time travel games

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The 10 best time travel games that’ll twist your mind

Fiddle with timelines by jumping backward and forward in these titles.

If you’ve ever sat down for a short gaming session, only to check your watch and discover 7 hours have passed, you’ll understand what time travel in gaming feels like. Either that or you’ve been through an alien abduction. Playing with the concept of time has been a favorite of sci-fi writers in all forms for as long as anyone can remember. It taps into something that makes us human and presents us with questions that we struggle to find answers to.

Is it possible to see into the future? Is deja vu a form of time travel? Can we travel faster than light? Is time malleable? Can days be repeated? What if you could rewind time? These are some of the concepts that the best time travel games place before us to explore and contemplate. Sometimes we get lost in the spaces they create, time becoming irrelevant as it passes around us. And that’s what this article is about: shining a spotlight on the most enjoyable time travels gamers can experience. So let’s dive in — there’s no time to waste!

What are the best games featuring time travel?

Our list of the best time travel games features titles that bring their own unique twists to timeless ideas, consequences and conundrums. Whether you're into solving mind-bending puzzles, changing the course of history, or just experiencing wild twists, these games have something to offer. If you’ve even the slightest interest in sci-fi games, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by checking out the games highlighted here.

Back to the Future: The Game

It'd be a crime against time travel games if we didn't kick off with  Back to the Future: The Game . Set after the events of the iconic film trilogy, this episodic adventure takes fans deep down nostalgia lane.

Playing as Marty McFly, you’ll team up with Doc Brown once more to fix rips in the space-time continuum. But this game is way more than simple fan service, with new twists on the franchise written by the films’ co-creator Bob Gale. You’ll be jumping between different eras of Hill Valley throughout, solving puzzles and interacting with familiar characters from fresh perspectives.

And, as is core to  Telltale Games , you’ll get to make big decisions on the way that’ll shape the story.

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The Messenger

The Messenger proves that looks can be deceiving, starting out as what appears to be a pretty straightforward ninja-based retro action platformer . But this game has a smart twist up its sleeve, resulting in one of the coolest time loops in games you can experience.

Initially, you’ll journey through a gorgeous yet dangerous world in an 8-bit aesthetic. However, as you improve and gain new skills, the game transforms into a 16-bit future, taking you back through environments transformed by ruin, setting up the second half of your adventure and presenting even greater challenges. If you’re a fan of classic platformers and have an itch to play one with a unique gameplay mechanic, this is the title for you.

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With a title like Deathloop , you know you’re in for quite an experience. You’ll play as Colt, an assassin trapped in a bizarre time loop on the luxurious island of Blackreef. Every day resets at midnight, forcing you to relive the same events over and over, unless you can break the cycle trapping you there. In order to escape the island, you’ll need to locate and eliminate eight targets — known as the ‘Visionaries’ — before the day is up.

And as if that wasn’t challenging enough, your targets know you’re coming for them and just happen to be heavily guarded. Experiment with different approaches, learn enemy patterns across loops, and strategically manipulate the environment to take down your targets. Each new day offers an opportunity to gather intel, acquire powerful weapons and abilities, and inch closer to unraveling the mysteries behind the loop and Colt's predicament.

Deathloop presents one of the most engaging time loops in games, and it’s also one of the  best FPS titles available to play as part of your Game Pass subscription.

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Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds is consistently held up as one of the most intriguing space exploration games ever made, and is among the best time travel games around too. Playing as an astronaut, part of your role in the space program is to explore a miniature solar system containing big secrets. And there's a catch: the entire system is trapped in a 22-minute time loop that always ends with the sun going supernova.

Zipping around in your rickety spaceship, piecing together clues left by a vanished alien race, you might stumble upon a hidden ruin, strange writings, or eerie shifts on a sand-engulfed planet. And remember to pay attention, as each loop adds another piece to the puzzle you’re trying to solve: the source of this time loop — and potentially, how to end it.

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Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate is a legendary visual novel game , regarded as delivering perhaps the greatest time travel story of the genre. Stepping into the lab coat of Okabe Rintaro, an eccentric self-proclaimed mad scientist, you stumble upon a way to send messages into the past. And as you might expect, experimenting with this method triggers a series of unforeseen consequences.

Seemingly innocuous alterations to the past result in shockingly unpredictable changes to the present. And as the narrative slowly unravels, you’ll be caught up in a web of conspiracy, paranoia, and the heart-wrenching ethical dilemmas of manipulating time.

There are multiple endings to discover, all based on your own choices, and a cast of relatable characters to meet on your numerous journeys through this absorbing sci-fi story.

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Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

In this classic Prince of Persia tale, you’ll take the role of the titular character who finds themselves hunted by the Dahaka, the embodiment of fate. Traveling to the Island of Time, you’ll need to find a way to escape your seemingly inevitable demise.

Your journey will take you to the decaying ruins of a once-glorious empire. By manipulating time, you’ll move between a pristine past and this decaying present, solve time-shifting puzzles, engage in brutal combat and discover what price there is to pay for cheating death.

One of the darker installments to the  Prince of Persia franchise , Warrior Within is a challenging, time-bending platformer that holds up to this day.

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Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a bit of a hidden gem, but one you should definitely search out. You play as Sissel, a ghost who's lost his memories following their death. There are just hours until sunrise, which will see your soul pass over to the other side. So, with time running out, you’ll need to discover who Sissel was and solve the mystery surrounding their murder.

The game’s plot is engaging enough, but it’s in the core gameplay mechanic where Phantom Detective really shines. You see, Sissel can't directly impact the world of the living. Instead, he possesses and manipulates everyday objects, performing quirky ‘Ghost Tricks’ to influence people's actions. And there’s an ingenious component of time travel woven in too, as you can jump back four minutes before a person's death, using your ghostly powers to alter events.

Each scenario becomes an intricate puzzle, where you set up a chain of events in the present, rewinding time to execute your plans. The characters are quirky and memorable, and the story is surprisingly poignant. Ghost Trick is an absolute must-play for fans of creative  detective games with challenging puzzle elements.

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Quantum Break

Remedy Entertainment loves to experiment with narrative and gameplay, with Quantum Break being one of their most ambitious projects — and arguably their most underrated release. You play as Jack Joyce, an agent who gains time manipulation powers after a science experiment gone awry. Featuring tight third-person combat, you’ll get to unleash your new-found abilities to freeze enemies, dodge attacks by rewinding time, and create devastating blasts to finish off attackers.

