Before we go any further, please note that this article — by its very nature — is going to be a bit spoilery. For some games, time loops are not detected to be past 20 minutes; others save it for a twist in the third act. So be warned, because you cannot go back and undo this article!
Let’s get stuck before going back to the beginning of this article and trying again!
Prototype time loop game. Of course it’s here. Majora’s mask pushes our boy Link into an eternally repeating three-day cycle until he figures out how to prevent the moon from falling to Earth. You’d think that stopping Ganon would be the highest stakes for a Zelda game, but no — this solo adventure is one of the darkest, most heartbreaking Zelda games.
Sexy Brutale is not as sexy as it sounds. It is beautiful, unusual and absolute juice with murders, and you’ll have to solve everything in (you guessed it) a time loop.
Observing and having a good understanding of time-sensitive patterns at each stage of the game is useful for progression. You must watch the characters through keyholes, slits in cupboards, and even figure out their patterns from non-obvious clues, in order to save each one from a grisly murder… and unlock the next one. Although it runs a bit out of control on the Switch, time loop fans must play it.
Many time-loop games are narrative-driven — figure out why you’re in a time-loop in the first place, fix things, repeat — but Loop Hero is also a mechanical loop. Each time you embark on a new expedition, your hero will appear on a short, freshly generated path that only takes a few minutes to complete. Your hero simply walks forward on a loop and automatically fights everything in his path, so it depends on your put things in his way that will make him stronger. You can make it easy for him if you want, but then the boss will kill him at the end of the expedition. However, if you make it too difficult, it will never make it that far.
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In Forgotten City, a full blown Skyrim mod, you (a modern person) teleport back to AD 65, to a small Roman town that is under some sort of curse. And since this is a video game, you have to fix it. If any person breaks the “Golden Rule”, everyone in the city it will immediately turn into a golden statue—a fact supported by the golden statues scattered about the homes and streets, and the warnings that somehow had time to carve before they were transformed. The inhabitants do not know what the “golden rule” is, so they live in fear, fence themselves off and try not to commit sins. And since it’s a time loop game — it’s your job to figure out A) what the curse is, B) how to stop breaking it, and C) how to fix everything. Go now.
Minit is a charming black-and-white game that takes place in 60-second chunks. The game plays with the concept of the time loop in interesting, new ways — like a character who can tell you vital information but speaks really slowly, taking up all of 60 seconds — but doesn’t linger long enough to overstay its welcome. 60 seconds might not sound like enough, but it’s actually one of Minito’s strongest suits; a rapid approach to progress based on trial and error. It’ll take you a few tries to discern what’s required for each new obstacle you encounter, but the beauty is that death barely feels like a punishment because at worst you’re only set back a minute.
A beautiful, dynamic narrative game, 13 Sentinels is about ten different genres combined into one video game. It’s sci-fi, it’s mech-fighting, it’s strategy, it’s a romantic visual novel… and there’s some time loops in there, because why not? Thank goodness for the extensive library of archived information and memorabilia about the game, because it can be difficult to follow – but this amazing collective story is well worth the effort.
UI Was A Teenage Exocolonist Your whole life is ahead of you. And behind you. Everything you learn on the newly colonized planet Vertumna will help you navigate current and future events, helping you make better decisions and a better world. We criticized the game for being too much Nice — not enough severe consequences, not enough danger — but its beauty is precisely the reason why we recommend it. Generosity of spirit in gameplay and story permeates every pore of Exocolonist. If this world captures your imagination, you’ll get incredible mileage out of it.
Kill! Conspiracies! A phone that can send messages to the past! All are good settings for a time loop game, and Steins;Gate has them all. This beloved visual novel, which received a major rework for the Switch, spawned an entire spin-off anime from its convoluted, decision-making, time-altering plot. It’s about a mad scientist who stumbles upon time machine technology, alerting a somewhat evil time-traveling corporation to his presence and abilities. It will take you around 25-40 hours to complete this, don’t forget!
