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What are some really good games involving time travel?

• Thread starter ScOULaris
• Start date Mar 21, 2021

• Mar 21, 2021

Titanfall 2 has that one moment. It's pretty cool, yo. Edit - Now that you mention BTTF. The Back to the Future Episodic adventures were pretty good.  

One Winged Slayer

Time Splitters Future Perfect  

It's ancient at this point, (but you mentioned Chrono Trigger and it's older...) Shadow of Destiny/Memory on PS2 was fun.  

Radiant historia is pretty cool.  

Dark Cloud 2  

One Winged Slayer Corrupted by Vengeance

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time  

Dragon Quest V is the best jRPG ever, and has a little time travel here and there.  

Chrono Trigger is my favorite game featuring time travel as a story element, but Braid may be my favorite game that uses time travel as a puzzle-solving mechanic. It's pretty damn good.  

Shadow of Destiny on PS2 is what you are looking for.  

If you've never played a Warriors game, Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate is not only one of the best, but it also has one of my favorite time-travel stories. It's amazingly simplistic, the game starts at the end and the evil won. Of the 175 playable cast, all but 3 are dead. At the last moment, a spirit shows up and says she can help take the last warriors back in time to before their friends and family perished and get a restart. You get the expected stuff, like getting to see friends and family be reunited, but time travel becomes an interesting method of creating alternative missions as well.  

Corrupted by Vengeance

Radiant Historia is an extremely dope JRPG with a heavy focus on jumping between different timelines  

Braid was really cool.  

BioShock Infinite. Amazing opening three games, OP.  

zombiejames

Life is Strange  

decoyplatypus

Dragon Quest 7 is amazing, as you might expect given that it shares a creator with Chrono Trigger.  

unholyFarmer

Tales of Phantasia does it in an awesome way. Spoiler You go back in time the moment your friend is about to die, spend some time there, level and gear up, go back to the moment friend was about to die but party now is a beast and save friend, friend rejoins party but is low level now lol  

While I hesitate to call Quantum Break a really good game, the time travel story is very tightly written and is super satisfying (especially if you read all the collectables.) The Outer Wilds is more of a time loop game than a time travel game but the sci-fi explanation of the loop is great. It also helps that it was the best game of 2019.  

How was the first post not Quantum Break? One of the best written time travel stories in any media.  

I playeda lot of TMNT Turtles in Time on the SNES as a kid. As a joke also, Animal Crossing.  

Deleted member 28386

Only one stage but it's an incredible one.  

MiDoZ said: Braid was really cool. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

BadWolf said: Shadow of Destiny on PS2 is what you are looking for. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Having just finished my first play through of Oxenfree, Oxenfree.  

Development Director

I know people are gonna disagree, but I actually enjoyed Quantum Break quite a bit. It's definitely not even close to perfect, but I love Remedy's style and appreciate what they tried to do there.  

Etrian Darkness

sir_crocodile

Other than CT which is already in the OP, Ghost Trick, Radiant Historia & Day of the Tentacle would be my faves. The others are no slouches, but Ghost Trick also happens to be one of the greatest games ever made.  

Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask is the best time jumping game.  

Chicken Chaser

Not time travel per se (but also NOT not time travel per se), but will always second Outer Wilds.  

probably the only person on ERA to say this, but i liked the use of time travel in Blinx the Cat edit: see ? not even the dude with the literal blinx avatar mentions blinx =P  

FarSight XR-20

There is no better answer than Super Time Force.  

Time travel is behind the entire premise of the Red Alert series but it's not really directly leveraged much in the games. One exception is RA2 Yuri's Revenge where in the first Soviet mission you invade San Francisco to steal the Allied time machine, but you travel back in time too far and have to survive a gauntlet of dinosaurs before it can be reactivated and travel forward again to the intended period, and this all happens seamlessly inside the same mission.  

Sonic CD "Sonic made a Good Future in..."  

sir_crocodile said: Other than CT which is already in the OP, Ghost Trick, Radiant Historia & Day of the Tentacle would be my faves. The others are no slouches, but Ghost Trick also happens to be one of the greatest games ever made. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Deleted member 3924

User requested account closure.

does Earthbound count?  

SheckyCornwallis

Age of Calamity?  

Everyone saying Quantum Break here is speaking the truth OP, that game is way underrated, I loved the game and it's story was pretty fun. Plus it's short!, I thought that the overall time travel narrative was really consistent and tight (which annoys me to no end, when they break time travel logic on sci fi), and the gameplay is also really fun, just don't play it as a cover shooter.  

PersianPrince

Chrono Trigger is damn near perfect. Even to this day it deserves 10/10. The time traveling aspects of this game are ahead of its time.  

Unshakable Resolve

Thread needs more Outer Wilds love.  

-The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword -Quantum Break -Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age  

There is a well-known visual novel trilogy that features some time shenanigans, but saying the title is sort of a spoiler since it's not really an advertised feature Spoiler Zero Escape  

Etrian Darkness said: Gnosia just came out. It's a werewolf, RPG, VN, roguelite that is basically a series of time loops. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

delete12345

You're looking for a game theme, or gameplay involving time-traveling? Baba Is You is the latter one.  

JediLink said: There is a well-known visual novel trilogy that features some time shenanigans, but saying the title is sort of a spoiler since it's not really an advertised feature Spoiler Zero Escape Click to expand... Click to shrink...

From the mirror universe

Final Fantasy 8 and Dragon Quest 11  

I've seen positive things said about Another Eden. It's free on mobile devices and made by the creator of Chrono Trigger. Apparently it's a full fledged single player turn based title and has no timed events or anything like that. Just downloaded it myself and going to give it a try.  

DualShockers

10 best time travel games, ranked.

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Time travel is a unique concept that all kinds of media try experimenting with at some point. Thanks to that, there are frequently plenty of new great sci-fi games being released. There are also plenty of old JRPG gems that would deserve a full remake .

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This list will focus on simple time travel instead of complex hopping between parallel universes, such as in BioShock . Some honorable mentions of good time travel games would be Legacy of Kain , Dishonored 2 , or the old classic Ecco the Dolphin . The following games allow you to bend the flow of time and hop between the past, present, and future.

10 Back To The Future: The Game

Back to the Future: The Game is based on the popular classic trilogy and works as a sequel to it. You play as Marty McFly , who witnessed Dr. Emmett Brown disappear into an unknown timeline six months ago. You discover he has been imprisoned and travel back in time to save him.

The colorful cartoon art style and the new, engaging characters do a great job of setting up the game's world. The first two episodes draw you into the story, but unfortunately, the ending does not meet the expectations you have built.

9 TimeShift

In TimeShift , you play as an unknown physicist working on an iconic piece of armor that can alter time itself. Things go astray, your facility gets attacked, and your Alpha Suit gets stolen.

The thief is a rogue scientist named Krone , who wants to alter the past and rewrite history the way he sees fit. You have to travel back in time to stop him, using your Beta Suit . TimeShift is a great adventure game with lots of suspense, drama, and sci-fi action.

8 Assassin's Creed

The Assassin's Creed series has you revisiting your ancestors' memories instead of traveling back in time. Animus , the machine that enables you to do so, is a DNA-code-reading machine instead of a time-traveling one. Many of your ancestors have had a huge effect on history , and you get to experience it firsthand.

RELATED: Best Ubisoft Games, Ranked

In the span of all games, you see places such as Ancient Egypt or Greece, 9th-century England and Norway, and Victorian London. The story revolves around an ancient rivalry between two secret societies, the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar .

Braid is a great indie game that you can finish in about 5 hours . It has you playing Tim , a scientist who sets off to save an abducted princess and clear up some kind of mistake he made in the past.

You rewind time in order to solve some excellent puzzles and get to the end. Even though the art style, time manipulation, and puzzles are great, it is the story that will hook you over time.

6 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a great game that has not left the PlayStation 3 . It follows the story of Clank , who is being kept captive by Dr. Nefarious , and Ratchet , who is trying to save his friend.

During the gameplay, it is revealed that the villain wants to find and use the Great Clock to control time itself. The duo travels through time, trying to stop his evil plans while also learning more about their own pasts.

5 TimeSplitters

The TimeSplitters franchise is one of the best of PlayStation 2 and has you fighting against presumed alien creatures. These monsters, called TimeSplitters , disrupt human history by traveling through time using the power of some crystals .

RELATED: Best FPS Villains Of All Time, Ranked

You play as the heroes of Earth, who jump through time periods between 1935 and 2035 trying to save humanity. The games offer some great first-person shooter maps and also the opportunity to travel through time in multiplayer mode.