Quantum Break also includes interesting ‘junction’ points, where the game pauses for a live-action episode, which dynamically change based on your in-game decisions. This part of the game proved to be divisive. Fans loved the uniqueness, while detractors focused on the fact that this element seemed more like a TV show than game.

Whatever your view Quantum Break is a bold, experimental take on interactive storytelling, and its seamless integration of time travel mechanics into both gameplay and narrative is undeniable.

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Life Is Strange

Life is Strange captured the hearts of many with its emotionally impactful story and captivating rewind mechanic. You take on the role of Max Caulfield, a photography student who discovers they can rewind time at will. This power becomes her tool to navigate the complexities of teenage life, from social drama to a looming supernatural threat. Now if that doesn’t scream best time travel in games, we don’t know what does.

While Life is Strange doesn't lean into complicated time travel theories, it effectively uses the concept to explore the themes of choice and consequence. Max can rewind short durations of time, trying different approaches in conversations, and experimenting to solve puzzles. The game reminds the player that even small changes can lead to significant ramifications, both good and bad, wrapped up in a story that beautifully captures the bittersweet tinge of nostalgia.

Chrono Trigger

It wouldn't be a proper time travel list without Chrono Trigger , the legendary JRPG that arguably perfected the concept in gaming. If you’re the type of person who enjoys playing games that have gone down in the history of the medium, this is one title you absolutely must dive into.

The game tells the tale of a chance encounter that throws a cast of lovable characters from various eras into an epic adventure to save the world across time itself. From prehistoric caves to a post-apocalyptic future, players journey through time, uncovering secrets and facing off against legendary villains. The title’s combat system isn't just satisfying, it arguably introduced the concept of time loops in games too.

Chrono Trigger boasts multiple endings, encouraging repeated playthroughs, and its tight gameplay, charming characters, and phenomenal soundtrack will keep you coming back for me. Not just one of the greatest  JRPG titles of all time, it’s undoubtedly one of the best games full stop.

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It might not feel like it’s taken long to get through our list of the best time travel games, but you’ve actually been on this page for 5 hours! Of course you haven’t, that’d be ridiculous. But no matter how many titles we included, you probably think there’s one left out that should’ve made the cut. If that’s the case, let everyone know in the comments below.

About Author

John’s favorite games tend to be indies, with a preference for slow-paced cozy titles, city builders and sims. He loves seeing small dev teams get recognition for passion projects. He hates toxic fandom.

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Best Time Travel Games 2025

Who doesn't like a bit of time travel? We've created the ultimate list of the best time travel games to play right now. Find your next game here!

While time travel is traditionally featured in works of science fiction, nowadays, you can find elements of this mysterious phenomenon in just about every genre of gaming. 

It’s typically depicted in one of two ways: a plot device where characters must go back in time to prevent something from happening, or a game mechanic in which players manipulate time to overcome challenges.

In this list, we’ll showcase  the top time travel games to enjoy in 2025 , such as games about traveling through time and the finest time travel games for computer.

We’ll be updating this list in the future with new titles, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed any of your favorite games involving time travel!

Related: Best Space Games 2025 Best Story-Driven Games 2025 Best Point and Click Adventure Games 2025

Table of Contents Show

Platforms: Windows, PS5

A common trend in more recent games is characters getting stuck in perpetual time loops and having to figure out a way to escape.

One of the more recent titles to explore this trope is Deathloop , an immersive sim shooter about a talented hitman who finds himself trapped in time on a party island with rival assassins.

To end the loop, you’ll have to eliminate the eight targets responsible for your serious case of déjà vu while also navigating the island’s numerous threats.

It’s a clever approach to open-ended gameplay that builds upon previous Arkane games such as Dishonored and only benefits from looking like an acid trip from the ‘70s.

The Forgotten City

Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Initially conceived as a Skyrim mod , The Forgotten City would eventually become a standalone game spearheaded by lead developer and writer Nick Pearce.

Set during an alternate version of the Roman Empire, it sees you exploring a city subjected to the Golden Rule: a religious mandate where any sinful action causes the entire population to turn into permanent gold statues.

While inspecting the rule’s origins and which transgressions it applies to, you’re advised someone in the city intends to violate it, urging you to travel back in time to prevent them.

It’s an interesting take on time travel that also explores the existential relationship between humanity and its laws, namely what is truly considered right or wrong.

Platform: PS5

Returnal is a PlayStation-exclusive third-person shooter about an astronaut who lands on an alien planet searching for a mysterious signal when she suddenly finds herself trapped in a time loop.

This is a great justification for the game’s roguelike design, which sees the protagonist resurrected after each death as she traverses the planet’s foreign environments and battles a host of extraterrestrial foes.

The further you progress, the stranger and more unsettling Selene’s visions become as she finds herself increasingly entangled in an ever-changing world.

If you manage to make it to the end and break the loop, you’ll be faced with some startling revelations about the main character and the planet that make for great sci-fi storytelling.

Platforms: Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Although time travel generally involves going forward or backward in history, you can extend this further to account for multiple realities or planes of existence.

With this mindset, one could argue that the horror game The Medium uses time travel as a game mechanic, with the main character able to travel between the spirit world and the living world.

In a practical sense, this allows you to make changes in either world that affects the other, such as unlocking doors to progress, obtaining a key item to solve a puzzle, or warding off hostile enemies.

The story follows psychic Marianne as she’s mysteriously summoned to an abandoned hotel where she’ll have to use her powers to unravel its history and help free the spirits trapped within its grounds.

Reminiscence

Platform: Windows

Reminiscence is a story-driven, psychological horror game that has you warping, jumping, and rewinding time and space in order to save your family.

In it, you play as a man living in a world that’s about to collapse into anarchy who suddenly discovers their wife and kids have mysteriously disappeared.

While searching your home for clues, you stumble upon a watch that lets you travel between two eras: the post-apocalyptic present, and 1950s American suburbia.

By switching back and forth between both realities, you’re able to alter the state of certain objects to solve puzzles and advance the story.

Inspired by sci-fi classics like Back to the Future, No Time sees you stealing a suspiciously familiar time machine vehicle from a secret facility before setting off on a time-traveling adventure.

Unlike many games in the genre which center on heavily scripted missions, the game functions as a time travel simulator with both story and sandbox elements.

As a result, you’re free to explore any date throughout history from 0-2030 AD while making sure not to destroy the current timeline by interfering as little as possible and avoiding your younger self.

The game also features a day/night cycle, various job minigames and side quests, crafting, and a combat system for dealing with pesky Time Agents. 

