Inventing the Future

(see it in action)

In a future world of high tech two dice in each of 5 colors represent

1. Research
2. Test
3. Production
4. Funding
5. Time

The start player rolls one of each color plus one of their choice.

Of these they draft one for themselves and pass the rest to the next player.

Each drafted die corresponds to a particular location on the player's personal grid.

Each location grants a different advantage, such as

• more teams
• improved funding
• the ability to make advances on a particular invention
• specialists who give rule-breaking abilities

Each of these advantages occurs during a different phase.

The clever bit is that as in Puerto Rico, the phases themselves are not set, but actually determined by the players. Each phase type is determined via the exact same process as the above. This means that players only discover as they go along the types of phases that will resolve on the current turn, and whether they will occur at all. You must manage the risk of not knowing in advance what will happen and what will not, but you have some chance to influence the outcome.

What Players Say

• "Enjoyable game, clever mechanisms, different possible strategic approaches." --Toni on BGG
• "Dice drafting with some nastiness as to worker payment timing ... This is a race game in which players are racing to move up the discovery tracks more so than their opponents. ... Definitely want to explore this one more with a higher player count." --Larry Rice on BGG
• "a very clever design" --Anonymous on BGG
• A pretty enjoyable game .... The fact that the deck of how the advances progress, etc. is enough to ensure that you're never going to be facing the same game coming out. Being able to control them coming out is an important factor." -–calandale

Box includes

Player Items

• 4 mats
• 12 pawns in four colors
• 20 red winks

Cubes

• 55 team “ice” cubes (20 white, 20 blue, 15 red)
• 8 revenue “ice” cubes (green)
• 18 specialist 10mm wood cubes (in six colors)
• 10 dice (2 each in black, green, white, blue and red)

Other

• 18 development cards
• 20 green winks (each $1 billion)
• 8 yellow winks (each $5 billion)
• 1 First Player Token (avatar)
• 12-page rules booklet

News

• 2021 March 4th: revised and expanded the rules, adding 4 pages of examples and illustrations

Videos

• Introduction to Print and Play version
• Review of Print and Play version
• Playthrough part 1
• Playthrough part 2
• Playthrough part 3

Links

• Thanks to Jonathan Stephens for the magnificent cover art. See more of his great work at his website.
• Learn more at Up & Away Games
• Follow on Twitter.
• At BGG: Inventing the Future
• Questions? Contact us.

Published August 8, 2018.

What This Is

This is not a mass-produced game, but printed-on-demand . We have uploaded the artwork, rules and specifications, but The Game Crafter makes it only when you order it. Learn more.