4 Prince Of Persia

Before their huge success with the franchise Assassin's Creed , Ubisoft had another great time-traveling series, that of Prince of Persia . Especially in Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time , you get through the story by rewinding and slowing down time .

The time travel is not as grand as in other games, as you do not travel through different eras. Similarly, with Braid , you use your powers to solve puzzles and defeat your enemies.

3 Life Is Strange

The Life Is Strange series is Square Enix's newest take on time travel. It is a great interactive game based on episodic adventures . The first game had you playing as Max , a girl who has some special time-traveling powers.

Though her abilities are powerful, she can only travel to the past and to places she has already been. Max tries to save her best friend Chloe , and together they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student.

2 Chrono Trigger

The Chrono Trigger franchise has released some of the best SNES games and is still one of the best JRPGs of all time. It comes as no surprise that a huge studio such as Square Enix worked on it, as well as the legendary mangaka and character designer Akira Toriyama .

RELATED: Best Square Enix Games, Ranked

The games have you playing Chrono , a silent yet powerful young man who travels through time to gain allies, battle some of the most powerful enemies seen in JRPGs , and gather magic. All that is possible thanks to the time-travel machine known as Wings of Time .

1 Legend Of Zelda

Time travel is a recurring mechanic in the world of The Legend of Zelda games. In Ocarina of Time , Link will travel through time between his childhood and adulthood to prevent Ganon from obtaining the Triforce .

In Majora's Mask , you can also travel through time, either back to the first day of the game or half a day into the future. Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess , and Oracle of Ages also feature time travel in their storylines. With time travel , alternate timelines , and dimensions , The Legend of Zelda has it all.

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The 30 Best Games With Time-Traveling Mechanics

From the same creator of the acclaimed game The Witness, Braid was one of those early games from the golden age of indie games, where if you die or make a mistake, you can always rewind time, all with the goal of rescuing the princess... But from whom? | © Thekla

Outer Wilds

One of the best games about time loops that you'll find in the industry. You have to relive the same space odyssey every few minutes, as a supernova will explode the solar system, destroying all the planets where you can try and fail to hide. Can you solve the mystery before the next explosion? | © Annapurna

Singularity

The more seasoned gamers have one game in mind when thinking about time mechanics, and that game is Singularity. With a device that allows you to alter the age of objects and enemies, you'll have to fight your way through hordes of enemies in this blend of shooter and science fiction. | © Activision

Day of the Tentacle

And speaking of great games from the past (and with a modern remake that does it justice), Day of the Tentacle is one of the essential point-and-click adventures that everyone has to play. Simply put, it has a lot of charm and heart pour into it. Makes you wonder if loading the save game over and over counts as a time travel mechanic... | © Double Fine

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

We could add any of the Prince of Persia games, as the Sands of Time always give us the same ability to rewind time (for when we fall during the most stressful parkour sections), freeze it to avoid enemies, and speed it up to move from one victim to another. But the one with the best combat? We definitely have to go with Warrior Within. | © Ubisoft

Chrono Trigger

Another essential time travel game that allows you to use different eras as an open world. But where Chrono Trigger shines is in the details, from the time-based turn combat (like some Final Fantasy titles) to not touching chests in the past so they are better in the future. And you can fight the final boss that will cause the apocalypse very early in the game! Provided, of course, that you have the guts... | © Square Enix

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

They don't call him the Hero of Time for nothing, but not all Zelda titles show Link using time as a game mechanic. However, in Majora's Mask, we know that the moon will crash into the earth in 3 days, so we'll have to relive the same 3 days over and over again if we want to have enough time to complete this fantastic title. | © Nintendo

Twelve Minutes

But did you know that being trapped in a time loop is not just fun, but actually a terrifying idea? Although Twelve Minutes is a short game (the title says it all), you are doomed to relive a very traumatic moment over and over again, unless you manage to change the outcome in the little time you have left. | © Annapurna

Steins;Gate

The great thing about the time travel subgenre is that it works perfectly for visual novels, and none do it as well as the massive Steins;Gate franchise. Imagine the idea of having to save all your loved ones, but with the prior knowledge of multiple iterations teaching you which decisions to make. | © Spike Chunsoft

The Forgotten City

The Forgotten City is not just a journey to the past, but a mystery that resonates through the ages. In this Roman city, a great tragedy has occurred, and jumping through time and talking to different characters will allow you to uncover what happened in this place... if you truly want to know... | © Dear Villagers

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

A game with time mechanics from the creator of Ace Attorney? Yes, please! Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective puts us in the shoes of someone who has just died, and whose spirit has only one night of existence before disappearing forever. Can you solve the mystery of your murder before you run out of time? | © CAPCOM

BioShock Infinite

It's hard to say that BioShock Infinite has time mechanics. Of course, it's elemental to the story and gives you one of the best plot twists in video game history (which I still haven't recovered from), not to mention the idea of an environmental anachronism of the American Revolution turned cult in a floating city. But what we could call a mechanic is Elizabeth's help, as she can open time portals to bring back turrets and enemy machines you destroyed in the past to aid you in the present. | © 2K

Deathloop has received a lot of criticism since its release, partly deserved, partly exaggerated, but there's no doubt that it presents us with a unique concept, where we have to commit several murders before the time loop closes. Although some may find its gameplay repetitive, fans of this subgenre and shooters will love this concept. | © Arkane

If you think about it, roguelikes work perfectly for time travel. It's all about trying, dying, going back to the past, and trying again with the new knowledge adquired. Loop Hero is the basic formula of roguelikes improved by hundreds of its predecessors and mixed with gameplay involving positioning towers, terrain, and enemies. | © Devolver

The Sexy Brutale

Nothing like a Groundhog Day-style story, and in this case, we find ourselves at a mysterious aristocratic ball with a Victorian vibe, where the guests are being murdered by someone hiding behind one of the hundreds of masks. Can you uncover the killer before it's your turn, or will you have to repeat the day over and over again? | © Tequila

Super Time Force Ultra

You know the chaos of those platform games like Broforce, where there are explosions, gunfire, and enemies all over the screen? And you know what would make it even more chaotic? Time mechanics! With Super Time Force Ultra, you get all the action of a platform shooter, plus the ability to fast forward, rewind, and freeze time to your advantage... or to your detriment. | © Capybara

Time Splitters: Future Perfect

Time Splitters is a cult franchise that has released several installments over the years, but it’s Time Splitters: Future Perfect that truly uses a time travel mechanic. While the story in all installments of the franchise forces you to travel to different historical eras, it's in this title where the actions you take in the past will affect your future, and vice versa. | © EA

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

It's curious to think that a sequel would involve time travel, but that's the case with Onimusha 3: Demon Siege. From feudal Japan to modern Paris, you'll have to balance between the two eras, solving puzzles and hoping that the actions you take in one will affect the other. Doesn't it make you think of Samurai Jack? Give me more samurai through time! | © CAPCOM

Quantum Break

There are many action games with time mechanics, as we've seen in this very list. But is there one that also has an excellent story? Of course, and that would be Quantum Break, where the actions you take in the past will affect the combat you have in the future. Make sure to choose wisely! | © Remedy Entertainment

Shadow of Memories

Start the game, get stabbed. That's how this interesting game from Konami called Shadow of Memories begins, where you'll have to solve your (attempted) murder by traveling to different moments in the town of Lebensbaum, Germany. You'll need to talk to different people and collect clues to understand what the heck is going on. | © Konami

Start the game, die in 60 seconds. Damn, these time travel games don't forgive. In the case of Minit, it's an adorable minimalist adventure where you have 60 seconds to discover more about the world and its characters, only to die and try again, all with the hope of stopping this strange time loop you find yourself in. | © Devolver

Timemelters

Witches through time? Absolutely! Timemelters is the kind of game where the story doesn't matter as much as the fun gameplay. You fight with your spells against hordes of enemies, only to die from an attack... But that doesn't matter, because you can go back in time and have your past self help you in the middle of the battle, taking the same actions you previously did! Time to create your own army of temporal witch clones. | © Autoexec

A genre we haven't really touched on is stealth, and Timelie is not only unique in its class but does it with overwhelming perfection. Imagine time as a media player, where you can pause, fast-forward, and rewind the scene, all with the aim of finding the best path to your objective. | © Urnique

Cobalt Core

We might be cheating by adding Cobalt Core, as its "time mechanics" are based on the same concept as all roguelikes: try, die, try again. But it's not just an excellent game for building ships and testing them in combat; the story of being trapped in a classic time loop combined with the excellent visual art makes it worth putting on the list. | © Brace Yourself