Outer Wilds

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

If you’re looking for an engaging and immersive time travel game about space exploration , look no further than Outer Wilds .

You take on the role of the newest recruit for Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program looking to expand its knowledge of the galaxy and its ancestors’ mysterious disappearance.

The narrative addresses various sci-fi clichés such as black holes, antimatter, and of course time travel, with your character confined in an everlasting 22-minute time loop.

This is complemented by a densely packed open world consisting of hand-crafted, explorable planets with interesting backstories and distinct hazards that can be tricky to navigate.

Twelve Minutes

Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Twelve Minutes is an interactive thriller about a man having a romantic dinner with his wife when a mysterious man claiming to be a police detective shows up on his doorstep.

Things quickly escalate and eventually the man is killed, only to find himself transported to the beginning of the evening with his previous memories intact.

Confused and desperate, he sets out to break the time loop by searching the apartment for clues and interviewing each person involved.

While some of the game’s different endings get into weird, taboo territory, there are interesting puzzles and narrative threads to tug at that make the journey worthwhile, though we suggest following a guide.

Platforms: Windows, Mac

In the stealth puzzle adventure game Timelie , every second matters and can bring you one step closer to freedom or death.

The game has you taking on the role of a young woman with a special gift that lets her control the flow of time as if it were a media player, rewinding and fast-forwarding to gain new insights. 

Harnessing this power allows her to manipulate obstacles in her path and avoid detection from robot patrols preventing her from leaving.

The story is quite compelling and the time travel mechanics are explored in some truly fascinating ways that become more complex the further you go.

The Gardens Between

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac, iOS

The Gardens Between is an indie puzzle game created by The Voxel Agents that has you manipulating time 20 abstract, narrative-driven levels.

The game is unique in that you don’t control the main characters directly but rather move them backward and forwards through time while altering the state of different objects to progress.

Each level reveals more about the relationship between the two main characters, Arian and Frendt, chronicling the evolution of their friendship leading up to a life-changing event.

While it’s a short-lived experience, clocking in around 2.5 hours, The Gardens Between tells a compelling story and explores time travel mechanics in some fun and interesting ways.

Timespinner

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac

Inspired by ‘90s action-platformers, Timespinner is a story-driven Metroidvania about a magical timekeeper named Lunais who seeks out revenge after her family is murdered by an evil empire.

Her quest for justice brings her to a mysterious and hostile world where she’ll have no choice but to wield her time manipulation power to defend herself and rewrite history.

The game has you exploring beautiful, atmospheric pixel art environments while switching between the past and present as you defeat enemies and acquire new powers.

Mastering Lunais’ time-manipulating abilities open up new possibilities for combat, which is further complemented by familiars that can be trained to fight on your side.

Life Is Strange

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android

A standout adventure title from Dontnod Studios and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange follows 18-year old aspiring photographer Max Caulfield as she comes to terms with her newfound powers.

Max has a supernatural ability that lets her move backward or forwards through time to alter the state of objects and their effect on the people around her.

Its applications vary depending on the scenario, allowing Max to mend relationships with her friends and family, solve bigger mysteries, and get revenge against the occasional bully.

Even if the gameplay aspect falls flat at times, the way time travel is introduced and incorporated into the structure of the story makes up for it.

Quantum Break

Platforms: Windows, Xbox One

Quantum Break is a cinematic action game from Remedy Games, best known for titles like Control and Alan Wake, and Max Payne.

In it, you take on the role of Jack Joyce, a man on a mission to prevent his timeline from ending by harnessing an array of unique time-based powers.

The story doubles as a live-action television series with certain events explained in further detail, which can require a bit more of a commitment than your average game.

With that said, Quantum Break is one of the best-looking time travel games in terms of graphical fidelity, boasting cool mind-bending camera tricks and special effects that still look great in 2025.

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac

Superhot  sets itself apart from more traditional  FPS games  by introducing one clever mechanic: time only moves forward when you do.

This grants the player ample time to assess threats and determine the best course of action before setting it in motion with stylish shootouts and melee showdowns.

To ensure combat is always readable, the game employs a minimalist art style that does a great job at conveying info: enemies are always red, environments are white, and weapons are black.

While it’s best enjoyed in VR with full immersion, you’ll still have a lot of fun playing with a gamepad controller or just mouse and keyboard. 

Titanfall 2

Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox One

The follow-up to Respawn’s criminally underrated  first-person shooter  features refined gunplay and fluid movement with a touch of time travel.

During Titanfall 2 ’s campaign, your character obtains a special wrist-mounted device that lets them swap back and forth between the past and present.  

This is helpful for exploring deteriorating buildings, avoiding clusters of foes, and solving nature-based challenges as pilot Jack Cooper.

Combine this with exciting parkour-based platforming and an arsenal of satisfyingly powerful weaponry and it’s easy to see why Titanfall fans want to see the series return.

BioShock Infinite

Time travel in the BioShock series is presented as a plot device in which certain characters, namely Elizabeth and the Lutece twins, can create dimensional time-alternating portals called Tears.

To that point, the game’s take on parallel universes and how they affect the overarching story can be boiled down to a single quote: “There’s always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city.”

BioShock Infinite sees you venturing into a floating steampunk city called Columbia where citizens still cling to violent religious and racist beliefs.

In order to make sense of the series’ extensive timeline, consider playing through the first two games in the series or watching a recap video before starting Infinite. 

Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Linux, Mac

Our final recommendation is Braid , a beloved indie puzzle platformer that comes from the mind of The Witness designer Jonathan Blow.

In it, you take on the role of a man named Tim as he attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster using time manipulation.

If that description didn’t make it obvious enough, the game’s story is meant to critique popular trends in modern video games but also features some excellent time travel puzzles.

Levels cover everything from rewinding and fast-forwarding time, altering the state of certain objects, using your character’s movement to determine the flow of time, and much more we don’t wish to spoil.

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Samuel is GamingScan's editor-in-chief. He describes himself as a dedicated gamer and programmer. He enjoys helping others discover the joys of gaming. Samuel closely follows the latest trends in the gaming industry in order to keep the visitors in the flow.

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10 best time travel games, according to metacritic.

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How To Beat Giovanni In Pokémon GO (October 2024)

Where does echoes of wisdom take place on the zelda timeline, today's connections hints & answers for october 2, 2024 (puzzle #478).

Time travel has always been a popular theme in video games. Last year's The Game Awards winner was the time-loop game Deathloop . One of the most anticipated games is a remake of the seminal time travel classic The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time . That game has unfortunately been delayed indefinitely, but time travel remains popular in gaming.

