable than squeezing a small efficiency bonus from your personal board.

Warping resources from the future

During the Warp phase you may take an asset now—such as a resource or worker—and place the matching Warp tile on the current Timeline space. The asset is immediately useful, but it is not free. The tile represents an obligation that your future economy must eventually repay.

Later, when you gain access to time travel, you can move your Focus into the past and remove matching Warp tiles by paying back what you borrowed. Clearing Warp tiles reduces future Paradox pressure and usually advances your position on the Time Travel track.

For the detailed interaction between Warp tiles, Focus, Paradox and Anomalies, see Anachrony Time Travel, Warp & Paradox Rules.

Buildings and Superprojects

Buildings create your long-term engine. Some produce resources, improve worker actions, support time travel or convert one resource into another. Constructing early can give repeated value across several Eras, but building only for engine efficiency can leave you short on end-game points.

Superprojects are larger investments with stronger effects and victory points. They usually require specific research breakthroughs as well as resources, so they reward players who coordinate Research and Construct actions rather than treating them as separate plans.

What happens at the Impact?

The Impact changes the second half of the game. The capital becomes damaged, some action access becomes tighter and the Evacuation action becomes available. Your Path board shows the condition you must satisfy before you may Evacuate and the assets that can improve its value.

Evacuation can only be taken once per player, so timing is important. Evacuating as soon as possible may secure a better slot or lock in points, but delaying can let you improve the assets tied to your Path’s evacuation scoring.

How does Anachrony end?

After the final part of the Timeline is resolved, total the victory points from your development, completed projects and other printed scoring sources, apply penalties such as Anomalies, and include any end-game condition and Evacuation scoring that applies to your game.

Beginner rules mistakes to avoid

• Powering Exosuits without a plan. Decide which capital actions you want before paying for suits.
• Treating Warp assets as free income. Repeated borrowing increases your exposure to Paradox if you do not build a way to travel back and repay it.
• Ignoring worker specialties. The right worker on the right action can make a meaningful difference.
• Waiting too long to prepare for Impact. The board state changes sharply after the catastrophe.
• Building only for immediate resources. End-game points and Evacuation preparation matter as much as short-term production.

Where to go next

For the broader overview, player count and game profile, visit the Anachrony game guide. Once the rules are clear, continue with Anachrony Strategy for Exosuit planning, worker efficiency, time-travel tempo and Impact preparation.