Time travel games

Recommendations by MathBrush

These are games where the main puzzles are centered on time travel. I'm splitting this off from my science fiction list.

Many games include one or two time travel puzzles, such as Spellbreaker or Curses!. But this list is for games whose central mechanic is time travel.

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1. First Things First
by J. Robinson Wheeler
(2001)
Average member rating: (25 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Influence a house and a village over 5 decades, with past actions having a strong effect on the future

2. Jigsaw
by Graham Nelson
(1995)
Average member rating: (83 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Stop a figure named Black from messing up key moments in history. Large and very difficult.

3. A Mind Forever Voyaging
by Steve Meretzky
(1985)
Average member rating: (118 ratings)

MathBrush says:

This game is different than anything I've seen before. You play an artificial intelligence who runs simulations of a huge, explorable city for every decade of the next century .

4. All Things Devours, by half sick of shadows (2004)
Average member rating: (95 ratings)
MathBrush says:

I haven't played it in years; I remember it being hard, but I was new to IF. It would most likely still be hard. Use a time machine to win the game without encountering yourself.

5. Fifteen Minutes
by Ade McT
(2014)
Average member rating: (25 ratings)

MathBrush says:

For puzzle fiends. Deal with almost ten copies of yourself traveling in time to finish your homework.

6. The Primrose Path
by Nolan Bonvouloir
(2006)
Average member rating: (36 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A short-to-mid length time travel puzzle in a house with some very interesting PC's and NPC's and at least one outstanding puzzle.

7. Vicious Cycles, by Simon Mark (2001)
Average member rating: (16 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Story-heavy time travel game. Try again and again to stop a tragedy, while a separate story plays out in the background. Great atmosphere.

8. Möbius
by J.D. Clemens
(2006)
Average member rating: (34 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A time travel games on a short loop. Interact with your previous incarnation.

9. Finding Martin, by G.K. Wennstrom (2005)
Average member rating: (11 ratings)
MathBrush says:

One of the truly massive games. About as long as 3 Anchorheads. Half of the game consists of intricate, repeated time travel.

10. Time: All Things Come to an End, by Andy Phillips (1996)
Average member rating: (6 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Another huge game, but more linear. Travel through time to visit dictate your invention and stop a plot.

11. Trapped in Time
by Simon Christiansen
(2013)
Average member rating: (24 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A pdf game with brilliant parser like commands done with arithmetic.

12. Sorcery! 3
by Steve Jackson and inkle
(2015)
Average member rating: (9 ratings)

MathBrush says:

The game prominently features 7 or 8 beacons that allow travel between two time periods. It is possible, though difficult, to avoid time travel, but a typical playthrough uses it heavily.

13. Moments Out of Time, by L. Ross Raszewski (2001)
Average member rating: (13 ratings)
MathBrush says:

Great get your gear and go game. Pick a few of many interesting tools, go back and study an old house.

14. LASH -- Local Asynchronous Satellite Hookup
by Paul O'Brian
(2000)
Average member rating: (43 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Control a robot to loot an old house. Then travel to slavery era America. Graphic sexual violence.

15. Fingertips: Fingertips, by Michael D. Hilborn (2012)
Average member rating: (9 ratings)
MathBrush says:

A one move game: stuck in a time loop, you have to decipher an alien number system and get out of dodge.

16. The Binary, by Simon Mark (as Bloomengine) (2011)
Average member rating: (18 ratings)
MathBrush says:

An early Javascript game about looping through an assassination sequence to prevent it.

17. The Hours
by Robert Patten
(2011)
Average member rating: (25 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A linear thriller about a time travel company that sells antiques.

18. Paradox Corps, by John Evans (2014)
Average member rating: (5 ratings)
MathBrush says:

A Dr. Who-like Choicescript game.

19. Harmonia
by Liza Daly
(2017)
Average member rating: (74 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Set in a women's college, this game focuses on a machine that allows travel between two times a century apart.

20. Jesse Stavro's Doorway
by Marshal Tenner Winter
(2014)
Average member rating: (11 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Travel back in time to the 70s

21. Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder
by Zan and Xavid
(2020)
Average member rating: (18 ratings)

MathBrush says:

A great game involving four different time periods. Compact map, puzzles can be fiddly.

22. Stay?
by E. Jade Lomax
(2020)
Average member rating: (33 ratings)

MathBrush says:

One of the best twine games in recent years. Fantasy time loop.

23. The Impossible Stairs
by Mathbrush
(2022)
Average member rating: (33 ratings)

MathBrush says:

My own game, with a house that exists in 5 time periods.

24. The Little Match Girl 4: Crown of Pearls
by Ryan Veeder
(2023)
Average member rating: (29 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Pretty much all the Little Match Girl games have excellent time travel.

25. Entangled
by Dark Star
(2020)
Average member rating: (12 ratings)

MathBrush says:

Travel through time to encounter a small town and a strange device.

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