From time loops to time travel, there have been plenty of games to use temporal themes. This can be in simple level themes or take the basis for the game's story and some games even allow time to factor into the game mechanics. All the best games that feature time in major ways have been ranked by the review aggregator Metacritic.

Fire Emblem Awakening (2013) - 92

Fire Emblem Awakening was the breakout success of Fire Emblem . The game was a massive hit with critics and fans alike and blew up the series in popularity. Part of this was the unique way it utilized time travel. The game's narrative originally seemed straightforward until Lucina, male lead Chrom's child from the future, arrived in the present.

RELATED: Top 10 Fire Emblem Games, According To Metacritic

The game's permadeath-based strategy system was as fun as ever however, time travel was actually used to get new units rather than save old ones. Depending on which characters in your army spent time together, players would get different stats for that couple's child from the future. This allowed players to create relationships among their party members with few canon restrictions.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) - 92

Recently, there was an HD remake announced for The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time  but unfortunately, that project has now been indefinitely delayed, which makes sense with the game's time theme. The game allowed for novel manipulation of time through its mechanics. The titular prince uses an artifact called the Dagger of Time to rewind time and fix mistakes.

The Prince can also use the dagger to fight and freeze enemies in time. The enemies themselves are also temporal, being summoned by the titular Sands of Time. Aside from the time-based mechanics, the game incentivized parkour-based platforming in a big city, and the mechanics in this game would later inspire the similar Assassin Creed game series .

Sonic CD (2011) - 93

Back in the 90s, there were two attempts to make the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog . In the end, one became Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the other became Sonic CD. Sonic CD has always been an oddball among the classic Sonics, with its best version being its iOS port, strangely. Part of that strangeness is due to the game's focus on time travel mechanics.

All of the levels feature four distinct time periods to explore. There's the past, the present, a bad future, and a good future; by running past time travel signs as fast as possible, Sonic can access these areas and even change the future from bad to good. Sonic will feature more time travel in the future, but this game is where it hit the peak for many fans.

God of War II (2007) - 93

Eventually, Kratos would defeat Zeus, but players facing Zeus at the beginning of God of War II were perhaps skeptical of the spartan's chances. Zeus completely smites Kratos where he stands, and the rest of the game is a trek through time to avert his death. Kratos would eventually come into conflict with the Fates and the god of time themselves to save himself in this sequel.

RELATED: 10 Best God Of War Games Ranked By Metacritic

Using the Loom of Fate is less of a gameplay function and more of a story one. This allows Kratos to journey to many exciting locales over the game. This includes Zeus' famous war with the titans millennia before Kratos was born. There are a few puzzles with timed themes, but this time travel adventure is more just a trip throughout Greek mytho-history.

Day of the Tentacle (1993) - 93

Day of the Tentacle is a classic LucasArts adventure game from the 90s . It's the sequel to Maniac Mansion but has a much different setup than that game. Rather than a large group of selectable teens, the player controls three specific teens. Each of these characters is trapped in a different period of history.

Of the three protagonists, only the returning Bernard remains in the present; Hoagie and Lavern are sent 200 years into the past and present respectively. However, the protagonist can switch between them at any time, leading to a lot of interesting puzzles regarding causality. The game received high praise for its puzzles and sense of humor.

Braid (2008) - 93

Braid was one of the earliest indie darling video games . There's lots of discussion about the themes of Braid and what it really means. One thing that's a lot less up for debate is Braid's central mechanic. The protagonist, Tim, can rewind time to undo his mistakes, however, the temporal shenanigans don't simply end there.

Future levels introduce more temporal mechanics like objects that aren't affected by time travel. Another level introduced a clone that spawns when time travel is activated and the ending famously reverses the entire game to change its plot. This simple application of time travel was enough for critics to call Braid one of the best games of all time.

Chrono Series (1995 and 2000) - 94

The Chrono series are tied extremely closely to time travel. The two RPGs are very different from each other, but given their shared focus on time, they're best discussed together. Chrono Cross ranked higher on Metacritic but doesn't actually feature time travel. While it is an incredibly ambitious Playstation 1 game, it actually mainly deals with alternate universes instead.

RELATED: Top 10 Turn-Based RPG Video Games, According To Metacritic

The original Chrono Trigger features the time travel theme more freely. Characters can freely travel between eras and discover new facts about the world's history; however, both games are united in the end goal of stopping an apocalyptic force. Both of these classics are available on modern platforms, ensuring their legacies live on.

Bioshock Infinite (2013) - 94

Bioshock Infinite is one of the most ambitious games of the Tens. It was juggling a lot of heavy philosophical and philosophical themes alongside tackling time travel. In it, the main female lead, Elizabeth, can manipulate the space-time continuum to her will.

This manipulation can take the form of simple teleportation to more complex time travel. Alternate universes are also explored through different versions of the protagonist and Elizabeth. In fact, the game's plot twist revolves heavily around an alternate form of the main city being created by time travel. Some may find it complex, but Bioshock Infinite incorporates time in a variety of ways.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000) - 95

For lots of fans, Majora's Mask is the best Zelda game . That's because of its intimate relationship with time. The entire game world is on a timer, and events happen based on what time it is. This could be stressful, if not for the fact that The Legend of Zelda hero Link can manipulate time to make it easier.

The aforementioned time activities occur within a three-day time loop. Link can manipulate this loop by playing the Ocarina of Time. It allows him to speed up, slow down, freeze, and restart the time loop. Using this extraordinary ability feels great, as it lets the player take control of a usually inevitable system in time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) - 99

Of course, Majora's Mask wasn't the first Zelda game to feature time manipulation. Ocarina of Time often called the best game of its time, allowed the manipulation of time as well. However, this isn't done through the titular instrument, but through the Temple of Time area in Hyrule Castle Town. By sheathing and unsheathing the Master Sword, Link can travel between past and future.

The midpoint of the game throws out a big twist in the form of the seven-year time skip; Link is no longer a child, but now an adult adventurer. This is shocking, but Link can travel back in time easily enough, and the end of the game restores his lost youth to him. However, there are still many things to do when time traveling, like unlocking the Spirit and Shadow temples. Ocarina 's clever use of time earned it the praise it has received for decades.

NEXT: 9 Ways The Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time Changed The Gaming Industry Forever

• Prince of Persia

Best time travel games

Here's our list of the best time travel games with more timeloops and grandfather paradoxes than you can shake a stick at.

Looking for the best time travel games? These 10 entries mark the highlights of a genre that has been going strong for decades – promising the awe of hurtling forward in time, manipulating the present, or changing what’s happened in the past. Haven’t we all wanted to do that at some point?

