In QUARTETnary, the geological time scale of the Earth is divided into 15 different time units that each consist of four cards that depict an important event from that time. The colours of the cards are in accordance with the official colour scheme set by the International Commission on Stratigraphy to ensure easy comparison with the International Geological Time Scale and geological maps.
Card features
How to play
QUARTETnary uses game mechanics similar to the classic educational game Quartets. Players ask other players for cards to complete sets of four cards, provided they already have a card from that set in their hand. If Player B has the card that Player A requested, they hand it over and Player A requests another card (from another player if desired). Otherwise, Player A draws a card from the draw deck and the next player requests a card.
In QUARTETnary the sets represent different geological time units in the history of the Earth. Each card shows an important event in that time unit, such as the formation of a mountain range or a new evolutionary milestone.
The time units in QUARTETnary are the 3 oldest geological eons (the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic) and the 12 geological time periods from the youngest eon (the Phanerozoic). This spans the entire history of the Earth: from the formation of the Earth 4.567 billion years ago to the appearance of modern humans!
The aim of the game is to collect as many sets as possible and obtain the most complete geological time scale!
You can download the full 'How to play' guide containing all the rules here.
The geological time scale
The geological time scale represents a timeline of the rock record of the Earth. It is used by Earth scientists, such as geologists, paleontologists, and geophysicists, to describe the timing of events in the history of the Earth, which spans over 4.5 billion years.
The geological time scale is divided into different units of time (so-called geochronological units), which all have different durations.
An eon is the longest time unit and can last from several hundreds of million years to two billion years. The geological time scale of the Earth is divided into four eons: the Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic, with the Hadean being the oldest eon and the Phanerozoic the youngest one that is still ongoing.
Eons are divided into eras: time units that typically last tens to hundreds of millions of years. In turn, eras are divided into periods, which last millions of years to tens of millions of years.
Even smaller time units are epochs (hundreds of thousands of years to tens of millions of years) and ages, which can last thousands of years to millions of years.
The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) presides over the definitions and exact timings of these time units comprising the geological time scale. These definitions sometimes change when new insights become available through scientific studies. Usually the start or end of a time unit is heralded by a significant event visible in the rock record, such as the disappearance of certain species from the fossil record (an extinction event) or the appearance of new species with new evolutionary traits.
The geological time units represented in QUARTETnary are the 3 oldest eons (the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic) and the 12 periods from the youngest eon (the Phanerozoic). This spans the entire history of the Earth.
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