Echoes of Time

Echoes of Time gave me a somewhat odd impression: it is an action-programming game and it reminded me a little of Ashes of the Singularity, with mechanics that are clearly interesting. At the same time, though, I felt that it is a little overengineered for what it is trying to do.

At its core, you program your actions and try to build something that works in your favour. The problem—or, for those who enjoy it, the attraction—is that you are not given the comfort of calmly building a serious engine and letting it pay off.

The interaction has plenty of take-that, so the other players can interfere with your plans and force you to adapt rather than follow a single tactic. Especially if you end up in a discard lock, the experience can go very badly: it is not exactly the kind of interference everyone will accept with a smile.

I would not call it uninteresting, because its mechanisms do have things to show and it is worth a look. Still, I think there are much better games in the same style; the newer Mistborn Deckbuilder is, for me, the obvious example.