Is time travel possible? Well, time travel is a pretty recognizable concept by now and has been around for as long as there have been people, whether in Hindu mythology or Japanese fairy tales. The idea of time travel in pop science fiction was widely popularized by H.G. Wells, who wrote the 1895 novel The Time Machine, as well as other stories that saw protagonists propelled into different eras.

While many modern games utilize some kind of repeating loop, like Hades or Loop Hero, the best time travel games take this a step further – allowing the player to distort time for their own ends, or forcing them to adapt to imprisonment within it.

These games don’t just use time travel as a story hook, but an integral part of how the game works – which is what helps them stand out among the bog-standard shooters, puzzle games, and platformers out there. 

So, if you loved watching the likes of Groundhog Day or Russian Doll , then these are the games for you. Who knows, maybe one of these titles will end up on our (or even your) space video games that should be movies or TV shows list. While you’re at it, make sure to check out our guide to the best time travel movies too, or if you’re after more games then these upcoming space games will interest you. 

10. Deathloop

• Release date: September 14, 2021
• Platform: PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series X/S

Possibly the best PS5 exclusive to have released on the console at the time (though it has since released on Xbox too), Deathloop is a thrilling time-travel first-person shooter (FPS) romp from the developers behind Dishonored.

You play as Colt, an assassin, who is on a mission to eliminate eight ultra-powerful individuals. These gifted beings are exploiting a time loop machine on a subarctic island to live the same day over and over, essentially becoming immortal and being able to do whatever they desire every night without consequence.

You must take out all eight to stop the loop from restarting – using what you learn across multiple loops to navigate the island and complete your mission in one perfect run. With slick gunplay, a gripping story, and a fascinating sci-fi premise, we don’t recommend you sleep on this one.

9. Twelve Minutes

• Release date: August 19, 2021
• Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC

It’s a fun, curious mystery game, with plenty of satisfaction to be had from toying with the objects and locations in your compact apartment to see how it’ll affect the outcome.

A curious time loop game, mostly in the star talent brought in to voice its trio of main characters: Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker), James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class, Trance), and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Lighthouse).

The action takes place in a small, one-bedroom apartment, where McAvoy’s protagonist comes home to find a number of surprises waiting for him – one of which is an armed assailant claiming to be a police officer pounding on their door. When you’re knocked unconscious, you begin the time loop again and have to figure out what’s really going on in order to escape the loop for good.

8. Titanfall 2

• Release date: October 28, 2016
• Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

The sequel to Respawn’s futuristic mecha-combat FPS is a thrilling ride. It has a single-player campaign that pivots effortlessly between fascinating game mechanics, never feeling a need to dwell too long on each one.

The time travel mission, ‘Effect and Cause,’ is a real standout. It allows you to shift between the past and present mid-air as you run, shoot, and platform your way across an expansive military facility. Paired with Respawn’s excellent gunplay, this acclaimed shooter offers far more imagination than the average Call of Duty game.

The brisk campaign has plenty of other thrills to recommend it, but its seamless utilization of time travel as an integral game mechanic – even while limited to a single level – makes it well worth inclusion in this list.

7. Outer Wilds

• Release date: May 28, 2019
• Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, PC

Another time loop game, you say? Outer Wilds is a standout indie game, so much so that it’s made our best space games list. It sees you scour a solar system to unpack its mysteries, over a series of 22-minute time loops that reset your progress just as the nearest sun explodes into a supernova. Phew.

As with Deathloop, you’ll have to do more than simply map out the game – needing to learn when certain events occur, or which actions are available in the orbits of the solar system’s planetary bodies. Starting out as a student project, Outer Wilds has gone on to be one of the best indie games in recent years, with a heady mix of environmental exploration, galactic mystery, and survival sim all in one.

6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

• Release date: November 21, 1998
• Platform: Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo Switch

The best game of all time? It’s hard to argue with this assessment for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT), a landmark 3D action-adventure game that launched on the Nintendo 64 in 1998. In it, the young hero Link finds a magical ocarina which is able to change the weather, transport him across distant lands, and even propel him through time to a post-apocalyptic world.

It’s not a one-way trip, thankfully, and much of the puzzle work in OoT is in traveling back and forth between time periods, using what you learn and obtain to progress in each setting. As ever, you’re fighting a great evil, battling monsters, gathering weapons and tools for your journey, and figuring out troublesome dungeons – but time travel is what elevates Ocarina of Time into a game of truly mythical proportions.

It's an oldie, but a goodie. You can find the game through Nintendo Switch Online, or on Nintendo DS systems.

5. Quantum Break

• Release date: April 5, 2016
• Platform: Xbox One, PC

Back in 2016 when Quantum Break released, it was the best-selling game published by Microsoft on the Xbox One. While it soon ceded that title to Sea of Thieves (who needs time travel when you have sea shanties?) it’s still a landmark game, and a fascinating experiment in interactive storytelling.

The main conceit of Quantum Break is its mix of gameplay with an interactive TV show that breaks up the story’s five acts, allowing you to make key decisions that affect the narrative for the rest of the game.

Originally conceived as a sequel to Alan Wake, before pivoting into a new IP, Quantum Break is set in a world where a failed time travel experiment allows you to halt, freeze, accelerate, and generally manipulate time around you – inevitably used to ramp up combat as you take on hordes of soldiers and try to fix a fracture in time itself. Time ‘stutters’ can also freeze objects in your environment, creating obstacles or platforms that help and hinder your progress along the way.

4. Life is Strange

• Release date: January 20, 2015
• Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android

While more recent Life is Strange games play around with the powers of empathy, or telekinesis, the original game is what started the franchise off with such aplomb – following the fortunes of a young girl who is able to rewind time.

Maxine ‘Max’ Caulfield discovers her time-manipulation ability when a classmate faces an unexpected danger – managing to undo the day’s events and keep them alive. As ever, time travel has unintended consequences, and while Max can aid or even save various people in her life, she finds the outcome isn’t always for the best in the long term. 

With a strikingly impressionistic art style, branching narratives, surprisingly high stakes for a high school story, and a good helping of teen angst, this episodic adventure is well worth a try.

3. Wanderer

• Release date: January 27, 2022
• Platform: PlayStation VR, SteamVR, Oculus

If you’re looking for a time-travel VR game, you’ve come to the right place. Wanderer is a first-person puzzle adventure that has you traveling back through time to prevent an apocalyptic present.

