Games centered around a "groundhog day" loop - an IFDB Poll
by Merk
RSS FeedTwo that come to mind, which I haven't played in years and may be remembering wrong, are Moebius and All Things Devours. Games with fail states, by their nature, fit the bill from a mechanical level, but I'm curious about games where that's actually the focus of the plot. One-move games probably fit the bill too, but I'm also looking for examples of games that are maybe a little more complex, and where the repeating loop is used in clever ways.
(This is for an ongoing discussion topic for my podcast, where we've been talking about Groundhog Day plots in games. There are a few examples in video games, but I got to thinking that the best use has probably been in interactive fiction.)
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| Save the Date, by Chris Cornell 5 votes "The whole game is..." [+]"The whole game is about time loops and trying again till you get it right" ( - Full review) --dutchmule... (No comment) [+](No comment) --dastridly... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Ismarus... (No comment) [+](No comment) --IFforL2... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Laney Berry...  Vote for this game | |
| All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows 4 votes "it is awesome" [+]"it is awesome: Really, one of the best time loops games ever." ( ) --Ruber Eaglenest... "The first that comes to mind." [+]"The first that comes to mind." () --Kinetic Mouse Car... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Pinstripe... Vote for this game | |
| Endless, Nameless, by Adam Cadre 4 votes "King of Loops" [+]"King of Loops: Truly the Strangest of Loops; most complete and most brilliant usage of the Groundhog Effect." ( ) --Audiart... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Hadean Lands, by Andrew Plotkin 4 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --CMG... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) --JTN... Vote for this game | |
| Rematch, by Andrew D. Pontious 3 votes "One-move where..." [+]"One-move where you have to keep trying until you solve the puzzle and save everyone." --dutchmule... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Victor Gijsbers... "The..." [+]"The quintessential one-move puzzle" --Christina Nordlander... Vote for this game | |
| Stay?, by E. Jade Lomax 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --autumnc... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Kinetic Mouse Car... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Laney Berry... Vote for this game | |
| Vicious Cycles, by Simon Mark 3 votes "There is a time..." [+]"There is a time loop similar to the games mentioned in the opening paragraph of the poll." ( ) --Simon Deimel... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Kinetic Mouse Car... Vote for this game | |
| Bigger Than You Think, by Andrew Plotkin 3 votes "You play it over and over" [+]"You play it over and over" ( - Full review) --MathBrush... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Audiart... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2... Vote for this game | |
| Trapped in Time, by Simon Christiansen 3 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Sam Kabo Ashwell... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2... Vote for this game | |
| Fingertips: Fingertips, by Michael D. Hilborn 3 votes "A one-move loop until you discover how to break out." [+]"A one-move loop until you discover how to break out." --matt w (Matt Weiner)... (No comment) [+](No comment) --<blank>... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Brian Kwak... Vote for this game | |
| The Binary, by Bloomengine 2 votes "Hyperlinked time..." [+]"Hyperlinked time loop." ( ) --Simon Deimel... ""The Timeline..." [+]""The Timeline must be sanctified. Relive the same few minutes over and over again, attempting to stop a bullet from changing history."" ( - Full review) --Wade Clarke... Vote for this game | |
| Rover's Day Out, by Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman 2 votes "You go through the same morning routine several times, though not for the reasons you might think." [+]"You go through the same morning routine several times, though not for the reasons you might think." --matt w (Matt Weiner)... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
| Delusions, by C. E. Forman 2 votes "Trapped in an alternate reality that keeps repeating itself until ..." [+]"Trapped in an alternate reality that keeps repeating itself until ...: In the middle phase of the game, you end up stuck in a cycle in a virtual world of somebody else's creation. The world resets itself every time you wake up until you figure out the sequence of commands to break the loop." --mjhayes... "You are being..." [+]"You are being held captive by a talkative virus inside of a simulation of your VR workplace. The goal is to escape before the loop resets and sends you back to the simulation's starting point. This involves sneaking around the virus so he does not see you plotting against him. Also: You may or may not be human. " --Kinetic Mouse Car... Vote for this game | |
