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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PostsAnd 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 11 time travel games you have to play.
Updated on October 4, 2024, by Aydan Sattler: Time travel in video games is a fascinating mechanic, but one that requires careful design to pull off effectively. When done well, it adds a layer of complexity and intrigue to the narrative, whether you're hunting down antagonists across different eras or struggling to escape from the wrong time period. This list explores a variety of games across multiple genres that allow players to dive into the intricacies of time manipulation, including the classic point-and-click adventure Day of the Tentacle.
11 Blinx: The Time Sweeper
CloseBlinx: The Time Sweeper
Platformer Released October 7, 2002 ESRB E For Everyone Due To Mild Violence Developer(s) Artoon Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios Platform(s) Xbox (Original) How Long To Beat 10 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseFirst 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.
10 Maniac Mansion 2: Day Of The Tentacle Remastered
Close- Platforms: PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Windows, Linux, iOS, OS X
- Released: March 22, 2016
- Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure
Day of the Tentacle is a quirky point-and-click adventure game that rivals the eccentricity of Blinx: The Time Sweeper in the odd-ball category. The story follows three teenagers, Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne, as they attempt to stop an evil, sentient tentacle from taking over the world. However, things quickly go awry when their outhouse-turned-time machines malfunction, leaving Hoagie stranded in colonial America and Laverne trapped in a distant, dystopian future.
To progress, you’ll need to switch between the characters, using time travel to solve bizarre puzzles that affect the past, present, and future. The game’s offbeat humor, zany characters, and inventive mechanics make Day of the Tentacle a wild and unforgettable adventure.
9 Life Is Strange
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Adventure 8.0/10 Released January 30, 2015 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol Developer(s) Dontnod Entertainment Publisher(s) Square Enix Platform(s) Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One How Long To Beat 15 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseThe 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.
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Posts 7Your goal in this game is to just experience Max's story, rewinding time to solve the scenario 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.
8 Braid
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Puzzle Platformer Released August 6, 2008 ESRB E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Language, Mild Cartoon Violence Developer(s) Number None Inc Publisher(s) Number None Inc Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360 How Long To Beat 5 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseThen 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
CloseZero Time Dilemma
Adventure Puzzle Visual Novel Released June 28, 2016 ESRB m Developer(s) Spike Chunsoft Publisher(s) Aksys Games Platform(s) 3DS, PC, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One How Long To Beat 20 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseThe 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
CloseQuantum Break
Action Adventure Released April 5, 2016 ESRB M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Strong Language Developer(s) Remedy Entertainment Publisher(s) Microsoft Platform(s) PC, Xbox One How Long To Beat 12 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseQuantum 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 has 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.
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.
5 Superhot
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FPS 4.0/5 Released February 25, 2016 ESRB T For Teen Due To Drug Reference, Violence Developer(s) SUPERHOT Team Publisher(s) SUPERHOT Team Platform(s) PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One How Long To Beat 3 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseWe 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.
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PostsThe 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
ClosePrince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Stealth Platformer Action Adventure Released October 28, 2003 ESRB Teen // Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Ubisoft Montreal Publisher(s) Ubisoft Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox (Original), Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, PC, Mobile How Long To Beat 9 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseOther 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 the 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
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FPS Released October 8, 2002 ESRB T For Teen // Blood, Language, Violence Developer(s) Free Radical Design Publisher(s) Eidos Interactive Platform(s) GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox (Original) How Long To Beat 9 Hours Powered by Expand CollapseTimesplitters 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 fan base THQ Nordic had to come out and apologize. Timesplitters 2 was the multiplayer shooter that fans of the N64 Goldeneye had been awaiting for five long years.
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 of 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 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, Oracle Of Ages, Seasons, And Majora's Mask
CloseOcarina of Time
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Majora's Mask
Platforms
Nintendo 64, GameCube, iQue Player
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
Nintendo 64, GameCube
Released
November 21, 1998
February 27, 2001
February 27, 2001
April 27, 2000
Genre
RPG
RPG
RPG
RPG
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 differently.
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 three 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 over complicating the plot or gameplay itself.