If I had a coin for every shooter game with time mechanics... And TimeShift is one of those classic games, for good reason, as it was one of the first. You know the drill: rewind and stop time, so you can calmly walk up to them and shoot them where it hurts the most. | © Autoexec

If I had a coin for every time a visual novel makes use of time loops... Wait, didn't I say something similar just recently? This feeling of déjà vu is the essence of LOOPERS, where the anime aesthetic hides something strange, as the school day is repeating over and over again. Haven't we seen this before, or are we also trapped in a time loop? | © VisualArts

Radiant Historia

A classic from Japan, from the excellent studio Atlus (Persona, Megami Tensei, etc), is Radiant Historia. Although it's not well known in the West, this RPG brings us an essential time mechanic using a book known as the White Chronicle, which allows us to experience different parallel timelines. And if that's not enough, just look at the great amount of animation in this title. It's an endless source of waifus! | © Atlus

Blinx: The Time Sweeper

The real tragedy of Blinx: The Time Sweeper is how ahead of its time it was (which makes it a true time traveler). The same mechanics of rewinding and freezing time that we see in so many games on this list are present in Blinx, despite being released in 2002. A platformer for the ages, where time is a resource you can spend! | © Artoon

Slay The Princess

Does Slay The Princess have time mechanics? Of course, it does! We have to relive the same chapters over and over to progress in this visual novel. Maybe on your first attempt, you decide to kill the princess; maybe on the next, you want to save her. There are many decisions to make, and each time you return to the beginning of the story, both she and you have changed thanks to the knowledge of the decisions made in the past. | © Black Tabby Games

Hype: The Time Quest

And as usual in my game lists, we need a rare and little-known game, and in this case, it's a collaboration between Ubisoft and Playmobil, called Hype: The Time Quest. You can feel the inspiration from Zelda, as in this story, our hero is free to travel to different eras of the same medieval world to find treasures, gain abilities, and defeat bosses to pave your way to the black knight and save the kingdom. | © Ubisoft

If we were to make a list of video games about time travel, the list would be endless. This narrative trope can be used as an easy way out of creating complex stories. But what happens when time travel is part of not just the narrative, but the game mechanics themselves? I want time loops in my ludonarrative! That's why we've decided to create a list of 30 games with time travel mechanics. And spoiler alert: Life is Strange is not on this list because we only included good games ;).

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10 Best Time Travel Games, Ranked

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Using time travel in any media is rough. Most of the time, the act of traveling through time does nothing but make things confusing and/or remove all sense of urgency or consequence from any narrative. But, out of everything, time travel tends to work best in video games, primarily because it's a fun mechanic to use.

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And no, we don't mean games where you can change the in-game "time" for secrets  like the Animal Crossing games;  we're talking about IPs where time manipulation is a core part of the game and/or story. Think of classics like Legacy of Kain or modern takes like Titanfall 2's Effect and Cause mission . Here are 10 time travel games you have to play.

10 Blinx: The Time Sweeper

First up is a real oddball game: Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Blinx came out in 2002 and is an action platform much in the same way a lot of the games from that age were. But, rather than just focusing on jumping, you can mess around with time in a variety of ways, thanks to Blinx being a Time Sweeper with a magical vacuum called the TS-1000.

They're honestly all pretty stereotypical time-based abilities such as freezing time, slowing it down, speeding it up, or "recording" a moment in time. So, it’s not the best game, but if you want something that’s heavily focused on messing around with time, Blinx might work for you.

9 Life is Strange

The standout game from Dontnod Studios and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange was pretty huge for a while, thanks to its well-received LGBTQ+ representation, unique hipster atmosphere, and creative method of storytelling. In it, Max Caulfield, an 18-year old with a real eye for photography, suddenly discovers she has a time travel ability, and a mysterious plot starts to unravel from there.

RELATED: Outer Wilds And The Best Games That Use Time Loops

Your goal in this game is to just experience Max's story, rewinding time to solve scenario’s in the best way possible. Sometimes it’s something more serious like fixing Chloe and Max’s relationship and other times it's using your supernatural abilities to enjoy  some oddly beautiful mundane moments . Life is Strange is incredibly neat and very time travel-focused, but in terms of gameplay, it falls short compared to almost everything else on this list.

Then there's Braid  -- a game from the mind of Jonathan Blow who is known in the industry as a bit of a genius as he was also behind The Witness. Braid is a 2D puzzle-platformer, but that's far too simple a label for what Braid actually manages to accomplish.

In this game, you’ll be treated to a wide variety of puzzles -- all of which are designed to manipulate time in some way, as well as challenge your current preconceptions about video game puzzles. It might look simplistic at first, but Braid has so many different ways of messing with time in inventive ways.

7 Zero Time Dilemma

The Zero Escape series is an incredibly interesting set of games. There’s the first game Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors , then Virtue’s Last Reward, and now: Zero Time Dilemma. In these games, you'll be puzzle-solving, picking who lives or who dies, and attempting to solve a mind-bogglingly complex mystery. But, where does time-travel come in?

Well, there are a variety of endings depending on who you pick to perish since the story goes on without them afterward. But, canonically, all of these alternate endings are canon as the in-game codex refers to them as alternate timelines. And, in Virtue’s Last Reward, there are even certain characters who are able to mess with time more directly, so it's an integral part of the series.

6 Quantum Break

Quantum Break  comes from Remedy Studios who are most known for creating Control , Alan Wake , and all the Max Payne games before that. In it, you control Jack Joyce, a man out to stop the end of time ( which technically already passed ) with the time-based powers he was granted. It's a game that also doubles as a tv show which is pretty creative but is also a huge turnoff for some people.

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And, because Quantum Break leans so heavily into the mechanics of time travel, many players found the plot absurdly confusing. That said, the graphical fidelity, gameplay loop, and design of Quantum Break are all very well done, and the game itself is a blast to play.

We were going to put Timeshift on here, but quite frankly, Superhot does a better job as a time-manipulation shooter than Timeshift does. And it does so with arguably fewer mechanics overall. The stylistic game is centered around players solving combat “puzzles” where time only moves when you do.

The game first came out in 2016, but the movement in it was something people desperately wanted to see adapted for VR-play, so the developers (Superhot Team) managed to pull that off by the end of the year and even made a sequel not long after called Superhot: Mind, Control, Delete. Whether you play Superhot with mouse + keyboard, controller, or a VR headset, you're guaranteed to have a blast.

4 Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time

Other than Blinx, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the other game that immediately comes to mind when time travel is mentioned. In it, you take control of the Prince as he runs through India trying to reverse his own horrible mistake of releasing the Sands of Time that warped both the people and landscape.

To do this, the Prince must use a variety of time-changing abilities, such as reversing time, freezing it for a single opponent, or stopping time altogether for everything but himself. These mechanics, paired with the immensely satisfying platforming and the relatively complex combat, create a game so iconic, that it sort of represents the time-manipulation genre of video games.

3 Timesplitters 2

Timesplitters 2 is a beloved classic that everyone remembers fondly. In fact, there was a fake teased remake for the second game not too long ago that caused such backlash from the fanbase THQ Nordic had to come out and apologize. Timesplitters 2 was the multiplayer shooter that fans of the N64 Goldeneye had been waiting 5 years for.

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It had fantastic multiplayer maps, 50+ unlockable characters, a level editor, a hilarious campaign, and so much more. But, what about the time travel aspects? Well, that's the whole concept for the game, since you play as a Space Marine named Cortez who travels through time collecting "time crystals" to stop an alien race called the Timesplitters from destroying humanity.

2 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, Oracle of Ages, Seasons, & Majora's Mask

How could we talk about time travel without mentioning the Legend of Zelda games? The series just recently had its 35th anniversary, after all, and the "Zelda Timeline" is something any video game fan knows about. In particular, there are four that really focus on time-travel, those being Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages. All four of these games handle the concept of time-travel in a different way.

Ocarina of Time basically has two time periods you hop back and forth from with Young Link and Adult Link. Majora’s Mask takes place over the same period of 3 days, experienced over and over as Link learns to “master” the time loop. Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages might seem like two versions of the same game, like Pokemon Red and Blue, but there are actually a variety of big gameplay differences. All four of these games handle time-travel in inventive ways without overcomplicating the plot or gameplay itself.

1 Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is probably one of the most enjoyable time-hopping stories of all time simply because the dev team at Square put an immeasurable amount of work into it without taking the game itself too seriously. This 90s masterpiece is focused on the story of Chrono as he gathers party members (like a giant robot or a frog knight) from different time periods to save the entire world.

