*Spoilers*
Last night I played Lost in Time and Space for the first time and thought I’d give a quick review about how the game played out. I’m going to refrain from ranting about the countless typos and the map tile problem. This is basically an overview of how our game played out, the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ve also got a few suggestions of how you could possibly improve the scenario in certain places.

Overall the group enjoyed the scenario. We did have quite a comical and drunk group so this possibly contributed a great deal. Personally as the keeper I felt the scenario was ok but not great. However, I do think with a few changes here and there this could be turned into something fantastic.
First of all I didn’t tell the group that they would be able to travel in time till the point where they found the time machine. I think it’s the little things like this that can make the difference, that element of mystery that is quite often lost in most of the scenarios. The mysteries of time travel unfortunately stopped here. Basically all time travel is used for is solving very simple objectives. The past and the future are no more dangerous than the present which makes time travel kind of boring. This also isn’t helped by the keeper’s distinct lack of monsters in the game. Yes you can bring in a hound when people jump time but this is usually taken care of pretty snappish. One of the event cards has you bring in a monster based on the time period; as the investigators were in the present I had to bring in a cultist. A single cultist against 4 well armed investigators. This was a little embarrassing in all honesty.

So the investigators run round, pretty much unchecked for most of the game packing a shed load of weapons and items (due to their ability to explore without fear). Finally they reach the conclusion, the epic +20 Shoggoth and because of the second to last event card a 2nd normal Shoggoth and a hound. Now for a game that’s lacked monsters thus far they don’t half pack them in at the end. This was defiantly the highlight of the game.....and I actually lost. The reason for this was more to do with me sending everything at one of the investigators who had been annoying me all game. I simply wanted him dead above all things. Furthermore, a tommy gun and shotgun plus a bit of luck on the dice rolls will make Swiss cheese of anything. All in all an amusing ending to quite a dull game.

The few new features from FA are quite nice. The traps are quite fun as investigators try to remember where you placed them and decide who should explore the room. The alchemy puzzle is pretty cool though no one actually failed it so we didn’t get a chance to see any side effect cards.

Overall the game lacked a sense of danger from travelling to other time periods but I believe this is something that could be easily rectified with a little work. Take for example the following idea: When the investigators first discover the time machine place above the past card a Cthulian, 2 maniacs and a Byakhee, above the future time period place a shoggoth, 3 zombies and a crawling one, above the present place 3 cultists and a cult leader. Finally add the following rule, “when the investigators time travel they must wait 5 turns before they can travel again”. Obviously this is just an idea and hasn’t been tested. But the idea is to make the past and the future dangerous places to travel to. When the investigators do travel there it’s all about surviving for 5 rounds before getting the hell out.

As it stands don’t expect this scenario to rekindle your faith in MoM, but I reckon if you’re willing to tweak the rules a bit you can make something a lot more entertaining for both the keeper and investigators.

What does time travel do? Changes present monsters and allows keeper to cast hounds? Thats all?

Well the investigators receive a time machine which allows them to change the time period to either the past, the present or the future. When they change time period the keeper can use an ability to place a hound in a room with a lock card on that round. If there are monster on the board when the investigators switch time period the monsters are healed, removed from the board and placed above the time period. If the investigators go back to that time period the keeper has an ability to place those monsters back on the board. The lack of monsters in the game was the problem, time travel just meant dealing with a hound.

Time travel is used by the investigators to solve objectives which is a pretty nice touch. All lock cards are turned over by the keeper who reads out the text based on the time period. For example: in the future there is a slab on the ground which would take years to break through. If the investigators travel to the past and have the acid item they can pour it on the slab. Now in the future the slab has been dissolved. I actually really like the way this element works. I just wish there was a little more danger involved in the time travel aspect.

So, it's all only about locks'n'pbstacles?

On BGG, there has been a big discussion, see the Alchemy thread, Please FFG...

One of the problems mentioned with this scenario is the Sealed Lock, which means that a monster can be put there and the Investigators cannot do anything. Another problem was the end of Time travel, which meant

one was blocked from Time-dependent Locks in another time. Any comments, Kabovo, or anyone? How did it play for you, considering those points?

What? Placing a monster in a sealed room is a problem? How about a "do not place monsters inside sealed rooms" solution?

MyNeighbourTrololo said:

Keeper is a player just like the investigator players, not a DM/GM just reffing the story. Why should he have to play suboptimally (placing the monster where the investigators can get to it) if the scenario allows him to get an auto-win by keeping the monster investigators need to kill out of their reac? Blood Ties is already auto-winnable with one of the Objectives and in Elder Sign RAW putting all monsters on one Adventure is again perfectly legit, even if the designer says that was not the intent. As a play-to-win player, seems odd nobody noticed these loopholes during testing.

Dam said:

MyNeighbourTrololo said:

MoM is a story -driven game,but the Keeper is playing to win. Comepetent play-testing should reveal auto-win situations. Having another Lock than sealed door, or maybe dropping all Lockms after Clue 1, which is done in other scenarios in MoM, is a way mechanically to fix this. but I am wondering if anyone mehanically had a problem, or what the solution is, apart from being nice

Did you mean "Apart from being a decent human being"?

"Ok, it was a nice game party, but now I will intentionally place this monster here so you can't reach him and you automatically lose, because I'm too confident to place it somewhere you can reach him. Don't blame me, blame FFG, I can't houserule such a small mistake in a board game."

Dan said:

I'm not 100% but I think the reason why the scenario has a sealed door is to allow the keeper to have a permanent place where they can spawn hounds when the investigators time travel. From the setup we played we didn't have any issues with this card being in play. The final objective for the keeper was to kill the investigator with the time machine and the investigators objective was to kill the shoggoth. Running away with the monster and hiding him in a room would have achieved nothing as both the keeper and investigators would have lost the game.

From the setup I went for I don’t actually see how the game could have broke based on the time travel mechanics. As I’m not at home right now I can’t check the cards to be sure. There was a bit in the game where the investigators tried to get onto the roof but it was locked from the other side. So they went into the garden planted seeds in the past, jumped to the future and climbed the tree onto the roof. In an alternative setup this could possibly be causing issues but I can’t confirm.

Kabovo said:

BEing able to hide the Monster behind the Sealed Door means the Investigators cannot win, best they can hope for is "everyone loses". That the Investigators can be auto-denied a win, is a mistake in design. Maybe another type of Lock than Sealed Door. And how about the fact the end of Time travel means some LOcks are unopenable, any problems or resolution or suggestions with that?

Yes I see your point there. It is in the keeper’s hands to force a draw. Simply discarding the lock card when the objective is revealed would fix this. Forcing an “all lose” outcome wasn’t even something I had considered. You would have to be a pretty callous individual when after 3 hours of game play you go “Everyone loses, same time next week guys?”.

Some items will become unavailable if not found before the time machine breaks, but this is just equipment not story items so they don’t effect the progression of the game.

Kabovo said:

Discarding the Sealed Lock, or how about another type of Lock? I am trying to fix this before I play it for the first time, I appreciate input, thanks. If we discard the Loks, or have another kind than Sealed door, is that a good fix?

Seriously the issue with lock card isn't a problem unless you make it one. Yes you have the ability to place your creature in a room the investigators can’t get to and force an auto "everyone loses". But this is no different than the investigators running away until the timer runs out. Yes everyone loses but what's the point? The important issue with this scenario is that it's boring, I would advise one of the other scenarios until someone comes up with a healthy mod for lost in space and time. Like I say problems may exist with other routes and objectives but 1C, 2B, 3B, 4A, 5A worked out OK.