With a talking watch on your wrist, and the ability to jump to different places and periods, Wanderer lives up to its name, seeing you jettison across centuries of history and even to the moon. In each case, action is found in localized puzzles (escape rooms, essentially), some of which take imaginative back-and-forth travel to get the right objects for the right situation. 

You’ll get around 10 hours of play out of this one, along with some brain-bending puzzles that make the most of the VR medium (along with one of the best VR headsets )

• Release date: August 6, 2008
• Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Switch, PC, Mac, Linux

Few games play so successfully with time as Braid, a 2008 indie platformer initially launched on Xbox 360 to great acclaim. The developer went on to create The Witness with the profits from this game.

You play Tim, who is trying to find and rescue a princess from some unspecified monster. So far, so Mario. However, things aren’t quite so simple as running and jumping on Goombas: Braid utilizes a number of different time-based mechanics, from a simple rewind (helpful after jumping and missing a ledge) to whole levels that move forward in time as you move right and backward as you move left.

It’s a mind-melting game in many ways, and you may find the story elusive at first, it being gradually pieced together by jigsaw pieces you collect throughout your journey – and blown open by its subversive conclusion. But a recurring theme is the idea of wanting to redo or undo the past, and you won’t find a game that needles this idea as effectively or imaginatively as Braid.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

• Release date: April 27, 2000
• Platform: Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo DS

How could we list the best time travel games without Majora’s Mask? This follow-up to Ocarina of Time takes place in the same land of Hyrule as its predecessor just two months later, even re-using many in-game assets. The key difference is that an unhinged-looking moon going to crash into the Earth, obliterating everything – and you find yourself reliving the same three days over and over in an attempt to prevent the cataclysmic event from happening.

Those three days come to around an hour of actual gameplay time, meaning you play through a loop quite swiftly, but the real magic of Majora’s Mask is in how it expands on the time-warping magic of OoT. Here you’ll use the ocarina to jump back to the start of the loop, slow down the passage of time, or jump forward to a later day, navigating time like a puzzle dungeon in need of solving.

Earning widespread acclaim, Majora’s Mask has been rereleased several times throughout the years. For modern gamers, you can find the game through Nintendo Switch Online, or on Nintendo DS systems.

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10 Best Time Travel Games, Ranked

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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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And 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 10 time travel games you have to play.

10 Blinx: The Time Sweeper

First 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.

9 Life is Strange

The 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.

RELATED: Outer Wilds And The Best Games That Use Time Loops

Your goal in this game is to just experience Max's story, rewinding time to solve scenario’s 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.

Then 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

The 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

Quantum 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 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.

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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.

We 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.

The 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

Other 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 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

Timesplitters 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 fanbase THQ Nordic had to come out and apologize. Timesplitters 2 was the multiplayer shooter that fans of the N64 Goldeneye had been waiting 5 years for.

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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 for 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 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, Oracle of Ages, Seasons, & Majora's Mask

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 in a different way.

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 3 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 overcomplicating the plot or gameplay itself.

1 Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is probably one of the most enjoyable time-hopping stories of all time simply because the dev team at Square put an immeasurable amount of work into it without taking the game itself too seriously. This 90s masterpiece is focused on the story of Chrono as he gathers party members (like a giant robot or a frog knight) from different time periods to save the entire world.

It's an RPG that still holds up insanely well thanks to the incredible character designs from Dragon Ball Z's Akira Toriyama, as well as the inventive combat system. There's just so much to love about Chrono Trigger, and we haven't even mentioned its sequel Chrono Cross either.

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• Life Is Strange

9 of the best games with time travel

One Off The List

And with that we are another year closer to the eagerly anticipated cooling of all matter. You may have read that the concept of weeks, months and years is the culmination of humanity’s collective understanding of a complicated astronomical pattern. It's an interesting take. However, the correct hypothesis was posited by your stoner housemate Jed from university. “Time is, like, a construct,” he said, with the deep wisdom and clarity only three tins of San Miguel can deliver. “The Chinese have a totally different calendar, y’know. Do you want to order takeaway?”

So let’s chronicle games about time, specifically those that prove the passing of years is nothing but a directionless tumble through the jelly-like substance of spacetime. Here are 9 games about time travel. But which of them would you undo?

Titanfall 2

There is no better symbolic gesture of time’s callous supremacy than looting a shiny watch from a dead man’s wrist. Titanfall 2 gives you such a corspewatch , one that lets you zap from one timeline to another like Marty McFly with a machine gun. In the level “Effect and Cause” you do temporal parkour through a derelict enemy science lab, blipping into the shiny past to get around the crumbled walls of the present, and blipping back to the ruins again to take cover from enemy gunfire. It’s the highlight of a short but rollicking campaign, Titanfallists will often cry. They’re incorrect. The best bit is the training gauntlet, which is also a reminder of our continual second-by-second decay. Here’s what a good gauntlet run looks like. And here’s a great one .

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

In this alternate reality tank spammer, everyone’s favourite patent clerk Albert Einstein travels back through time to kill Hitler with a zappy handshake , making it the politest assassination in the history of Adolf-killing speculation. With no Nazism, the Soviet Union goes hog wild on Eastern Europe and China, munching up land like a communist Cookie Monster. The Allies get annoyed and war done get warred anyway. But this history-distorting device has bugger-all presence in the game itself, which remains classic RTS stuff. Only the Chronosphere makes use of Albert’s time-twiddling tech. And it's only a flashy house that teleports a lone unit across the map. That’s not time travel. That’s just travel.

Life Is Strange

Max “Clock Hands” Caulfield is a student who discovers she has the power to rewind people as if they were big VHS tapes made of flesh. As the player, this means wibbling time backwards to save lives and freezing the world to poke your nose in everybody’s business. Your world-altering power is also used to make yourself look like a dweeb par excellence, cribbing the answers to pop quizzes imposed upon you by pretentious college mates. Also, a bunch of people die. To be honest, the whole game is an episode of Bernard’s Watch written by sad French people.

Day Of The Tentacle

Day Of The Tentacle is an adventure game of unparalleled intelligence and a never-bettered exercise of lateral thinking via the principles of causation. You travel through time in a toilet .

Final Fantasy VIII

The villain of the objectively best Final Fantasy is a time-teetering witch god called Ultimecia who can possess other people just by sleeping and dreaming about the past. Others on this list need a machine, but Ulty can time warp just by having a lie down and feeling nostalgic. She can send her very vibe back through time. What a strong lady. Her ultimate desire is to “compress” time like a big WinZip file. And, honestly, who can blame her.