It's an RPG that still holds up insanely well thanks to the incredible character designs from Dragon Ball Z's Akira Toriyama, as well as the inventive combat system. There's just so much to love about Chrono Trigger, and we haven't even mentioned its sequel Chrono Cross either.

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• Triple-A Games
• Life Is Strange

5 video games that changed time travel forever

The ultimate power fantasy.

The multiverse is all the rage right now, at least if Marvel has anything to say about it. It’s a way for storytellers to explore alternate outcomes and identities , all without the bothersome causality of time travel.

But the potentially enormous impact of seemingly small details — or missteps — on the timeline is precisely what makes the very best time-travel stories so rewarding. That’s especially true in video games, where it’s vital to commit to the bit in order to be successful. The superlative games of this sci-fi subgenre are those in which you’re constantly contending with the consequences of your actions. It’s the ultimate interactive fantasy — you can save lives, right old wrongs, and maybe even prevent what seems to be an inevitable calamity.

These five titles have had an outsize influence on the medium’s depiction of chronological hijinks through both their stories and gameplay mechanics. If you’re looking for a crash course in video game time travel, look no further.

THE RULES OF TIME TRAVEL is an Inverse special issue exploring the evolution of science fiction's most imaginative sub-genre. From Marty McFly to Avengers: Endgame .

5. Life Is Strange

Chloe drives while having an intense conversation with Max in Life is Strange .

In most video games, movies, and TV shows, time travel is a complex blessing to be wielded with care — but it’s almost always a tool of awesome power. However, in Life Is Strange , Max’s ability to rewind time quickly becomes a curse. After the aspiring photographer saves her estranged former bestie Chloe from certain death, the repercussions of those actions ripple and reverberate in wildly unpredictable ways.

Throughout all five episodes of Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment’s choice-driven narrative adventure, Max comes to realize that her cool little party trick is not only breaking her mind — it’s also the instigating factor behind an otherworldly storm that’s going to destroy her hometown and everyone in it.

Life Is Strange may have inspired a few too many “sad in the Pacific Northwest” copycat games, but the way in which it uses this familiar trope to immerse players in the bond between Chloe and Max is truly unforgettable.

4. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Three girls enjoy ice cream after school in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

This watercolored visual novel punctuated with real-time strategy interludes is an exercise in sci-fi maximalism. It tosses every trope and plot twist you could possibly imagine at the wall — Angsty teens piloting mechs! World War II! Magical girls! Off-brand Terminator cyborgs! Convenient amnesia! Yet, miraculously, it all somehow works.

With 13 protagonists and all sorts of timey-wimey hijinks, there’s no way you’re going to be able to keep the story straight without some serious flow charting. But it doesn’t matter. For the most part, 13 Sentinels doesn’t tell a story in a linear fashion but instead invites you to explore its sprawling web of cause and effect however you choose. The result is trippy, kaleidoscopic, and exhilarating.

Originally released on PS4 back in 2020, 13 Sentinels is now available on Nintendo Switch , and the chill, dialogue-heavy gameplay loop makes it an ideal handheld experience. This is the perfect game to stay up far too late with — and inspire some kooky dreams once you’ve put it aside for the night.

3. 428 Shibuya Scramble

428: Shibuya Scramble is a wonderfully absurd and deeply complex take on the time-travel formula.

Spike Chunsoft’s underappreciated gem first debuted on the Nintendo Wii all the way back in 2008. This hilarious, genre-blending visual novel sees five protagonists — a scientist, a journalist, a gang member, a detective, and an amnesiac — simultaneously caught up in a looming terrorist event in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood.

428 ’s story is told with a blend of live-action videos and still photos. The crew took more than 120,000 images for the game, all while outrunning or outwitting the local police, since they did not have permission to film.

While most games centered on time travel focus on big leaps between dramatically different eras, 428 focuses solely on the events of a single day, broken up into 10 hour-long chunks. Often, your aim is to get the characters’ paths to cross at the right time — but with 87 possible endings, there are a whole lot of ways that things can go hilariously wrong. You’ll spend a lot of time backtracking — 10 minutes here, an hour there — but the scenarios unfold so differently depending on your choices that the core gameplay never gets too repetitive.

428 was far enough ahead of its time that it still feels fresh even today, yet its influences can be seen in the off-kilter humor and rich sense of place found in the Yakuza games, as well as the character-swapping mechanics of 13 Sentinels .

2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Link awakens seven years older.

The first 3D entry in Nintendo’s venerable action-RPG series, 1998’s Ocarina of Time is the Paddington 2 of video games, with an eye-popping average critic’s score of 99 on review aggregator Metacritic .

It all plays out fairly Sword in the Stone -ish, as Zelda games tend to do. After exploring a few dungeons and beating some baddies, young Link pulls the Master Sword from its resting place in the Temple of Time in the hopes of defeating the nefarious Ganondorf. But he’s blinded by a flash of light (and evil cackles) and falls unconscious, awakening moments later in the company of a sage who tells him he’s aged seven years.

Eventually, you’ll be able to travel between both versions of the world at will, using knowledge, skills, and items acquired in each era to prevent the downfall of Hyrule.

Ocarina is one of those rare games that made a home for itself in the hearts of millions of players around the world. With clues trickling out that the sequel to Breath of the Wild will incorporate some kind of time-travel element , it’s clear that influence is alive and well today, nearly a quarter-century later.

1. Chrono Trigger

The heroes of Chrono Trigger .

No game engages with the concept of time travel in a more satisfying and meaningful way than Chrono Trigger . And it’s one of few games that appropriately appreciate the appeal of a completely badass time machine. The Epoch, which you acquire during a jaunt to the ruined future of 2300 AD, is one of the coolest vehicles ever to grace a game console.

Time travel in Chrono Trigger is far more than a one-time gimmick or cutscene; it’s deeply woven into fundamental elements of the experience. Even while exploring the humdrum homes of NPCs, you’re encouraged to tinker around with the effects of your actions in the past on the future. (For instance, you could open those treasure chests in Porre Village circa 600 A.D at the earliest opportunity. But you’ll get a much bigger bang for your buck if you waggle your magic pendant in front of them and come back 400 years later.)

In addition to opening up more than a dozen different endings, Chrono Trigger uses its central gimmick to tell affecting stories about each of its playable characters. The adventure opens with Marle stumbling face-first into a kinda-sorta grandmother paradox situation, Lucca’s able to save her mother from a life-changing accident, and Robo’s able to transform a wasteland into a verdant forest — but only after spending a few centuries tilling the soil. Chrono Trigger ’s story and world are very simple by modern standards, but the game’s depth and timelessness stem from the rich intricacy with which time travel is integrated into both.

• Video Games

Chrono Trigger & 9 Other Amazing Games Involving Time Travel

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The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Trailer

Chrono trigger - launch trailer, ex-blizzard boss believes consoles will 'never die'.

Chrono Trigger  stands out among all games for being endearing, epic, and full of surprises. But one of the best things about it is how it interweaves time travel into the game's narrative. In fact, many of the player's party members hail from different eras. However, games that feature time travel mechanics don't always put it at the forefront in this manner.

RELATED:  Animal Crossing: 5 Advantages Of Time Travel (& 5 Disadvantages)

Some games use time travel mechanics only for combat while others pull a  Back to the Future and have one or two instances of time travel. But other video games live and breathe time travel. Which ones do fans remember the most?

10 Quantum Break

This game came from the same studio behind  Max Payne ,  Alan Wake , and the recent success  Control . Remedy amped up the visuals for  Quantum Break with next-level realism on their proprietary Northlight engine. Intense motion capture also contributed to player experience with distinct actor performances from Lance Reddick, Aiden Gillen, Shawn Ashmore, and others.

It follows Jack Joyce as he negotiates personal drama and the threat of time breaking. Apart from time travel and manipulation being part of the core plot, time mechanics play an integral role in the game's combat system. For fans of  Alan Wake or time travel, this game is definitely worth picking up.

9 Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

The remake for  Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is a long-time coming and has a supposed release date of January 21, 2021. But the original game, released in 2003 for multiple platforms, set a high bar for action-adventure games. It is also considered one of the best platformers to date by many people.

It runs on the Jade engine and follows an unnamed prince as he tries to collect sand from a magic hourglass. He uses the Dagger of Time to do so as it allows him to manipulate time. Abilities like rewinding ten seconds, freezing enemies, and moving at lightning speed help the Prince achieve his goals. But will the remake live up to fans' expectations?

8 Command and Conquer: Red Alert Series

Fans of old school RTS games will instantly recall the insanity that was the C&C Red Alert series of games. People who may not be familiar with the games might at least know the meme featuring Tim Curry yelling about space.

