Although I generally enjoy playing Derek Carver games, and I like the subject matter, this game has languished on the shelf almost unplayed.

Not that there is anything wrong with the game. It is a quite enjoyable Treasure Hunt style game set in the Dr Who universe, it's just that it seems to take ages to set the game up (Not as bad as Magic Realm, though).

The board depicts a stylised universe. Each of the 64 squares contains a planet system, (the centre 4 being Gallifrey) and each has to have an Alien counter and an Item counter put in it. In addition, Mission Tokens are shuffled, players take six each, the rest turned face-up. Each of these tokens is then removed from the game, along with its matching key part. Blank key parts are then added and these 60 tokens are then also added to the 60 squares on the board. And we haven't begun playing yet.

Play consists of doing any two of three actions:
Move - You can move up to two zones(squares) in any direction.
Search - Turn the Alien token over in the space youre in. If its blank, no Alien is present and you take the Kep Part and Item tokens. If it is an Alien, Combat ensues.
Combat - Players have strength 1 plus whatever extras from Items carried. Roll a d12 and score less than this total to Hit. Hitting removes the Alien and you get the Key Part and Item tokens. Fail and you are stunned, meaning you miss two turns.

Gradually, you obtain key parts. When you get all six correct Key Parts, you head back to Gallifrey and win.

Aliens are there to guard Key Parts and some of them have special powers.
Items are there to help you defeat the Aliens by modifying combat in some way.

SUMMARY:
As Treasure Hunt games go, it can be quite enjoyable racing the other players against time (pun intended) to be the first back to Gallifrey witha complete Key of Chronos. But for me, there is too much luck involved.

Review by Brian