Not played yet: this article is based on announcements and the sources listed below. We'll review the games once they've been on our table.
Civilization games have a reputation: big, long, and sooner or later someone rolls tanks over your pyramids. Timespan wants to do it differently: friendly, streamlined, no war, and from the Stone Age to outer space in about 90 minutes.
The facts
- 1–5 players, about 90 minutes, ages 12+
- Designers: Kenneth Minde and Kristian Amundsen Østby
- Publisher: Alion Games
- English edition, €65 in retailer IPA’s shop; we didn’t find a German edition
How it plays
The game lasts five rounds. First comes exploration: drafting cards and discovery tiles from the current age. Then the action phase, which everyone plays at the same time.
Each civilization has its own timeline with room for four cards. When a new one comes in, the oldest slides into your “heritage” and keeps working from there. Workers activate cards, action spaces and your own wonders. Each player combines one of six civilizations with one of six technology boards, and there are 175 people, buildings, technologies and wonders.
At SPIEL Essen 2026
Timespan launches at the fair and can be played in Hall 3. The booth details don’t match: the publisher says 3-F110, retailer IPA says 3F120. Pre-orders can be picked up until Saturday at 5 pm.
Our take
We haven’t played it yet. We know Østby as a designer of Automania and Bad Company. Simultaneous turns are a big promise for families: less waiting, fewer “are you done yet?” moments. A civilization game that fits into a normal evening is something we’d love to try.