RELATED:  5 Reasons Red Alert Deserves A Remake (& 5 Why It Should Stay A Classic)

The games explore the possible, if peculiar, idea of the same outcome occurring even if the input varies. In this case, that means different people going back in time to prevent certain conflicts from occurring only to cause further war.

What’s interesting about the series is that players can be the Allies, the Empire of the Rising Sun, or Russia. Each faction offers a unique story experience.

7 TimeSplitters 2

Goofy shooters aren't limited to those in the  Borderlands series or games like Fortnite . In fact, they owe a great deal to the  TimeSplitters franchise as a whole ( Epic Games may owe more than others ). While every game in the series is quite fun, many fans prefer  TimeSplitters 2 the most.

Free Radical Design developed the first-person shooter for Xbox, PS2, and the Nintendo Gamecube for a 2002 release. Two space marines, Corporal Hart and Sergeant Cortez, must recover time crystals from a space station to help Earth stop the alien TimeSplitters. The aliens need the crystals in order to traverse time and ruin Earth by changing history. The game featured ten levels in story mode, as well as an arcade mode for up to four players. The total of 16 modes included Deathmatch, Capture the "Bag", BagTag, and Team Deathmatch.

6 Shadow of Destiny/Memories

The game went by Shadow of Destiny in America but is actually called Shadow of Memories . Konami released the game for PS2 in 2001 but later ported it to Xbox and Windows in 2002. In it, players live as Eike Kusch -- a member of a fictional town in Germany called Lebensbaum or Life’s Tree.

The plot has Eike traveling through time trying to discover who murders him. It features no attack mechanics, no health bars, or other more traditional action game elements. However, actions taken in the past can drastically change the future. Not only is time travel integral to the mechanics of this game, but also to the setting and story itself.

5 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Like  C&C , the timeline of  Legend of Zelda games can be difficult to follow thanks to the inclusion of time travel. Though not the only game to feature time travel in the universe,  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time may still be the best one. After all, it is the game that officially sets up the three timelines (Adult, Child, and Fallen Hero).

RELATED:  Zelda: 10 Plot Holes In Ocarina Of Time That Were Never Explained

Time manipulation plays a central role in the game with the ocarina being the tool by which Link traverses time. With rumors of a Switch release in the air, many fans are aching to relive the game's epic story.

4 Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

Though a new game is slated to release for the PS5 soon,  Ratchet & Clank have long been in the time travel game. The beloved series released  Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time in 2009 for the PS3 to much acclaim.

It tells the origins of Clank and features multiple time-oriented elements. One is the Chronosceptor that can restore a broken item. Another involves Clank recording up to four copies of himself for up to a minute doing something and then playing it back. This helps the player solve puzzles. But the Zoni construct known as the Keeper of Time or Great Clock is the defining part of the game. It is a must for anyone who loves platformers or time travel games.

3  Titanfall 2: Effect and Cause mission

Many fans agree that  Apex Legends just doesn't quite scratch the itch they have for more entries in the  Titanfall franchise. Though the game featured a very short solo campaign, it had dozens of memorable moments. This includes the mission "Effect and Cause" where the player uses time travel.

RELATED:  10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In Titanfall 2

In the mission, Jack Cooper (the player character) jumps in and out of the timestream to reveal the reason for the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) being on the planet Typhon. People interested in a new time travel experience might consider picking up  Titanfall 2 just for this mission.

2 Legacy of Kain

This is another classic franchise that instantly grabbed the attention of many people when it launched. The first game in the series released in 1996, but the most recent game came out in 2003. The series did not introduce time travel until the second game  Soul Reaver 2 . However, the character Moebius the Time Streamer had been around since the beginning.

The series follows Kain, a vampire anti-hero character, and Raziel, something beyond a vampire and Kain's former second-in-command. There is even talk of a remake in the works.

1 Chrono Trigger

Many gamers unequivocally view  Chrono Trigger as one of the best video games ever made. Time travel is just one small part of this game that adds up to it being an incredible, irreplaceable experience. The game features characters from all time periods and with different personalities and backgrounds. This can include a character who should be a villain , but can instead be recruited. The game effortlessly ferries players through time periods full of unique lore that all connect to one moment in time: when Lavos practically destroys the world in 1999.

Robo may have the most unique story of all the characters in the game. The player can choose to leave him in a time to help regrow a dwindling forest. When the player returns in their own time period, they will discover a shrine dedicated to what they think is a now-defunct Robo. But fear not: Robo yet "lives" and can rejoin the party. Small moments like that are what make  Chrono Trigger such an unforgettable game.

NEXT:  10 Hidden Details Everyone Missed In Chrono Trigger

• Chrono Trigger

Screen Rant

10 games where time travel is a gameplay mechanic.

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Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Trailer: John Dutton Haunts The Ranch As Kevin Costner's Exit Is Teased

New terminator series' rotten tomatoes score ties for franchise best with original movie, john wick director developing new spy thriller series based on bestselling novels.

One of the biggest gameplay mechanics in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the ability for players to travel back in time during gameplay. If the units are in a tough spot, Byleth can use their powers to reverse time so that things can be done differently. Even though this ability is limited, this power can still be the difference between winning or losing.

With how incredible this power is, it's not surprising that many games allow players to time travel. In these titles, the power is a part of the gameplay rather than simply an element of the story.

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

Released for the PS2 in 2004, Onimusha 3: Demon Siege is an action-adventure hack-and-slash game that's part of the Onimusha series, which was based on Resident Evil. When Samanosuke Akechi, who was also the protagonist of the first game, is about to fight the resurrected Oda Nobunaga, he is instead transported to Paris in 2004 while Jacques Blanc, a new protagonist, is sent to the past.

RELATED: 10 Great Obscure Adventure Games

To defeat Nobunaga and his Genma army, Samanosuke and Jacques must adapt to their new time periods. Since the player controls both characters, some puzzles will need to be solved by having Jacques do things in the past to change the future and exchanging items using the Tengu Ako.

Shadow of Memories

Created by Junko Kawano, who co-created the Suikoden series and wrote another time travel game on the DS called Time Hollow, Shadow of Memories is an obscure mystery adventure game released for the PS2 in 2001. Known as Shadow of Destiny in North America, the game follows a young man named Eike Kusch who is stabbed by an unknown murderer at the start of the game.

To prevent his own death, Eike obtains a time-traveling digipad from a mysterious being known as Homunculus. As he travels to various moments in time within the German town Lebensbaum, he meets various characters, solves puzzles, and slowly uncovers the truth behind his death. The player's actions lead to one of eight different endings, but two of those endings are locked during the first playthrough.

Radiant Historia

Developed by staff from both the Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and the obscure JRPG Radiata Stories , Radiant Historia is a 2010 JRPG for the DS that also had an expanded remake in 2017 for the 3DS titled Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology. Taking place on the continent of Vainqueur, the two kingdoms, Alistel and Granorg, are fighting because Alistel believes that Granorg is responsible for the magical desertification that's spreading across the land.

Stocke, who is the main protagonist and an espionage agent for Alistel, is given a book called the "White Chronicle" by his superior, which allows Stocke to travel through time. As the player explores the timelines, they are able to experience many different outcomes and events that all lead to one of the endings.

Outer Wilds

Released in 2019, Outer Wilds is an award-winning exploration puzzle game where the player character must explore a solar system that's stuck in a 22-minute time loop. To solve this time loop, which resets every time the local star goes supernova, the player must solve many smaller mysteries across the galaxy that all connect to the overarching mystery.

During each loop, the player learns new things that help them discover new areas, and they slowly learn about an ancient alien race known as the Nomai. Eventually, it's revealed that the loop is caused by the inventions created by the Nomai to find the "Eye of the Universe."

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Created by the father of the Ace Attorney series , Shu Takumi, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a 2010 mystery puzzle game for the DS that centers around a ghost named Sissel, who has recently died and has no memory of his past life. Another ghost named Ray teaches Sissel how to use "ghost tricks," which allows spirits to move objects and travel four minutes before the death of an individual to potentially save their life and rewrite history.

After Sissel saves a young detective named Lynne from an assassin, the two go on a journey to save others and uncover the mystery behind Sissel's past. Since his spirit will dissipate at dawn, he only has a limited amount of time to solve the mysteries.

Zero Escape Series

Beginning with the 2009 DS title Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors , the Zero Escape series is a science-fiction visual novel trilogy that also includes the 2012 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and the 2016 Zero Time Dilemma. Although each of the games focuses on a different cast of characters and setting, they're all connected and focus on a group of nine individuals who are forced by their kidnapper, known by their alias "Zero," to play a deadly game.

