Every film has
its moment.

Set the scene

Choose a deck, game mode and credit answer: one cast member, one director, or either. Either means one approved person from either list; you do not need both. Approved aliases count. Character names do not.

Give each player/team one revealed starter card. Put the remaining movie cards and token cards in the bank. A starter counts toward card totals and earns zero points. The usual card target is ten, including the starter; agree a different target or play until the deck runs out.

The scored year is the first regular public release worldwide, including cinema or streaming. An earlier festival premiere does not count unless the film only had festival screenings. Same-year cards may be placed in either order if the timeline remains chronological.

On your turn

1. Watch the selected excerpt. In Mixed mode, choose your difficulty before the next movie is drawn or loaded.
2. Choose a gap in your timeline. Give one title, one person and, in Expert, one exact year as required. Lock your attempt.
3. Opponents may commit challenges before the host closes them. Answers and placements cannot change after locking.
4. The host checks the answer privately, confirms the required answers, then reveals the result to everyone.
5. A qualifying player receives the movie card. With no qualifying player, discard it.

Choose your mode

Mixed rewards are configurable at setup. Only the movie-card winner receives the turn’s points or bonus cards, including a successful challenger. With no winner, bonus cards stay hidden for normal play. Bonuses are inserted chronologically and limited by the remaining pile. Skipping or replacing an unplayable movie keeps the selected difficulty.

Points mode starts at zero and uses points to decide victory. Other competitive modes use card totals. Tied leaders share the win when the pile runs out.

Use your token cards

• Skip · 1 token: the active player can replace the movie before locking an attempt.
• Challenge · 1 token: before reveal, stake a token on a different gap in the active player’s timeline. One challenge per opponent, with no two challenges in the same gap.
• Take · 3 tokens: between turns, reveal a fresh movie from the pile and add it to your timeline. No guessing, identification bonus or points. This is not the movie currently being played.

The active player keeps the card if all requirements are met. Otherwise the first qualifying committed challenger wins it and inserts it in their own timeline. Original challengers spend their stake even when successful. Successful Pro/Expert challengers retain it; unsuccessful challengers spend it. Mixed follows the chosen difficulty.

Cooperative

Use one shared timeline with one revealed starter and five shared lives. Discuss and place each movie together. Correct placement adds the card; incorrect placement discards it and costs a life. Reach the configured card target before losing the last life. There are no competitive challenges, skips, takes or identification bonuses. Named seats still count toward the room allowance.

Score cards

For printed Mixed Points games, award score cards from the bank. The back shows a bold value and “point” or “points”. Add their values to find each player’s total. Use 1, 2, 3 or custom denominations; these are separate from tokens. Return or reassign them if a result is corrected.

Playing digitally

The host signs in with Google, names the room and players, chooses a reviewed deck and shares room/device codes. Boards, controllers and a trailer display join as guests. One chosen board or separate display plays the trailer after a manual Play action. Other boards stay silent.

Players place and lock cards on their controllers. The host can assist disconnected players. Typed answers have matching suggestions; the host confirms correctness. In spoken mode, say the answers aloud before locking. During private judging, only the host sees canonical answers. Public reveal commits the result and celebration together.

The host may rejudge the last result before another game action. Already exposed bonus cards are reused or discarded, never returned to the hidden pile or drawn twice. Reconnecting resumes the same room; it does not start another paid game or extend room expiry.

If something goes wrong

Replay or switch to another reviewed source for the same movie first. Before locking, the host can technically discard an unplayable movie and draw a replacement without spending a token. After locking, retry the same movie or void the turn: return only its unsettled challenge stakes and draw a replacement at the same difficulty. Earlier intentional skips and takes stay spent. Technical discards use the fixed pile.

A provider may change after review. Report a spoiled or unavailable source; do not cover its interface or treat exposed answers as a fair identification challenge. References and optional movie history become available after reveal in digital games, according to the host’s audience settings. In printed play, open them in the card player.

Printed cast names are examples. The full accepted cast/director lists and aliases are available after digital reveal. Submit corrections when public submissions are enabled.