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K
2017 · 1-4 players · 45min · weight 2.19 · 4,280 ratings
port: no portdifficulty: Medium
BGGv4 widev4v4 deep5Sources2Rules cardCandidateDeep dive
Bayes
6.58
Users rated
4,280
Owned
7,117
Wishing
1,617
At a glance — v4 wide
Controlled-vocabulary primitives + 8-axis MDA aesthetic vector. Vocab v1.
Core loop (micro)
Place an hourglass worker on an action space, wait for the sand to run out, then retrieve and redeploy it in real time.
MDA aesthetic vector (0–3)
Sensation
2
Fantasy
1
Narrative
0
Challenge
2
Fellowship
3
Discovery
0
Expression
1
Submission
1
Mechanic-interaction primitives (4)
- [3]time_pressure_realtime— “plays for 4 rounds of 4 minutes”
- [3]action_blocking— “Any worker placed on an action space may not be used elsewhere before the sand within the hourglass runs out”
- [2]feeding_pressure— “buy groceries, clean plates and make sure enough money is made each round to cover wages, expenses”
- [2]worker_recall_phase— “These hourglasses are used to take orders from customers, prepare their dishes, serve them on time”
discovery_score: 0.769
Archetype fits — v4 deep
How well this game shape maps to mobile archetype templates. Composite is a weighted sum of the 10 fit dimensions.
| Archetype | Composite | LTF | Session | Combo | Arc | Share | 5in | Onboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coop Native Cooperative Game with forced_table_talk-adjacent real-time coordination and shared feeding_pressure — the loop is genuinely coop. Bluff_info_asymmetry is low (open hands) which keeps it below Hanabi/Crew, but arc_tightness and loss_tolerance fit the archetype well. | 5.40 | 7.0 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Balatro Real-time worker placement under feeding_pressure has zero combo_scaling_depth and no run-shape arc — losing a round is bookkeeping, not a roguelite restart. Solo density is fine but no joker-stack compounding exists. | 3.20 | 4.0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Cozy BGG Cooperative Game triggers Coop-or-Solo tier (no cap), but anti-cozy primitives time_pressure_realtime and feeding_pressure dominate the loop — score against tone, which is frantic, not unhurried. | 3.00 | 3.0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Snap Coop real-time shape is the inverse of async PvP; bluff_info_asymmetry is near-zero (open table) and there are no factional decks. The 16-min session also blows the 3-min match target. | 2.80 | 3.0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Wordle Real-time hourglass placement is multi-minute and stateful — not a 60-90s puzzle with a shareable emoji grid. No daily-seed shape; loss is per-shift, not per-puzzle. | 2.80 | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Sources (2)
Inputs to rules-card synthesis. Click any pill with ↗ to open the original source.
BGG comments0.75LLM memory0.10
BGG tags
Categories (1)
Real-time