Taking concepts from the historically significant visual novel YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World, the games have players experience multiple timelines in order to reach the true endings. Players will have to use knowledge discovered during previous timelines to uncover the full story and escape.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Like the first two Prince of Persia games, the 2003 action-adventure game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time revolutionized the platforming adventure genre by having fluid animations and movements that had never been done before. Created as a reboot to the series, this installment follows the titular Prince as he, with the help of Princess Farah, tries to defeat the evil Vizier who tricked the Prince into releasing the Sands of Time, which turned everyone into monsters.

RELATED: 10 Great Video Game Remakes Coming To Nintendo Switch

Using a special artifact called the Dagger of Time, the player can rewind, slow down, and freeze time. The mechanics and ideas in this game would directly lead to the award-winning Assassin's Creed franchise.

One of the best Sega CD games is the 1993 side-scrolling platformer Sonic CD, which was the flagship title for the console. Introducing Amy Rose and Metal Sonic to the franchise, the game follows the titular Sonic as he tries to collect the seven magical Time Stones, stop Doctor Robotnik, and save Little Planet.

RELATED: 10 Best Sega CD Games

Unlike other Sonic games, this installment requires players to travel to different versions of levels that occur in the past, present, and future. In order to get the best ending, players either need to collect all the Time Stones or destroy each of the enemy transporters that exist in the past.

Originally released in 2008 for the Xbox 360 and later ported to other consoles, Braid is a puzzle-platformer that's also a significant title in indie game history. Created as a criticism of video game tropes of the time, the game follows a young man named Tim as he attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster, but it's slowly revealed that the story is more complicated than it initially seems.

As the player navigates through the levels and their obstacles, they will have to learn and use various time-manipulation abilities such as rewinding time, replaying certain actions with a shadow double, and slowing downtime in certain areas. By the end, the player discovers that Tim was actually the monster the princess was running from.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a 1998 action-adventure game for the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D title in the franchise. The game follows Link as he works with Princess Zelda to try to stop the evil sorcerer Gerudo king Ganondorf from using the Triforce's power to take over Hyrule.

Besides introducing iconic mechanics such as the lock-on system, the game also utilizes time travel by having the player move between Link's childhood and adult selves by using the Master Sword, which helps solve puzzles. This time travel mechanic would later be expanded upon in the critically acclaimed direct sequel The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask , which has players going through a three-day time loop.

NEXT: 9 Ways Ocarina Of Time Changed The Gaming Industry Forever

IF Only: A Question of When

Recommended time-travel IF games

IF time travel games come in several flavors. There's the grand exploration flavor, where you're visiting different historical eras and checking out the set-pieces, but different eras don't really affect one another much. Occasionally they'll use paradoxes as a threat — you have to accomplish A and not B, or else you'll throw off the timeline! — but usually they don't do too many strange things with causality.

The commercial IF era produced several good pieces like this; Trinity and TimeQuest are probably the best regarded of that set. There's L. Ross Raszewski's Moments Out of Time , which is about exploring a particular fictional environment with foreknowledge of how it's all going to end. And while the puzzle design is now considered a little unfair in spots, Neil deMause's Lost New York is fascinated with its city as a historical site.

Then there are the games where the time-travel aspect deeply affects gameplay. Time travel mechanics can be particularly rich at conveying consequence and outcome, because you can hop back and forth, tinkering with your decisions and seeing all the different ways things might have worked out. And text as a medium can often afford to depict a wide range of wildly varied settings and outcomes, since no one's modeling or animation budget is being strained to portray these possibilities. Here are some of the best.

Within this, I'd identify two further categories.

There's the tight time travel loop, where you're playing through the same events over and over until you get them right, or until some problem in the loop resolves itself. These often rely on note-taking and precise timing, engaging more with mechanics than with personalities.

Then there's the explore-a-life style of play, where you're moving greater distances in protagonist's timeline, seeing them at different ages. This is often the way to capture a novel's worth of character development within a short story's worth of gameplay.

For those interested in the time-loop flavor, may I recommend:

Fifteen Minutes (parser, Inform) by Ade McT. You are a failing science student left alone for fifteen minutes in a room with a time machine. Can you prevent yourself from failing your class after all (and also avoid any paradoxes or universe-ending mistakes)?

Other copies of yourself, from other timelines, keep popping up. One of the game's major challenges is to figure out which copy is which, and to make sure that you do what's necessary in order to guarantee that your future selves manifest in the way that they will. Or already have. Whichever.

This one took me a couple of hours to solve, and I needed to take notes in order to do it. But it's "careful meticulous work" difficult, not "you need to be able to read the author's mind" difficult. Everything is clued, and fair.

If you aren't into that kind of puzzle-solving, it's definitely not for you, but if you happen to enjoy the more crossword-like style of interactive fiction puzzle, it's well-constructed and charming. There are also some hidden or implicit extra bits of story buried in the interactions, a few connections between the characters that might not be immediately obvious.

All Things Devours (parser, Inform) by half sick of shadows. You're a physics researcher working on a time-travel project that doubles as a terrible weapon: if someone ever witnesses "an anomaly" (such as an encounter with their own selves), the result is a massive, nuclear-like explosion.

Seeing potential, the military has kicked you out of your own research program. Someone with sinister intent is now tinkering with your machinery. But you have a narrow window of opportunity to sabotage your former research in order to prevent it from causing general disaster. Of course, that window isn't quite long enough for you to accomplish everything you need to do, unless, of course, you make use of the time machine. In contrast with Fifteen Minutes , here it's vitally important not to meet yourself, or even leave anything visibly in a different state from when you first encountered it.

Time is meticulously tracked: the status bar tells you the time down to the second, not just the minute. Many actions, such as taking inventory and looking, have been set to consume no time at all. Meanwhile, there are a number of things in your environment that run on timers of some kind.

The narrative aspect of All Things Devours is comparatively light, since most of the text and mechanics exist to support the tremendous complexity of its puzzles. So you shouldn't expect to learn in-depth character histories of the other people who work in your lab, for instance, or develop a strong sense of the protagonist's backstory. But you will inevitably encounter the consequences of failure before you manage to win the first time, and that gives some weight to the rest of what happens.

As a puzzle, All Things Devours is, I think, even more exacting than Fifteen Minutes . I found that I needed a spreadsheet to keep track of where I was at each temporal iteration and exactly what I was doing, along with the duration of all actions. Otherwise, you die and die and die over and over. For some people, this will be a chance to geek out to a gratifying degree. For others, it might well be the most frustrating IF experience they've ever had in their life. Only you can say which of those people you are.

A couple of tips, if you decide to go for it: actions generally take 5 seconds, with the exception of a handful that the game explicitly calls out as taking more than that. However, if you do something that requires a few prerequisite steps (such as walking through a door that you'll first need to unlock), unlocking and opening will each count for five seconds as well. And you also need to make sure that you never leave a door unlocked that your previous iteration should find in a locked state. Those are the kinds of mistakes that kill millions of people in the resulting paradox explosion.

I should also call out Trapped in Time (PDF), Simon Christiansen. Trapped in Time is a straight-up gamebook — you could print it off and play it without any computer intervention — which would make some people put it in the Not IF category even though it was entered in an IF competition and won a Best Use of Innovation award in the 2013 XYZZY Awards. But then sometimes the most interesting games are the ones that refuse to fit entirely neatly into any particular category.

It uses some standard gamebook tricks to pull off the time travel conceit, though: for instance, once you've been through the loop a few times, you discover that you can add a number to the paragraph you've been told to turn to, in order to do something slightly different instead.

If you enjoy the time-loop, there are a number of other pieces built on the same conceit in this IFDB list . And there are quite a few other games that have brief time-travel sequences in among a range of other items. The time travel puzzle in Sorcerer is generally considered one of the highlights of the game.

If you're more interested in exploring decisions over the course of a character's lifetime, try these:

Map (parser, Inform) by Ade McTavish. Ade is clearly an enthusiast for the time-travel approach, but Map is a very different kind of game from Fifteen Minutes. In this piece, you're revisiting the major life decisions of the protagonist; it's sufficiently surreal that it's not exactly clear how that works, and whether you're moving through time or whether those events are somehow popping up again in the present or what .

But the essential point is that each day, you have the opportunity to confirm or undo one of the protagonist's past decisions — and see the effect that has on her present, and on the other decisions that come afterward. You're actually moving back further and further in her timeline as you go, unpicking the choices that came late in her marriage, and then somewhat earlier ones, and then decisions she made before she got married at all.

