Strategy Guide

Basic Strategy

The first time playing, it’s common for players to have moments when the next steps are unclear, or where the pros and cons of a decision seem arbitrary. I always advise people to play intuitively the first few times, let the strategy reveal itself as you play, and take the decisions lightly.
Still, for players who want some basic suggestions for how to optimally frame their journey through Fall Creek, consider the following ideas:

Starting cards:
You start with 3 forms at the beginning of the game. They can belong to one of four classes:

Pawn: get a Treasure
Knight: get a Form
Bishop: lift a Curse
Queen: get Luck

My general advice: Look for Pawns and Knights, especially Pawns. These add cards to your storage, while the others (Bishop, Queen) are situational. An early treasure can snowball into an advantage that lasts the whole game.

Land Cards:

Zone 1: the City

The city is home to shops and businesses that are filled with new Forms and Treasures. Each land carries a small amount of risk, but will always have some level of net positive.
Strategic tip: It’s common to lose extra points of Energy when traveling through the city, potentially leaving you unexpectedly stranded in a land with harsh resting penalties. Energy carries over from one day to the next, so it can be worth resting early and capitalizing on a land that rewards you for resting there.

Zone 2: the Forest

The forest has more ways to damage and curse you than the city does. Make sure you either have some Forms and Treasures in your storage before leaving the city, or a robust stock of luck and energy. The forest is still filled with Treasure and the potential for good Events, but presents more challenges than the City.

Strategic tip: Curses are more common in the Forest, but not always worth panicking over. Some curses can even help you out in the right context. Just be careful about curses that give more curses, because they can get out of control faster than you realize.

Zone 3: the Wilderness

Resources are scarce in the wilderness. Hopefully you’ve built up enough strength before entering. Some of the lands are tame while others can be catastrophic. Keep an eye on the resting effects of your land and do your best to plan for as comfortable a night as possible.

Strategic tip: Identify your bottlenecks - are you at danger from dying from taking damage? Are you missing a bishop and being overrun by Curses? Is the tree losing too many branches? Try to remain flexible and reassess your priorities depending on what the Wilderness throws your way.

Special Zone: the Secret

The secret is an epiphany found in the heart of the wilderness. Once you have it, losing it will lose you the game. If you can make it back home to the World Tree with the secret, you share the Secret with the tree. The tree amplifies it, sending ripples through the collective consciousness. You hope that the power of the Secret is enough to reshape the world, and that it will somehow stop us from draining the Tree so greedily.

Strategic tip: All secrets are very powerful, but some are more suited to either amplifying your engine or protecting your weak points. Their usefulness depends greatly on your situation.

Example 1 - Steam Mastery

In the wilderness, you learned the power of fusing Water with Fire - steam energy that can be redirected to suit nearly any purpose. A whole world of tools and machines can spring from this insight. With the right intentions, surely this power can lead us to salvation. With the secret of Steam firmly in your mind, you return home to the Tree to spread this vision to the far reaches of the world.

Steam Mastery lets all your Forms also count as Water and Fire. This has two main effects:

Defense - If you are scared of taking Damage and losing all your Forms, Steam Mastery is a solid pick. There are plentiful sources of Elemental Damage in Fall Creek, and being in Earth or Wind form while having Steam Mastery will provide near-immunity from a plethora or sources
Reactive Flexibility - Steam Mastery will always let you play Fire treasures for free. This will let you push through riskier lands, giving you the option to Interrupt even if you’re tapped out of Energy. It also lets you get more value out of Water Treasures, but I personally find the Fire payoff much more important at the post-secret stage of the game.

Example 2 - Self Reflection

In the wilderness, you learned the power of a mind that can behold itself. You are fascinated with the potential of this recursive loop, an infinite mirror that seemingly leads to enlightenment. You are eager to shout the secret from the rooftops, to make people wiser, more aware of consciousness itself. You return home to the Tree to spread this insight to the far reaches of the world, hoping that it can save us from ourselves.

Self Reflection gives you Luck every time you Transform. This has two main effects:

Flexibility - Luck is the most flexible asset in the game. It can be used to negate every single thing the game can throw your way. Getting an extra steady stream of luck can round you out, giving you a multipurpose tool that can cover your weak points.

Engine Building - Normally a storage full of Forms is less powerful than a storage full of Treasures. Forms are necessary for resisting damage, but give way less “bang” per point of Energy spent on them. Self Reflection changes the equation, letting you leverage a large stash of Forms into a multipurpose toolkit that justifies its energy cost with the extra Luck it generates.

Specific synergies - Minor but worth mentioning. The treasures Dahlia, Guardian Spirit and Absolution can transform you, making them a factor to consider if you are presented with Self Reflection as your secret.

An expanded guide to the full strategy of Twisting Timelines is coming soon!