From the Manufacturer Echoes of the Past is an expansion for Carl Chudyk's Innovation, released in 2010, that mirrors the construction of the earlier game as both include 110 cards, 105 cards that are divided into different decks (labeled age 1 to age 10) and five cards that show special achievements that can be claimed. The expansion's 110 cards are all new. In loose terms, Innovation is a Civilization-style game in which players first have access to low-powered cards in age 1, then build up to more powerful cards in later ages, stacking new acquisitions on old to build the strength of their holdings. Players meld cards, score points and take special actions (called "dogma actions") unique to their cards in play in order to claim achievements. The first player to claim 4-6 achievements, depending on the number of players, wins the game. Echoes of the Past changes game play from the base game in a number of ways. First, the number of cards in each age deck is determined by the number of players, instead of being constant. Second, to create the age decks, players shuffle together the cards from the base game and expansion for each age, then deal out the proper number of cards. Third, the maximum player count is increased to five. Fourth, and most interestingly, echoes of the past introduces new game mechanisms. With Foreshadow, a player can stash a card under his player board, then bring it into play (and use it) on a later turn when he melds a card that's from the same age or a higher one. With Echo, when a player takes the dogma action of a card in play, he can receive additional actions showing on that card and any other cards visible in the same stack.
C**N
An excellent if complicated expansion.
First things first, there is a retroactive rules errata that changes setup (and gameplay) pretty extensively. I've linked it at bottom, but felt like this should be easy to find.Echoes of the Past is thoroughly not a stand alone product, and so if you didn't like the base game you can probably stop here. I loved the base game but felt that Echoes improved on some things that i disliked about the base game. There are more tech-skipping options so falling behind on tech is less awful in my experience, and manipulating what cards you draw adds more strategy. My players and i have found that a lot of the Echoes cards are very potent but simultaneously slow the game down, very different from the base game where only a handful of cards like Rocketry and Anatomy successfully did that, and everything else either speeds the game up or isn't terribly useful. Games take longer for multiple reasons, but at the core of this is that we've found that players who fall behind have more options to catch up instead of getting ground into the dust.I'm a history guy and like seeing how people interpret and imagine history, and i felt like the base game had a fairly interesting narrative. Echoes is much more concerned with "stuff," with individual material products. Abstractions like "City States" and "The Pirate Code" are out, things like "Lightning Rod" and "Noodles" have become standbys of our play. It's a little harder for me to tease out a coherent "feel" for the different ages - Stethoscope(a 19th century invention) appears in age 6, just to use one example. The art remains beautiful, distinctive, and elegant, but the fact that Ice Cream is a terrifying attack card is a little jarring in terms of the feel of the game.If you like the game, get it, at the very least it keeps the game very fresh.[...]
A**R
Very workable expansion
This is an expansion for Innovation. We had been playing Innovation in my house very frequently for about four months before getting Echoes, and found that it added a lot of variety to the game, when we had gotten to the point when we knew most of the cards. With the expansion, less of the total number of cards are used in each game, so you don't know what's been dealt. The original game is complex, and probably not for casual gamers, and the new rules are similarly so, but it's very rewarding. Though it says it is for ages 14 and up, our 12 year old plays with us, and has learned the game well. It's educational value lies in logic, strategy, being able to switch strategy on a dime when the game suddenly changes, and the historical context. We're pretty well read, and had to pull out a dictionary for some of the new cards, and some of them weren't even in our dictionary and we had to look them up online to know what they meant. (Not to play the game, just out of curiosity, to know what the labels meant.) Very fun game.
D**H
It feels like you're playing against a person
Solid expansion, Echoes is a new mechanic that keeps it interesting. The base game is truly unique, and far from the solitaire streaks you'll see in Race for the Galaxy, Ascension, etc. It feels like you're playing against a person, not the board/tableau, and this keeps that feel alive.
D**.
Fun game
Some of the new cards are fun, adding to an already good game. I am still not sure about the echoes and how much they add to the fun, but it's a great game otherwise and the expansion is enjoyable.
M**N
Overall I love the expansion
This expansion creates almost s completely new game with the addition of the new cards. The directions are very clear, and this lives up to the initial expectations the base games set. Overall I love the expansion!
P**E
Four Stars
Cool expansion to an excellent creative game
G**N
Awesome Game
Adds in echoes and bonuses forecasting, which add in some more strategy while still being cool features. Personally, I prefer sticking to the drawing rules as listed in this rulebook rather than keeping separate files like in Figures.
J**N
Great addition to base game
This expansion to Innovation adds new rules and cards making a good game great! Cards have different colored backs and are seperated after each game and only some are included adding to replay value.
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3 weeks ago
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