How to Play

The LOOP

1-4 players 60-60 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

Players take on roles as temporal agents cooperating to stop Dr. Faux from wreaking havoc across seven eras of spacetime. Teams use Artifact cards and the signature LOOP mechanic to complete missions while managing vortexes and destroying clones. Victory requires finishing all missions before time runs out or chaos overwhelms the timeline.

Published 2020

The LOOP

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the Spacetime board
Put the board in the middle of the table, representing the 7 Great Eras of Spacetime
2
Assemble Dr. Faux's Machine
Build the 3D machine and wedge its base into the circular hole in the center of the board
3
Prepare Mission tiles
Shuffle the 10 Mission tiles, draw 7 random tiles, and slot 1 tile facedown into each of the 7 Eras without looking at them
4
Prepare Rift cubes
Place the 30 red Rift cubes in a pile next to the board
5
Prepare Energy cubes
Place the 30 green Energy cubes in a pile next to the board
6
Set up the HQ board
Place the HQ board away from the Spacetime board
7
Place Game Mode tile
Put the chosen Game Mode tile on the HQ board
8
Prepare Vortex tiles
Place the 3 Vortex tiles to the right of the HQ board with the standard Vortex side showing
9
Prepare the Faux deck
Shuffle the 7 Faux cards and place them facedown on the leftmost space of the Cycle track
10
Prepare the Artifact deck
Set aside the 30 Starting Artifact cards, shuffle the remaining 49 cards, and place facedown on the top left of the HQ board
11
Select Agents
Each player chooses an Agent and takes their tile, pawn, and 6 Starting Artifact cards with the matching icon
12
Position Agent tiles
Place your Agent tile in front of you with the Charged batteries icon faceup
13
Place Agent pawns
Put your pawn on the board in your Agent's Origin Era shown on the tile
14
Prepare Clone tokens
Place the 28 Dr. Faux Clone tokens in the bag
15
Place Player Aid
Put the Player Aid tile where everyone can see it
16
Determine starting Rifts and Energy
Reveal 2 Faux cards to select 2 random Eras; place 1 red Rift cube on the first Rift slot in each of these Eras and flip those Mission tiles faceup
17
Distribute starting Energy
Place 1 green Energy cube in each of the other 5 Eras (not on Rift slots)
18
Return Faux cards
Shuffle the 2 revealed Faux cards back into the deck
19
Draw starting Clones
Draw Clone tokens from the bag based on player count (1-2 players: 7, 3 players: 5, 4 players: 4) and place each in the Era shown on its back with Dr. Faux side faceup
20
Reveal starting Artifacts
Reveal Artifact cards based on player count (1-2 players: 2, 3 players: 3, 4 players: 4) and place each faceup under its Origin Era
21
Prepare starting hands
Each player shuffles their 6 Starting Artifact cards facedown as their draw pile, then reveals the top 3 cards faceup as their hand
22
Determine first player
Randomly choose who goes first

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Add Clones and reveal Artifacts
At the start of your turn, add new Clones and reveal new Artifacts as shown on the Cycle track
2
Reveal a Faux card
Flip one card from the Faux deck to determine which Era Dr. Faux travels to
3
Rotate the Machine
Point the middle chute of Dr. Faux's Machine toward the Era shown on the Faux card
4
Drop Rift cubes
Take 2 Rift cubes from supply plus 1 additional cube per Clone in Dr. Faux's Era and drop them into the top of the Machine
5
Place fallen Rifts
Once cubes land, place them in empty Rift slots at the bottom of the Eras they landed on
6
Trigger Vortex if needed
If an Era has no room for all Rifts that must be placed, that Era becomes a Vortex
7
Reveal new Mission
Whenever a Mission is completed or removed by Vortex, reveal a new Mission tile in Dr. Faux's Era or the next clockwise Era with an unrevealed tile
8
Place resolved Faux card
Put the revealed Faux card faceup in a row below the HQ board
9
Perform actions freely
Take any of the 3 available actions as many times as desired in any order until you choose to stop or lack resources
10
Move action
Spend 1 Energy cube in your current Era to move to one adjacent Era
11
Use an Artifact action
Exhaust any ready Artifact card in your hand to use its ability, turning it sideways
12
Do a LOOP action
Spend Energy from your Era to ready exhausted cards
13
Use free move
Once per turn, move to an adjacent Era without spending Energy, then flip your Agent tile to its empty batteries side
14
Destroy Clones
Move Clones using Artifact abilities; if a Clone enters the Paradox Era shown in its monocle, it is destroyed and returned to the bag
15
Make Mission progress
Each time you meet a revealed Mission's condition, place a cube on its progress slot
16
Take one Artifact
You may take one available Artifact card from your current Era and place it facedown on top of your draw pile
17
Optional acquisition
You may choose not to take any card, but never more than one
18
Complete available Mission
If there is a revealed Mission in your current Era with all required progress slots filled, you may complete it
19
Remove completed Mission
Place the completed Mission tile faceup to the left of the HQ board and return all cubes on it to the supply
20
Reveal new Mission
Reveal a new Mission tile in Dr. Faux's Era or the next clockwise Era with an unrevealed tile
21
Claim Attendance Reward
All players reveal cards from the Artifact deck equal to the number of players plus one
22
Recharge Agent tile
If you used a free move, flip your Agent tile back to its charged batteries side
23
Discard hand
Place all Artifacts in your hand into your discard pile
24
Draw cards
Every player with fewer than 3 Artifacts in hand draws until they have 3
25
Check for new Cycle
If no cards remain in the Faux deck, shuffle all 7 Faux cards and place them on the next Cycle track space
26
Pass turn
The next player clockwise begins their turn

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Victory condition
Complete 4 Missions to destroy Dr. Faux's Machine and immediately win the game
2
Defeat by double Vortex
The team loses immediately if forced to place a 2nd Vortex in any single Era
3
Defeat by Vortex overflow
The team loses immediately if forced to place a 4th Vortex anywhere on the board
4
Defeat by time limit
The team loses if they reach the end of the 3rd Cycle without completing 4 Missions

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FULL rules

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