How to play the Dragon Ball anime timeline game

Every card is a piece of Dragon Ball on screen: the TV series, the theatrical films, the TV specials and OVAs, plus one live-action detour. Under each title you'll see what kind of release it is and a few words on its story. You're sorting them by the year each premiered in Japan, starting from a single card already on the line with its year in view. Pick a gap for each new card. Guess right and the year shows; guess wrong and it moves to its real place, leaving you with one fewer of your three lives, though ten correct calls in a row earn a lost one back.

The franchise's busiest stretch came early, when new films arrived alongside the long-running shows, often more than one in the same year, so the movie cards pile up tight. Then things go quiet for a long while before a revival brings new series, new films and anniversary projects. The story line under each title is the best clue: think about which villain or saga the TV show had reached at the time. Remasters and retellings are the trap, since they revisit old stories well after the fact.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 28 of the 35 cards you might be dealt, with 7 more in the deck. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Dragon Ball TV series, young Goku hunts the Dragon Balls
Dragon Ball Z TV series, Goku learns he is a Saiyan
Dragon Ball GT TV series, the Black Star Dragon Balls
Dragon Ball Z Kai TV series, a remastered cut closer to the manga
Super Dragon Ball Heroes Web series promoting the arcade card game
Dragon Ball Daima TV series, a shrunken Goku in the Demon Realm
Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies Film, King Gourmeth hoards the Dragon Balls
Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle Film, Goku and Krillin on a quest for Master Roshi
Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Film, Garlic Jr. kidnaps Gohan
Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest Film, Dr. Wheelo's bio-warriors
Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might Film, Turles plants a planet-draining tree
Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug Film, a rogue Namekian invades Earth
Dragon Ball Z: Clash of the Ten Billion Powerful Warriors Film, Metal Cooler and the Big Gete Star
Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13 Film, Dr. Gero's computer builds three androids
Dragon Ball Z: Broly, The Legendary Super Saiyan Film, Paragus lures the Saiyans to a fake planet
Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound Film, the Intergalactic Tournament
Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly Film, a Broly clone rises from bio-liquid
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn Film, Janemba throws Other World into chaos
Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon Film, Tapion and the monster Hirudegarn
Dragon Ball: The Path to Power Film, retelling how Goku meets Bulma
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' Film, Frieza revived with a golden form
Dragon Ball Super: Broly Film, Broly's Saiyan backstory retold
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Film, Gohan and Piccolo vs. the Red Ribbon Army
Dragon Ball Z: Bardock, The Father of Goku TV special, Goku's father defies Frieza
Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy TV special, Goku's descendant Goku Jr.
Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans OVA made to accompany a Famicom game
Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans OVA bundled with a PlayStation 3 game
Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock OVA, Bardock thrown back in time