Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

Innovation: Echoes of the Past is the first expansion for Innovation. This expansion adds a couple new mechanics and a bunch of new cards. The question is does it add more fun too?

Innovation Echoes of the Past Description:

If you have never tried Innovation (and I think you should) you can read my review of the base game here. This post will talk about the new things in Echoes of the Past.

You now have a foreshadow action. You place these cards at the bottom of your player reference face-down. When you meld you may also meld a card from your foreshadow area. The card you are forecasting must be of the same value or lower than the one you are melding. After you meld the forecast card, you may also take its dogma action for free.

Echo is the next new mechanic. Echoes take the place of icons on some of the cards. Echo effects are preformed when you take a dogma action. Echo effects are shared just like dogma effects. If your stack has three echo effects you must take them all starting with the echo effect closest to the bottom. Once all echo effects are complete you take the dogma effect for that stack.

Another new element is bonuses. Some cards have a bonus icon on them and add their bonus value to your score pile. If you have more than one bonus icon showing you take the highest valued bonus and add one more to it for each other icon showing.

There are a lot of new cards. This includes five new special achievements and 105 new innovations.

Set up is also a bit different. You have a mix of cards from the base set and Echoes of the Past. The exact mix is based upon the number of players. With the expansion you can now have up to five players.

The number of achievements needed to end the game has increased as well. Depending on the number of players, you’ll need 5-7 achievements to win.

Quick Review of Innovation Echoes of the Past:

Innovation Echoes of the Past adds some fun new inventions. The new set includes more unusual innovations like soap, pressure cookers, and social networking. You might be surprised when some of these innovations were created.

The bonus points can be big deal. Especially early on they help you get achievements quickly. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the expansion cards (they have blue backs). If you let your opponent get all the new cads and they have bonus points you will be behind early.

The echo effects are very similar to dogma effects and may hurt or help you. You need to pay attention to the splay of your cards and keep echo effects in mind when you need to share them.

With the expansion Innovation is still chaotic. You might even think it is more chaotic with the new elements. The new elements add more options and the innovations add to the replay value of the game.

If you have the base set and enjoy it, you will like Echoes of the Past. Try it out or pick It up. It is a fun addition to an already fun game. If you don’t own the base set you should give it a try, play it awhile and then try the expansion out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6