| Fifteen Minutes, by Ade McT 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) --David Welbourn... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Virix... Vote for this game | |
| Reigns, by François Alliot, Nerial, Devolver Digital 2 votes (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --jakomo... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Pinstripe... Vote for this game | |
| Twine Story, by Mike69420666 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Sdn... Vote for this game | |
| Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle, by David Dyte, Steve Bernard, Dan Shiovitz, Iain Merrick, Liza Daly, John Cater, Ola Sverre Bauge, J. Robinson Wheeler, Jon Blask, Dan Schmidt, Stephen Granade, Rob Noyes, and Emily Short 1 vote "One move, lots of endings" [+]"One move, lots of endings" --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
| Shrapnel, by Adam Cadre 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --MathBrush... Vote for this game | |
| Save the World in 7 Moves, by chintokkong 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Sobol... Vote for this game | |
| The Baker of Shireton, by Hanon Ondricek 1 vote "Changing the..." [+]"Changing the world through death and respawning is an essential part of advancing the plot" --Pinstripe... Vote for this game | |
| The House at the End of Rosewood Street, by Michael Thomét 1 vote "Based around an extremely repetitive daily routine... there's other spoilery relevant stuff too." [+]"Based around an extremely repetitive daily routine... there's other spoilery relevant stuff too." --matt w (Matt Weiner)... Vote for this game | |
| Operation Extraction, by Ming-Yee Iu 1 vote ""Rescue Dr...." [+]""Rescue Dr. Galland, a bio-weapons specialist, from the Dawn Militia."" ( ) --Wade Clarke... Vote for this game | |
| Aisle, by Sam Barlow 1 vote "A one-move game with a ton of endings" [+]"A one-move game with a ton of endings" ( ) --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
| The Lurking Horror II: The Lurkening, by Ryan Veeder 1 vote "The world ends after nine moves, with restarting justified in universe by magic" [+]"The world ends after nine moves, with restarting justified in universe by magic: The premise is that after 9 moves, a Lovecraftian abomination destroys the world--at which point, a spell you cast allows restarts the game. The gameplay is explicitly about learning magic so that you can accomplish more and more within the time limit." ( ) --Jack Brounstein... Vote for this game | |
| The Brigand's Story, by Laura Michet 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --CMG... Vote for this game | |
| Every Day the Same Dream, by Luis Gonzalez 1 vote "Not a good game..." [+]"Not a good game (the original graphical game is far better), but a good example of the genre." ( ) --Karl Ove Hufthammer... Vote for this game | |
| Paradox Factor, by Mike Walter 1 vote "remember the future. preserve the paradox !" [+]"remember the future. preserve the paradox !: I liked the dark themed tone of this psychological thriller text based game ( "choice of game"), after jumping in an untested time machine revisit different periods in your life, making small alterations, trying to fix your future, most of time leading you to a bad outcome, you’ll need to use your memories of the future to solve puzzles in the past, before the probability of a paradox reaches 100% rebooting the machine time loop. " --reghyz... Vote for this game | |
| De Baron, by Victor Gijsbers 1 vote "The game itself..." [+]"The game itself doesn't loop, but it is very strongly implied that everything in the game has already happened many times before and will probably happen many times hereafter. An important theme is the question whether it is possible to break out of such a loop." --Victor Gijsbers... Vote for this game | |
| Look Around the Corner, by Doug Orleans (as Robert Whitlock) 1 vote "Very Groundhog Day--the loop starts every morning. Also very short." [+]"Very Groundhog Day--the loop starts every morning. Also very short." --matt w (Matt Weiner)... Vote for this game | |
| Möbius, by J.D. Clemens 1 vote "A loop with a..." [+]"A loop with a twist (that I don't wish to spoil). A definite goal that can't be achieved without going through the loop at least once. Or twice." --<blank>... Vote for this game | |
| Amanda, by Francisco J. López 1 vote "Seems like kinetic fiction until the first play-through is finished." [+]"Seems like kinetic fiction until the first play-through is finished." --IFforL2... Vote for this game | |
| Witch's Girl, by Geoff Moore 1 vote (No comment) [+](No comment) ( ) --Sobol... Vote for this game | |