Timeline Canada & Braintopia: Card Games With Lessons

As some of you will know, our eldest child is not only awesome, but they also manage a games store. Games of the board, cards, and dice kind that is, not the electronic kind. Birthdays and other special occasions often result in a fabulous game gift, and subsequently, our game cupboard is overflowing.

This is a snapshot of two shelves and doesn’t include the games each of the kids has in their room, or the ones sitting on the dining room table.

Timeline has been a particular favorite of Evey’s. So when Asmodée asked if we would like to review the Timeline Canad Edition, and one of their newer games, Braintopia, it wasn’t difficult to say yes.

Timeline

If you’re not familiar with Timeline, you’re missing out. This terrific little game is beautiful in its simplicity and yet can be played over and over.It is also an excellent homeschool resource and we often use it as a starting point to find a new focus for our lessons.

The game consists of a set of cards, each of which has an illustration and event on one side. The opposite side is the same, except it also has the year the event happened.

Players are dealt a hand of cards with the “no-date” side face up, and you’re not allowed to look at the date side. The remaining cards become the draw pile. First,, you turn over the top card of the draw pile so the illustration event and date are visible and place it on the table.

The first player then places one of their cards to the left or the right of the first, depending on whether they think their card happened before or after the first. Once you have placed your card, you turn it over and find out if you were right.

If you’re incorrect, you put the card in the correct spot and draw another. If you are right, you leave the card where it is, but don’t draw another. The next player then takes their turn.

If your card doesn’t fit at one end, you move the cards over to create a gap and place your card between the existing events. As play progresses, you create a Timeline of cards.

First player to lay their last card correctly, wins. You can vary the length of the game by dealing different numbers of cards at the start.

Timeline Canada

Timeline Canada works in precisely the same way. The only difference is that the happenings on the cards are all Canada specific. There’s a wide range of events covering politics, inventions, pop culture, history, and more. This made it especially challenging.

We all enjoyed learning new things about Canada, even if Evey, having been born here, had a distinct advantage. I also had to hide it away in the cupboard to prevent the kids pulling the game out at every possible opportunity. In our home this is always the sign of a good game.

Timeline Canada can be played as a stand-alone game, or it can be incorporated into regular Timeline. However, Canada is, as we all know, the most fabulous place, and is celebrated as such in our home at every possible opportunity. Therefore Canada Timeline will be played as a distinctly and proudly standalone Canadian game.

What Does The RHP Family Think Of Timeline Canada

For new players, the rules are quick and easy to learn. You can be playing in moments. The cards are the same good quality as regular Timeline, and I can see them standing up to plenty of use.

I could answer anything that touched on subjects I learned about for my citizenship test, such as confederation, but trying to make an educated guess about the date of the first Juno Awards or the inauguration of the Capilano Suspension Bridge was trickier.

Game times vary

Braintopia

Along with Timeline Canada we received a copy of Braintopia, a compact card game that works for both short and longer playing times. Each card has a brain stretching challenge in one of the game categories. Players race to be the first to complete the challenge and win the card

To play Braintopia the cards are shuffled and set face down in a pile in your play space. One player flips the top card and puts it face-up on the table, where everyone can see it. As soon as one of the players think they have met the challenge on the card, they slap their hand down on top of it.

The player gives their answer and everyone takes a look to see if they are correct. If they are, they keep the card, if not they sit out the next round.

When a player has two cards of the same category they swap the cards for a brain piece. The first person to win four barin pieces, wins the game.

What Does The RHP Family Think Of Braintopia?

The rules are simple and well laid out in the instruction booklet. The only downside is that the booklet explains all of the different types of challenges and the symbols for each.This makes it feel complex and overwhelming when in reality, it is not.

There is a wide range of challenges which means everyone has a chance ot utilize their strengths, no matter what way they think or how they process information. 

We especially appreciated that you do not have to be a fluent reader, or indeed a reader at all, to play, while at the same time, remaining challenging enough for adults to enjoy. This made the game acessable to all members of the family.

Gabriel particularly enjoyed the “touch” cards. These are thicker than the regular cards and have a textured picture on one side. Players hold the card with the picture facing away from them, run their fingers over the picture, and try to guess which one it is.

On some occasions we tweaked the rules a little and just play “whoever gets X number of cards wins.”” Sometimes we just enjoy the challenges and don’t have winners at all.

And Finally

Timeline Canada and Braintopia are both excellent card games that are simple to learn and remain enjoyable after repeated games. We’ve been able to incorporate both into learning opportunities and both are also excellent options for road trips and other travel. I can see them becoming firm favorites in the RHP household.