FoxMind’s Deadlines Game Review by Guest Writer George Gensler, @chocophilenyc @FoxMind #NewYorkToyFair2023 #NYTF2023 @TheToyAssoc #toys #games #gifted

IF you are a history buff and you love trivia (or even just love history), FoxMind’s Deadlines is the game for you! It’s not just history of the world, though, so don’t stop reading! This game includes people from pop culture, literature, history, and more. The characters are all real historical people, no fictional characters. And there’s a macabre twist that I just love! Every character in the game is dead. And it’s your job to know/guess how and when.

What’s in the box?

FoxMind’s Deadlines is a trivia game that’s played with cards. These are beautifully-designed cards that have a vintage look to them. The name cards look like the dialogue cards from silent movies and are even black and white to further convey that impression. The color palate is a slate blue and a mossy green – more vintage appeal (and thematically appealing). There are three Tombstone cards (did I mention macabre?); 204 Character cards, and the instruction booklet.

How to play FoxMind’s Deadlines:

The set-up is easy – line up the Tombstone cards in your playing area and leave enough space for 12 cards to be played below them, like a game of solitaire, but with the cards separate, not layered. That’s it. The Tombstone cards are Date of Birth, Life Span, and Date of Death and should be placed in that order. The Character cards represent people throughout history from all walks of life, but each is objectively famous (or a celebrity, if you prefer). One side of the card has the Character’s name and the other side has their date of birth, life span (in years and months), and date of death. The name side of the card contains a fact that the person is famous for and the reverse contains the cause of death (I did mention macabre).

The Character cards are shuffled, then split into three piles of 68 cards. The three smaller decks are placed above the three Tombstone cards on the playing field. Be sure to place them name side up or you’ll be giving away the answers and have a very quick, easy, but uninspiring and not very thought-provoking game. The top card from each stack is then placed name side up below the Tombstone cards to start game.

Because this game is linked to death, the oldest player goes first, obviously, and play continues to the left, as usual for games, but if your family or group has a different way of tracking play, go whichever direction you like.

On your turn, you choose a name card from the decks above the Tombstone cards and, without looking at the reverse side of the deck, try to place the card so that the trail of cards below the Tombstone cards are in chronological order by the category of the Tombstone card. So, if you’re sure you know when Marilyn Monroe died, place it in the correct order under the Date of Death tombstone card in relation to the original card that you placed below the Tombstone card. If you know when Abraham Lincoln was born, place his card in the correct order under the Date of Birth Tombstone card. You know where I’m going with this, but I’ll say it anyway. If you know how old Prince was when he died, place his card in the correct chronological order under the Life Span card (from shortest to longest).

After you have chosen where your Character belongs in the timeline under the Tombstone card, you flip your Character card to find out if you’re correct. If you’re right, the game continues with the next player taking their turn. If you’ve got it wrong, you collect that Character card as a Penalty card and place it in front of you on the field.

There is a twist! All the best games have twists, right? At least, that’s what all the reality shows seem to think. So, the twist is that there are Special cards in the Character decks. These cards have a black background (the rest are gray). If a player chooses a Special card, they have to try to guess the cause of death of the Character. In order to answer correctly, at least one of the orange-colored words or phrases has to be said. If they get it right, they win a reward. They can either remove one of their penalty cards or choose a card from the remaining decks above the Tombstone cards and give it to another player as a penalty card. If they placed the card correctly but don’t get the cause of death right, the card just stays in the column. If they place the Character card in the wrong order in the column, the card becomes a Penalty card for the player– there is no additional penalty for getting the cause of death wrong.

How to Win FoxMind’s Deadlines:

The game continues until each Tombstone card has been retired. Each Tombstone card is retired when 12 cards have been correctly lined up below it. At that point, the Character cards are removed from the field of play and the Tombstone card is flipped over. The game ends when all three Tombstone cards have been flipped.  Whichever player has the least amount of Penalty cards in front of them wins. If there’s a tie, the tied players have to guess the life span of the Character above the Life Span deck. Whoever guesses closest wins.

FoxMind’s Deadlines is a fun, challenging game, which moves pretty quickly. If you play the standard version, it’ll take about 20 minutes to play. Your mileage may vary, though, if your players are prone to dithering. There are several variants listed on the instruction booklet, including shortening it by only playing to 8 cards for each Tombstone, and requiring cards to be played only under the Tombstone below the Character deck. Because of the subject matter and the Characters on the cards (not that they’re controversial, necessarily, but that they’re all dead and, therefore, historical), the game is recommended for players aged 12 and up with up to 10 players in the game. There is a solo version, too, so as few as one person could play, but it’s a lot more fun with several people playing.

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٭٭٭٭٭Highly recommended