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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| Endless, Nameless, by Adam Cadre 4 votes "King of Loops" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]...  Vote for this game | |
| Save the Date, by Chris Cornell 4 votes "The whole game is..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Rematch, by Andrew D. Pontious 3 votes "One-move where..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... "The..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Bigger Than You Think, by Andrew Plotkin 3 votes "You play it over and over" [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Trapped in Time, by Simon Christiansen 3 votes (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Fingertips: Fingertips, by Michael D. Hilborn 3 votes "A one-move loop until you discover how to break out." [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Hadean Lands, by Andrew Plotkin 3 votes (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows 2 votes "time-loop excellence" [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Vicious Cycles, by Simon Mark 2 votes "There is a time..." [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Binary, by Bloomengine 2 votes "Hyperlinked time..." [+]... ""The Timeline..." [+]... 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." [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Fifteen Minutes, by Ade McT 2 votes (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Reigns, by François Alliot, Nerial, Devolver Digital 2 votes (No comment) [+]... (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Twine Story, by Mike69420666 1 vote (No comment) [+]... 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" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Shrapnel, by Adam Cadre 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Save the World in 7 Moves, by chintokkong 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Baker of Shireton, by Hanon Ondricek 1 vote "Changing the..." [+]... 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." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Operation Extraction, by Ming-Yee Iu 1 vote ""Rescue Dr...." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Aisle, by Sam Barlow 1 vote "A one-move game with a ton of endings" [+]... 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" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| The Brigand's Story, by Laura Michet 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Delusions, by C. E. Forman 1 vote "Trapped in an alternate reality that keeps repeating itself until ..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Every Day the Same Dream, by Luis Gonzalez 1 vote "Not a good game..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| First Things First, by J. Robinson Wheeler 1 vote "quite fun" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Paradox Factor, by Mike Walter 1 vote "remember the future. preserve the paradox !" [+]... Vote for this game | |
| De Baron, by Victor Gijsbers 1 vote "The game itself..." [+]... 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." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Möbius, by J.D. Clemens 1 vote "A loop with a..." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Amanda, by Francisco J. López 1 vote "Seems like kinetic fiction until the first play-through is finished." [+]... Vote for this game | |
| Witch's Girl, by Geoff Moore 1 vote (No comment) [+]... Vote for this game | |