Outer Wilds

Well done, videogames. It only took you 26 years to figure out that Groundhog Day’s conceit was perfectly suited to a medium dedicated to repetition and death. (Huh? Majora’s what? Never heard of it.) While the Sexy Brutale used a time loop to indulge the player in an endless murder masquerade, playful space exploration game Outer Wilds uses the same gimmick to kill you with an inescapable supernova blast every 22 minutes. I know which eternal cycle of mortal anxiety I prefer .

Don’t worry, 22 minutes is plenty of time to admire the mini solar system, and travel to distant worlds where the sand from one planet falls unceasingly onto another in the shape of a giant hourglass. Outer Wilds is a game that understands the great calmness of non-existence, the sweet release of the coming nothing. All things must end, say the blue alien folk singers of this existentialist relief sim. Enjoy it when it happens. Sit down, roast a marshmallow, have a nice sigh.

Edge Of Tomorrow

Bold choice to make this completely hands-free, but the designers nailed it.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

There is no greater emblematic assertion that the Gregorian calendar is an arbitrary attempt to ignore the chaos of existence than when I stab you with my time knife. This Prince Of Persia reboot popularised wall-running and the “undo death” button at the same time. It is Braid for people who do not like wank. It is also framed as an Arabian Nights style story, told by a princely protagonist to a princess who doesn’t know him. So when you hurl the lad to his death too many times in a level, his narrator voiceover pops up on the “game over” screen. “Wait,” he protests, “it didn’t happen like that.” That's a fun touch, but it also means the eejit is sitting there in the princess’s chamber going: “And then I jumped over the 279th pit of spikes, or was it the 280th? But anyway I fell and died, no wait I didn’t die, ha ha, obviously I didn’t die, where was I?” Imagine being accosted in your own home by a coked-up intruder who keeps telling you about his dreams. That’s what this girl is experiencing. For 10 hours.

Titanic: Adventure Out Of Time

A point and click adventure in which an inconvenient bomb sends you back through time to save one of Hitler’s rubbish paintings from going down with the Titanic in 1912, thus making the artwork famous and prompting the anti-semite to continue his art career instead of his fascism career, completely averting World War II. All this without resorting to a single zappy handshake. Take that, Einstein.

One Off The List from… the worst Christmas gifts for PC gamers

Last week we lambasted you with the 8 worst Christmas gifts for gamers . But you decided that one of them deserved more credit. It’s… the life-sized cardboard cutout .

"The lifesize cutout must go," said commenter "Fnord73", who argues that a six-foot 2D Batman can deliver quality entertainment, so long as he is "lurking in the driveway." Fellow list-culler "Excors" agrees, noting a video that claims cardboard cutouts are a bonafide burglar deterrent. "But it does depend on who you choose," they say, "a cardboard Noel Edmonds was ineffective."

See you next time!

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Time travel is a unique concept that all kinds of media try experimenting with at some point. Thanks to that, there are frequently plenty of new great sci-fi games being released. There are also plenty of old JRPG gems that would deserve a full remake .

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This list will focus on simple time travel instead of complex hopping between parallel universes, such as in BioShock . Some honorable mentions of good time travel games would be Legacy of Kain , Dishonored 2 , or the old classic Ecco the Dolphin . The following games allow you to bend the flow of time and hop between the past, present, and future.

10 Back To The Future: The Game

Back to the Future: The Game is based on the popular classic trilogy and works as a sequel to it. You play as Marty McFly , who witnessed Dr. Emmett Brown disappear into an unknown timeline six months ago. You discover he has been imprisoned and travel back in time to save him.

The colorful cartoon art style and the new, engaging characters do a great job of setting up the game's world. The first two episodes draw you into the story, but unfortunately, the ending does not meet the expectations you have built.

9 TimeShift

In TimeShift , you play as an unknown physicist working on an iconic piece of armor that can alter time itself. Things go astray, your facility gets attacked, and your Alpha Suit gets stolen.

The thief is a rogue scientist named Krone , who wants to alter the past and rewrite history the way he sees fit. You have to travel back in time to stop him, using your Beta Suit . TimeShift is a great adventure game with lots of suspense, drama, and sci-fi action.

8 Assassin's Creed

The Assassin's Creed series has you revisiting your ancestors' memories instead of traveling back in time. Animus , the machine that enables you to do so, is a DNA-code-reading machine instead of a time-traveling one. Many of your ancestors have had a huge effect on history , and you get to experience it firsthand.

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In the span of all games, you see places such as Ancient Egypt or Greece, 9th-century England and Norway, and Victorian London. The story revolves around an ancient rivalry between two secret societies, the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar .

Braid is a great indie game that you can finish in about 5 hours . It has you playing Tim , a scientist who sets off to save an abducted princess and clear up some kind of mistake he made in the past.

You rewind time in order to solve some excellent puzzles and get to the end. Even though the art style, time manipulation, and puzzles are great, it is the story that will hook you over time.

6 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a great game that has not left the PlayStation 3 . It follows the story of Clank , who is being kept captive by Dr. Nefarious , and Ratchet , who is trying to save his friend.

During the gameplay, it is revealed that the villain wants to find and use the Great Clock to control time itself. The duo travels through time, trying to stop his evil plans while also learning more about their own pasts.

5 TimeSplitters

The TimeSplitters franchise is one of the best of PlayStation 2 and has you fighting against presumed alien creatures. These monsters, called TimeSplitters , disrupt human history by traveling through time using the power of some crystals .

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You play as the heroes of Earth, who jump through time periods between 1935 and 2035 trying to save humanity. The games offer some great first-person shooter maps and also the opportunity to travel through time in multiplayer mode.

4 Prince Of Persia

Before their huge success with the franchise Assassin's Creed , Ubisoft had another great time-traveling series, that of Prince of Persia . Especially in Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time , you get through the story by rewinding and slowing down time .

The time travel is not as grand as in other games, as you do not travel through different eras. Similarly, with Braid , you use your powers to solve puzzles and defeat your enemies.

3 Life Is Strange

The Life Is Strange series is Square Enix's newest take on time travel. It is a great interactive game based on episodic adventures . The first game had you playing as Max , a girl who has some special time-traveling powers.

Though her abilities are powerful, she can only travel to the past and to places she has already been. Max tries to save her best friend Chloe , and together they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student.

2 Chrono Trigger

The Chrono Trigger franchise has released some of the best SNES games and is still one of the best JRPGs of all time. It comes as no surprise that a huge studio such as Square Enix worked on it, as well as the legendary mangaka and character designer Akira Toriyama .