Of all the stories in this collection, it's perhaps the most emotionally freighted and the most morally engaged. It invites the player to reflect on what it means to regret something from the past; would we really take back a past action if doing so meant destroying everything that came afterward, both good and bad?

First Things First (parser, TADS), J. Robinson Wheeler. First Things First is a particularly large and ambitious venture, in which the player can visit times spaced out across five decades of the protagonist's life. Changes made in one time period can affect what the landscape looks like in subsequent time periods, so there's plenty of cross-temporal puzzle-solving to do.

Because it's on a bigger timescale than the tight closed-loop type of time travel game, those puzzles tend to involve slow processes rather than short-term changes: plant a tree here, open a bank account there, come back a couple of decades later.

It's also a much more forgiving experience than Fifteen Minutes or All Things Devours : you don't have to get everything in exactly the right sequence all the time, and there's enough leeway to wander around and explore a bit. There's even a device to help you tell which things in the game are red herrings, so that you can choose to ignore them.

[Disclosures: Emily has met Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, Bob Bates, Neil deMause, J. Robinson Wheeler, and Ade McT. She also would probably have mentioned the big, puzzle-rich time travel game Jigsaw in the body of the article, if she weren't married to its author. More generally, Emily Short is not a journalist by trade and works professionally with various interactive fiction publishers. You can find out more about her commercial affiliations at her website .]

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The 10 Best Time Travel Video Games

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While books and movies have seen great success with time travel stories, video games are no exception to this storytelling phenomenon. Over the years, developers have found ways to enhance the gameplay and stories of their games through the warping of the space-time continuum. These time-traveling stories are told through numerous styles of games including visual novels, RPGs, and puzzle platformers.

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Where some games use time travel as a plot device or central focus of the story, other games use time travel as a gimmick for changing up the gameplay and giving players a chance to control the outcome of puzzles and battles. The best time travel games use these two ideas in tandem, weaving intricate storylines through time and letting players control those loops in order to reach one or multiple endings.

10 Travel With Link In The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Though time travel is a common theme in the Legend of Zelda series, Ocarina of Time introduced players to the mechanic through an incredible story that would cement it as one of the best games of all time. Players traveled back and forth through time, taking Link from child to adult and back again in order to solve puzzles, wield weapons, and complete areas.

Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda game to be done in 3D and introduced a handful of mechanics, like the targeting system, that would become staples in the series. The puzzles, dungeons, characters, and story all come together for a phenomenal game experience.

9 Try To Save Lives In Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate is an anime visual novel, so it doesn't have a ton of actual gameplay. The player mostly reads through the story events and makes the occasional choice based on which characters they want to interact with and what they want to say, but these choices can affect the outcome of the story and lead to several endings.

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The story follows Rintaro Okabe and his friends as they accidentally create a time machine and stumble onto a worldwide conspiracy led by a secret organization. The art is beautiful, and the story is deep and emotional. The game was popular enough that an anime adaptation was created .

8 Game Meets TV Show In Quantum Break

The Xbox One console exclusive from Remedy Entertainment, Quantum Break attempted something very different: they incorporated a TV show into the game itself. Players would play a section of the game for a few hours and then watch an "episode" of the Quantum Break show which continued the story from the end of gameplay into the next section.

The gameplay itself gave players time-altering abilities like shields , warping, and pausing time in bubbles. The third-person action game had a well-told story and featured a number of well-known actors, including Shawn Ashmore, Aiden Gillen, and Lance Reddick.

7 Life Is Strange, And So Are The Choices

Life is Strange has launched a series of episodic graphic adventure games since the original landed in the hands of gamers in 2015. The game is a third-person narrative puzzle-solving game where players can interact with objects and characters, making conversation choices that will effect the outcome of the story.

Players control Max and her "rewind" ability, which allows them to go back and alter the course of events. This included choices made in the game and conversations so that players could branch out and choose the path that they found most beneficial.

6 One Of The Best Indie Games Ever, Braid

Braid raised the bar for Indie games. The highly innovative and entertaining 2D platformer not only delivered interesting and intelligent puzzles, but it also had an engaging story that hooks the player until the final credits roll.

Players control time in each level as a means to solve puzzles, rewinding and fast-forwarding in order to re-establish platforms, unlock doors, or defeat enemies. The game features six worlds, each with its own time-based mechanic, which meant that players would need to rethink their time-changing strategies to solve new puzzles, keeping the gameplay fresh.

5 Join Doc And Marty In Back To The Future: The Game

Marty McFly and Doc Brown made the leap from the big screen to video games in this Telltale Games series. Instead of retelling the events of the Back to the Future movies, the game offers an all-new adventure for players and fans of the franchise to dive into.

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Much like the other Telltale games, Back to the Future: The Game has players exploring environments and interacting with objects and characters in order to make decisions that will lead them down an interesting narrative. Christopher Lloyd returned as Doc Brown, but Marty McFly was voiced by another actor, as Michal J. Fox was unable to provide voice content.

4 Pick Your Hero In Dishonored 2

A sequel to its first game, Dishonored 2 gave fans even more great gameplay and deep storytelling. The players are immersed in the fantastical steampunk world of Dishonored as either Corvo or Emily, and use supernatural powers to attempt to reclaim the throne lost at the start of the game.

In the Stilton Manor level, players are given a device letting them view the level through a piece of glass, allowing them to travel back three years in the past. Players can warp back and forth between times instantly, allowing them to escape or strategically attack enemies and solve puzzles. Players can also slow and freeze time through the character's powers, should they choose to use them.

3 Time Traveling Mech Pilots In Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 slipped through the cracks at launch, as it was sandwiched between the new releases of Call of Duty and Battlefield. It was mainly picked up by fans of the first game, but would later get more recognition after the success of Apex: Legends . What players realized is that the single-player story campaign of Titanfall 2 was a great FPS adventure where, in certain levels, players operated a time-travel device in order to shift between times.

This allowed the player to encounter enemies in a firefight, warp to a new time, change their position to behind the group, then warp back and blast away. Some platforming elements also needed the aid of time travel, warping between times to land on platforms and get across spanning chasms.

2 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Rebooted The Franchise

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time served as a reboot for the franchise once Ubisoft took it over . Players take control of The Prince and, after acquiring the Dagger of Time, use it to manipulate time in order to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

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The Prince can reverse time, meaning players that messed up a platforming jump can try again without dying, slow down time to take a moment to think, or stop it completely. Combining these powers into the hack-and-slash combat proved fun and unique. There was also a sequel, The Warrior Within , that continued the Prince's story, keeping the same time-altering gameplay.

1 An Oldschool RPG For The Ages, Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger entered the fray on the SNES in 1995 and introduced gamers to a new franchise that would see several sequels and spinoffs down the years. It was revolutionary for its time, offering up multiple endings, side-quests that gave more depth to its side characters, and a real-time battle system.

Players traveled through time via portals and a time machine from the game's present-day to its past where past actions affect future events. Depending on how the players get to the final boss battle, they would get one of twelve different endings, as they make their decisions to try and stop a global catastrophe.

Best Time Travel Games 2023

Who doesn't like a bit of time travel? We've created the ultimate list of the best time travel games to play right now. Find your next game here!

While time travel is traditionally featured in works of science fiction, nowadays, you can find elements of this mysterious phenomenon in just about every genre of gaming. 

It’s typically depicted in one of two ways: a plot device where characters must go back in time to prevent something from happening, or a game mechanic in which players manipulate time to overcome challenges.

In this list, we’ll showcase  the top time travel games to enjoy in 2024 , such as games about traveling through time and the finest time travel games for computer.

We’ll be updating this list in the future with new titles, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed any of your favorite games involving time travel!

Related: Best Space Games 2023 Best Story-Driven Games 2023 Best Point and Click Adventure Games 2023

Table of Contents Show

Platforms: Windows, PS5

A common trend in more recent games is characters getting stuck in perpetual time loops and having to figure out a way to escape.

One of the more recent titles to explore this trope is Deathloop , an immersive sim shooter about a talented hitman who finds himself trapped in time on a party island with rival assassins.

To end the loop, you’ll have to eliminate the eight targets responsible for your serious case of déjà vu while also navigating the island’s numerous threats.

It’s a clever approach to open-ended gameplay that builds upon previous Arkane games such as Dishonored and only benefits from looking like an acid trip from the ‘70s.

The Forgotten City

Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Initially conceived as a Skyrim mod , The Forgotten City would eventually become a standalone game spearheaded by lead developer and writer Nick Pearce.

Set during an alternate version of the Roman Empire, it sees you exploring a city subjected to the Golden Rule: a religious mandate where any sinful action causes the entire population to turn into permanent gold statues.

