Publisher: Annapurna
Developer: Mobius
Year: 2019
Platform: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One
Rating: 8
In general I haven’t had the patience for completely open-world games for various reasons, the most prominent being the narrative often gets derailed either by sidequests or I wind up doing things in an order the writer didn’t intend. Outer Wilds breaks the mold for me, telling a remarkably tight and moving science-fiction story wrapped up in the conceit of a 22-minute time loop.
Continue reading Outer Wilds →
Publisher: Plug In Digital
Developer: Modern Storyteller
Year: 2021
Platform: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Stadia
Rating: 8
Originally a well-acclaimed Skyrim mod, The Forgotten City is an updated and larger, independent version of the game. While I couldn’t get into Skyrim, I’ll play almost anything about time travel and especially anything that involves time loops. While it takes a little bit to get going (and to fully grasp the game mechanics), once it does it becomes a relative breeze and is one of the most addictive and satisfying adventure game stories I’ve ever played.
Continue reading The Forgotten City →
Publisher: Woodhill Interactive
Developer: Woodhill Interactive
Year: 2023
Platform: Windows, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Rating: 7
For the second time in three years, we have a game where you begin exactly twelve minutes before your untimely death. But while the game Twelve Minutes takes place entirely inside one apartment room, Woodhill Interactive’s Orten Was the Case spans an entire hand-drawn city from the top of its tallest building to the far depths of its underground. The seemingly random clues and disparate objectives keep the pace rather slow for a while, but it all builds into one of the more devilishly complex and rewarding time loop games to date.
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Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Coktel
Year: 1993
Platform: DOS
Rating: 5
Notorious for its copious–and I mean copious–inventory puzzles, Lost in Time tells a convoluted time travel story that falls short of the heights it aspires to. But it’s still a good time if you’re willing to have a walkthrough at the ready.
Continue reading Lost in Time →
Author: half sick of shadows
Year: 2004
Development System: Inform 6
Cruelty Rating: Cruel, but the game has a finite number of moves
Length Of Play: 5-15 minutes each playthrough; about 3 hours for me to solve the puzzle
My Rating: 9
Awards: 3rd Place — 10th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition
Best Individual Puzzle — 2004 XYZZY Awards
“The encounter could create a time paradox. The results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!…Granted, that’s the worst-case scenario.” — Doc Brown, Back to the Future 2
And such is the world logic of All Things Devours. The inventor of a time-travel machine, Natalie Williams comes to the same realization about paradoxes and sets out to destroy the machine. However, she soon realizes that her plans have been taken and she must find them so that the machine can never be made again. And soon the player realizes that time travel is necessary to find those papers, and there’s a total span of nine minutes in which to work to avoid the guards, avoid your present self, and avoid creating a paradox for your present self.
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Synopsis: When Temporal Investigations arrives on Deep Space 9, Sisko recounts how he and the crew of the Defiant traveled back in time to the 23rd century to prevent the assassination of Captain James T. Kirk during the original Enterprise‘s mission to Space Station K-7.
Memory Alpha Summary: A creature that mates more than Riker!
Review: Every time I watch this episode I feel giddy. I don’t particularly enjoy watching TOS, but always enjoyed The Trouble with Tribbles. Plus, you can tell how much fun and energy everyone on the cast and crew had with making this.
Continue reading 8. Trials and Tribble-ations (5.06) →
Author: Jon Ingold
Year: 2001
Development System: Inform
Cruelty Rating: Merciful
Length of Play: 1-2 Hours
My Rating: 6
Awards: Best Game, Best Story, Best Setting — 2001 XYZZY Awards
1st Place — 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition
I normally am a sucker for anything involving time travel and paradoxes and I tend to prefer linear gameplay. Jon Ingold is also one of my favorite authors. So All Roads should be right up my alley. I judged the 2001 IF competition and remember giving this one a score of “6” and then being surprised it took first place and won a whole slew of XYZZY awards. I decided to play it again recently to see if time would change my mind, but I left once again feeling underwhelmed.
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Munching Numbers, Letters, Ensigns, etc.
Death By Troggles 