RELATED: Best Square Enix Games, Ranked

The games have you playing Chrono , a silent yet powerful young man who travels through time to gain allies, battle some of the most powerful enemies seen in JRPGs , and gather magic. All that is possible thanks to the time-travel machine known as Wings of Time .

1 Legend Of Zelda

Time travel is a recurring mechanic in the world of The Legend of Zelda games. In Ocarina of Time , Link will travel through time between his childhood and adulthood to prevent Ganon from obtaining the Triforce .

In Majora's Mask , you can also travel through time, either back to the first day of the game or half a day into the future. Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess , and Oracle of Ages also feature time travel in their storylines. With time travel , alternate timelines , and dimensions , The Legend of Zelda has it all.

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• Video Games
• The Legend of Zelda
• Back to the Future: The Game

The 10 Best Time Travel Video Games

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While books and movies have seen great success with time travel stories, video games are no exception to this storytelling phenomenon. Over the years, developers have found ways to enhance the gameplay and stories of their games through the warping of the space-time continuum. These time-traveling stories are told through numerous styles of games including visual novels, RPGs, and puzzle platformers.

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Where some games use time travel as a plot device or central focus of the story, other games use time travel as a gimmick for changing up the gameplay and giving players a chance to control the outcome of puzzles and battles. The best time travel games use these two ideas in tandem, weaving intricate storylines through time and letting players control those loops in order to reach one or multiple endings.

10 Travel With Link In The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Though time travel is a common theme in the Legend of Zelda series, Ocarina of Time introduced players to the mechanic through an incredible story that would cement it as one of the best games of all time. Players traveled back and forth through time, taking Link from child to adult and back again in order to solve puzzles, wield weapons, and complete areas.

Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda game to be done in 3D and introduced a handful of mechanics, like the targeting system, that would become staples in the series. The puzzles, dungeons, characters, and story all come together for a phenomenal game experience.

9 Try To Save Lives In Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate is an anime visual novel, so it doesn't have a ton of actual gameplay. The player mostly reads through the story events and makes the occasional choice based on which characters they want to interact with and what they want to say, but these choices can affect the outcome of the story and lead to several endings.

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The story follows Rintaro Okabe and his friends as they accidentally create a time machine and stumble onto a worldwide conspiracy led by a secret organization. The art is beautiful, and the story is deep and emotional. The game was popular enough that an anime adaptation was created .

8 Game Meets TV Show In Quantum Break

The Xbox One console exclusive from Remedy Entertainment, Quantum Break attempted something very different: they incorporated a TV show into the game itself. Players would play a section of the game for a few hours and then watch an "episode" of the Quantum Break show which continued the story from the end of gameplay into the next section.

The gameplay itself gave players time-altering abilities like shields , warping, and pausing time in bubbles. The third-person action game had a well-told story and featured a number of well-known actors, including Shawn Ashmore, Aiden Gillen, and Lance Reddick.

7 Life Is Strange, And So Are The Choices

Life is Strange has launched a series of episodic graphic adventure games since the original landed in the hands of gamers in 2015. The game is a third-person narrative puzzle-solving game where players can interact with objects and characters, making conversation choices that will effect the outcome of the story.

Players control Max and her "rewind" ability, which allows them to go back and alter the course of events. This included choices made in the game and conversations so that players could branch out and choose the path that they found most beneficial.

6 One Of The Best Indie Games Ever, Braid

Braid raised the bar for Indie games. The highly innovative and entertaining 2D platformer not only delivered interesting and intelligent puzzles, but it also had an engaging story that hooks the player until the final credits roll.

Players control time in each level as a means to solve puzzles, rewinding and fast-forwarding in order to re-establish platforms, unlock doors, or defeat enemies. The game features six worlds, each with its own time-based mechanic, which meant that players would need to rethink their time-changing strategies to solve new puzzles, keeping the gameplay fresh.

5 Join Doc And Marty In Back To The Future: The Game

Marty McFly and Doc Brown made the leap from the big screen to video games in this Telltale Games series. Instead of retelling the events of the Back to the Future movies, the game offers an all-new adventure for players and fans of the franchise to dive into.

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Much like the other Telltale games, Back to the Future: The Game has players exploring environments and interacting with objects and characters in order to make decisions that will lead them down an interesting narrative. Christopher Lloyd returned as Doc Brown, but Marty McFly was voiced by another actor, as Michal J. Fox was unable to provide voice content.

4 Pick Your Hero In Dishonored 2

A sequel to its first game, Dishonored 2 gave fans even more great gameplay and deep storytelling. The players are immersed in the fantastical steampunk world of Dishonored as either Corvo or Emily, and use supernatural powers to attempt to reclaim the throne lost at the start of the game.

In the Stilton Manor level, players are given a device letting them view the level through a piece of glass, allowing them to travel back three years in the past. Players can warp back and forth between times instantly, allowing them to escape or strategically attack enemies and solve puzzles. Players can also slow and freeze time through the character's powers, should they choose to use them.

3 Time Traveling Mech Pilots In Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 slipped through the cracks at launch, as it was sandwiched between the new releases of Call of Duty and Battlefield. It was mainly picked up by fans of the first game, but would later get more recognition after the success of Apex: Legends . What players realized is that the single-player story campaign of Titanfall 2 was a great FPS adventure where, in certain levels, players operated a time-travel device in order to shift between times.

This allowed the player to encounter enemies in a firefight, warp to a new time, change their position to behind the group, then warp back and blast away. Some platforming elements also needed the aid of time travel, warping between times to land on platforms and get across spanning chasms.

2 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Rebooted The Franchise

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time served as a reboot for the franchise once Ubisoft took it over . Players take control of The Prince and, after acquiring the Dagger of Time, use it to manipulate time in order to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

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The Prince can reverse time, meaning players that messed up a platforming jump can try again without dying, slow down time to take a moment to think, or stop it completely. Combining these powers into the hack-and-slash combat proved fun and unique. There was also a sequel, The Warrior Within , that continued the Prince's story, keeping the same time-altering gameplay.

1 An Oldschool RPG For The Ages, Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger entered the fray on the SNES in 1995 and introduced gamers to a new franchise that would see several sequels and spinoffs down the years. It was revolutionary for its time, offering up multiple endings, side-quests that gave more depth to its side characters, and a real-time battle system.

Players traveled through time via portals and a time machine from the game's present-day to its past where past actions affect future events. Depending on how the players get to the final boss battle, they would get one of twelve different endings, as they make their decisions to try and stop a global catastrophe.