While inspecting the rule’s origins and which transgressions it applies to, you’re advised someone in the city intends to violate it, urging you to travel back in time to prevent them.

It’s an interesting take on time travel that also explores the existential relationship between humanity and its laws, namely what is truly considered right or wrong.

Platform: PS5

Returnal is a PlayStation-exclusive third-person shooter about an astronaut who lands on an alien planet searching for a mysterious signal when she suddenly finds herself trapped in a time loop.

This is a great justification for the game’s roguelike design, which sees the protagonist resurrected after each death as she traverses the planet’s foreign environments and battles a host of extraterrestrial foes.

The further you progress, the stranger and more unsettling Selene’s visions become as she finds herself increasingly entangled in an ever-changing world.

If you manage to make it to the end and break the loop, you’ll be faced with some startling revelations about the main character and the planet that make for great sci-fi storytelling.

Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Although time travel generally involves going forward or backward in history, you can extend this further to account for multiple realities or planes of existence.

With this mindset, one could argue that the horror game The Medium uses time travel as a game mechanic, with the main character able to travel between the spirit world and the living world.

In a practical sense, this allows you to make changes in either world that affects the other, such as unlocking doors to progress, obtaining a key item to solve a puzzle, or warding off hostile enemies.

The story follows psychic Marianne as she’s mysteriously summoned to an abandoned hotel where she’ll have to use her powers to unravel its history and help free the spirits trapped within its grounds.

Reminiscence

Platform: Windows

Reminiscence is a story-driven, psychological horror game that has you warping, jumping, and rewinding time and space in order to save your family.

In it, you play as a man living in a world that’s about to collapse into anarchy who suddenly discovers their wife and kids have mysteriously disappeared.

While searching your home for clues, you stumble upon a watch that lets you travel between two eras: the post-apocalyptic present, and 1950s American suburbia.

By switching back and forth between both realities, you’re able to alter the state of certain objects to solve puzzles and advance the story.

Inspired by sci-fi classics like Back to the Future, No Time sees you stealing a suspiciously familiar time machine vehicle from a secret facility before setting off on a time-traveling adventure.

Unlike many games in the genre which center on heavily scripted missions, the game functions as a time travel simulator with both story and sandbox elements.

As a result, you’re free to explore any date throughout history from 0-2030 AD while making sure not to destroy the current timeline by interfering as little as possible and avoiding your younger self.

The game also features a day/night cycle, various job minigames and side quests, crafting, and a combat system for dealing with pesky Time Agents. 

Outer Wilds

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

If you’re looking for an engaging and immersive time travel game about space exploration , look no further than Outer Wilds .

You take on the role of the newest recruit for Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program looking to expand its knowledge of the galaxy and its ancestors’ mysterious disappearance.

The narrative addresses various sci-fi clichés such as black holes, antimatter, and of course time travel, with your character confined in an everlasting 22-minute time loop.

This is complemented by a densely packed open world consisting of hand-crafted, explorable planets with interesting backstories and distinct hazards that can be tricky to navigate.

Twelve Minutes

Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Twelve Minutes is an interactive thriller about a man having a romantic dinner with his wife when a mysterious man claiming to be a police detective shows up on his doorstep.

Things quickly escalate and eventually the man is killed, only to find himself transported to the beginning of the evening with his previous memories intact.

Confused and desperate, he sets out to break the time loop by searching the apartment for clues and interviewing each person involved.

While some of the game’s different endings get into weird, taboo territory, there are interesting puzzles and narrative threads to tug at that make the journey worthwhile, though we suggest following a guide.

Platforms: Windows, Mac

In the stealth puzzle adventure game Timelie , every second matters and can bring you one step closer to freedom or death.

The game has you taking on the role of a young woman with a special gift that lets her control the flow of time as if it were a media player, rewinding and fast-forwarding to gain new insights. 

Harnessing this power allows her to manipulate obstacles in her path and avoid detection from robot patrols preventing her from leaving.

The story is quite compelling and the time travel mechanics are explored in some truly fascinating ways that become more complex the further you go.

The Gardens Between

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac, iOS

The Gardens Between is an indie puzzle game created by The Voxel Agents that has you manipulating time 20 abstract, narrative-driven levels.

The game is unique in that you don’t control the main characters directly but rather move them backward and forwards through time while altering the state of different objects to progress.

Each level reveals more about the relationship between the two main characters, Arian and Frendt, chronicling the evolution of their friendship leading up to a life-changing event.

While it’s a short-lived experience, clocking in around 2.5 hours, The Gardens Between tells a compelling story and explores time travel mechanics in some fun and interesting ways.

Timespinner

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac

Inspired by ‘90s action-platformers, Timespinner is a story-driven Metroidvania about a magical timekeeper named Lunais who seeks out revenge after her family is murdered by an evil empire.

Her quest for justice brings her to a mysterious and hostile world where she’ll have no choice but to wield her time manipulation power to defend herself and rewrite history.

The game has you exploring beautiful, atmospheric pixel art environments while switching between the past and present as you defeat enemies and acquire new powers.

Mastering Lunais’ time-manipulating abilities open up new possibilities for combat, which is further complemented by familiars that can be trained to fight on your side.

Life Is Strange

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android

A standout adventure title from Dontnod Studios and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange follows 18-year old aspiring photographer Max Caulfield as she comes to terms with her newfound powers.

Max has a supernatural ability that lets her move backward or forwards through time to alter the state of objects and their effect on the people around her.

Its applications vary depending on the scenario, allowing Max to mend relationships with her friends and family, solve bigger mysteries, and get revenge against the occasional bully.

Even if the gameplay aspect falls flat at times, the way time travel is introduced and incorporated into the structure of the story makes up for it.

Quantum Break

Platforms: Windows, Xbox One

Quantum Break is a cinematic action game from Remedy Games, best known for titles like Control and Alan Wake, and Max Payne.

In it, you take on the role of Jack Joyce, a man on a mission to prevent his timeline from ending by harnessing an array of unique time-based powers.

The story doubles as a live-action television series with certain events explained in further detail, which can require a bit more of a commitment than your average game.

With that said, Quantum Break is one of the best-looking time travel games in terms of graphical fidelity, boasting cool mind-bending camera tricks and special effects that still look great in 2024.

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac

Superhot  sets itself apart from more traditional  FPS games  by introducing one clever mechanic: time only moves forward when you do.

This grants the player ample time to assess threats and determine the best course of action before setting it in motion with stylish shootouts and melee showdowns.

To ensure combat is always readable, the game employs a minimalist art style that does a great job at conveying info: enemies are always red, environments are white, and weapons are black.

While it’s best enjoyed in VR with full immersion, you’ll still have a lot of fun playing with a gamepad controller or just mouse and keyboard. 

Titanfall 2

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One

The follow-up to Respawn’s criminally underrated  first-person shooter  features refined gunplay and fluid movement with a touch of time travel.

During Titanfall 2 ’s campaign, your character obtains a special wrist-mounted device that lets them swap back and forth between the past and present.  

This is helpful for exploring deteriorating buildings, avoiding clusters of foes, and solving nature-based challenges as pilot Jack Cooper.

Combine this with exciting parkour-based platforming and an arsenal of satisfyingly powerful weaponry and it’s easy to see why Titanfall fans want to see the series return.

BioShock Infinite

Time travel in the BioShock series is presented as a plot device in which certain characters, namely Elizabeth and the Lutece twins, can create dimensional time-alternating portals called Tears.

To that point, the game’s take on parallel universes and how they affect the overarching story can be boiled down to a single quote: “There’s always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city.”

BioShock Infinite sees you venturing into a floating steampunk city called Columbia where citizens still cling to violent religious and racist beliefs.

In order to make sense of the series’ extensive timeline, consider playing through the first two games in the series or watching a recap video before starting Infinite. 

Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac

Our final recommendation is Braid , a beloved indie puzzle platformer that comes from the mind of The Witness designer Jonathan Blow.

In it, you take on the role of a man named Tim as he attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster using time manipulation.

If that description didn’t make it obvious enough, the game’s story is meant to critique popular trends in modern video games but also features some excellent time travel puzzles.

Levels cover everything from rewinding and fast-forwarding time, altering the state of certain objects, using your character’s movement to determine the flow of time, and much more we don’t wish to spoil.

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Samuel is GamingScan's editor-in-chief. He describes himself as a dedicated gamer and programmer. He enjoys helping others discover the joys of gaming. Samuel closely follows the latest trends in the gaming industry in order to keep the visitors in the flow.

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