Mechanics like quick time events, day and night cycles, and even stealth levels all have something in common — time. Time travel, in particular, is one of the most fascinating implementations of temporal mechanics in games, taking interactivity to new heights with the space-time continuum. Though popularized by sci-fi media, time travel is featured across many game genres, featuring a variety of chronological hijinks and strange time loops.
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Rewinding time is a common real-life fantasy, and games are the perfect medium to virtually explore time reversal until humanity figures out how to build time machines. While some games let you rewind time for puzzle-solving or combat sequences, others also dive into the past with the narrative by exploring character memories and past decisions.
10The Gardens Between
The Gardens Between is a magical, time-bending puzzle game that follows best friends Arina and Frendt. Using a treehouse as a boat, the two friends have set out on a heartfelt, bittersweet journey to reach the peak of multiple small, whimsical islands.
Childhood memories are a big part of the narrative as each island is decorated with items from the past, such as couches, TVs, paintbrushes, and more. While you don’t control the duo’s movements, you do control temporal flow by stopping and rewinding time to solve clever environmental puzzles. This beautiful, short experience is perfect for acozy morning on the couchor a relaxing afternoon.
9Invisible, Inc.
Invisible Inc is a stealth turn-based strategy game about staying hidden in the shadows while you and your spy agents work to take down an evil, all-too-powerful corporate entity. You’ll sabotage security cameras, computers, and drones all while dealing with rising alarm levels and enemies.
Embracing roguelike elements, the game quickly acclimates you to randomly generated levels and persistent failure. Failing doesn’t have to mean it’s game over, though; just go back in time. If you poorly use your action points and become surrounded by guards, you can use the rewind button to reset your turn and try again.
8It Takes Two
It Takes Twobegins just as a marriage nears an end. This fantastical, funnycouch co-op adventureplaces you and a friend in the shoes of Cody and May, a couple who magically transform into dolls after telling their daughter they’ve decided to divorce. Patience, communication, and timing are put to the test in each level.
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Meet talking squirrels, ride an ethereal catfish, glide away from danger with a makeshift underpants plane, and play fun minigames like whack-a-Cody (inspired by whack-a-mole). When you reach the Gates of Time section, you’ll discover time-based environmental puzzles that require Cody to reverse time and move it forward to let May reach platforms, doors, and buttons across the level.
7Re:Call
Re:Call is a murder mystery indie title where changing the past is the only way to remove obstacles, discover hidden codes, and prevent a villain from achieving his world-ending plan. An electronic-rock soundtrack paired with larger-than-life characters initially gives the impression that you’re in for a quirky, zany story — and you are, but it’s also about friendship and healing.
You play as Bruno Gallagher who has the ability to dive into memories to change the present moment. Rewinding the past gives you a variety of choices like whether you found a rock or gun, waited until afternoon or night, and attended a party alone or with a friend — all decisions that have instant consequences in the present. you’re able to also rewind by failing a level, letting you restart and retain the information you learned from your previous run.
6Timelie
Embark on an adventure with a little girl and her cat in Timelie, a stealth puzzle adventure game set in a surreal, colorful world where time is malleable and enemy robots are after you. The gameplay consists of distracting, avoiding, and escaping those robots by altering time as if you were pressing the rewind or fast-forward button on a video player.
You have the ability to rewind time by dragging the timeline left, undoing your mistakes, or let time move forward to see how your future plays out. This allows you to even rewind time all the way to the beginning of the level, so you can play out your carefully planned strategy.
5Iron Danger
Time manipulation mechanics, turn-based combat, and real-time action collide together to form thesteampunkRPG Iron Danger. You play as the protagonist Kipuna and the game begins with the destruction of her village, an invasion that ultimately results in her gaining the ability to rewind time. You’ll travel with a companion throughout the story, facing combat together.
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All of your actions are stored on a timeline, divided by beats, and you’ll select attacks and spells for each character to carry out along the time sequence. You’ll end up dying often, but not to worry; you can simply rewind the timeline (as many times as you like) to plan out a better outcome for your characters.
4TimeShift
While the rules of time travel boil down to magic in many games, TimeShift is a first-person shooter that returns to the science-fiction roots of time manipulation. Diving intoan alternate dystopian timeline, you play as a nameless man1 who has access to a suit that allows him to slow down, rewind, or stop time completely.
Though reversing time does drain your suit’s power, it’s extremely helpful when you need to undo a grenade sticking on you, clear debris blocking your path, and reverse explosions. Stopping time is also fun as it allows you to steal enemy weapons and, similar to your rewind ability, slowing down time can be helpful when you run into environmental obstacles.
3Last Day Of June
Last Day of June is astory-drivenpuzzle adventure game about love, loss, and memory. Its beautiful art style evokes the feeling that you’re watching stop-motion animation and vibrant color schemes enhance dreamy, whimsical scenes as well as dark and emotional moments.
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Rewinding time is essential to the story. You play as Carl, a spouse grieving the sudden death of his wife June, and you embark on a quest to change the past and save your loved one. You’ll magically travel back in time through June’s paintings, solving emotional puzzles inside those memories in an attempt to change her last day.
2Dishonored 2
The Dishonored series is made up of popular action-adventure titles with engaging combat systems, blending weapon-based combat with supernatural abilities. Time travel also makes an appearance inDishonored 2with an object called the Timepiece.
The Timepiece allows you to travel three years into the past and then back into the present, and it also features a lens that lets you look into the timeline that you’re not currently in. You’ll use it to sneak around Aramis Stilton’s manor, searching for secrets, evading enemies, and finding creative ways to get through obstacles.
1The Sexy Brutale
The Sexy Brutale is an intriguing murder mystery that features a Groundhog Daytime loop. The story takes place in a chaotic casino mansion where guests relive a masquerade party and their subsequent deaths over and over. You play as Lafcadio Boone, a priest who is given a supernatural pocket watch that gives him the ability to rewind time and remember everything that happened during the loop. You’ll witness plenty of murders, but stopping them is not as simple as intervening.
Disrupting time allows you to go back and search for ways to sabotage murder plots. You’ll have to keep track of the routines of both victims and enemies to discover the best solution to stop the murder before it can take place. Each time you save a life, you’ll gain new powers to help you along your journey.
