Last month, there was an announcement for a VR game based on the classic movie Groundhog Day. If you aren’t familiar with it, the movie was based on a man reporting on the American Groundhog Day tradition before finding himself repeating the day over and over again. I’m quite a fan of these ‘time repeating itself’ kind of films. Edge of Tomorrow is a lot of fun, Source Code is interesting, and Happy Death Day has a great premise (it’s a garbage film though). I’m not sure how Groundhog Day will work as a VR game, but this has got me thinking about games that use this sort of mechanic.

You could argue that any game that includes player death as a mechanic is Groundhog Day in style. You return and repeat the same events but with new knowledge that allows you to make better progress up until your next demise. Rogue-likes/lites make particular use of this, forcing you back to the beginning to try and make it through the day once more. I’m ignoring this though and going for games that use this in a narrative way. Otherwise I could just throw out a bunch of random games and have done with it. Onwards!
Potential spoilers ahead for each game by the way…
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Let’s start with the obvious one. The world ends in three days, and you’ll see it happen over and over again during your journey to prevent the most terrifying moon you’ve ever seen crashing into the land. There’s not enough time to complete this feat at first, and only by your gains through each run can you have a chance to succeed.

There’s really nothing I can say about Majora’s Mask that hasn’t been said a hundred times elsewhere. It’s considered by some to be the greatest Legend of Zelda game created (making it one of the best games of all time by that suggestion) as well as the darkest. There are so many people who’ve analysed this an come to various conclusions, most of which involve Link having died during the events of Ocarina of Time and this being his purgatory of sorts. It had a rerelease on 3DS a few years back which is pretty neat.
If I’m honest, this list was in part inspired by The Shameful Narcissist having written about the game recently. It’s worth a read. Anyway, Oxenfree is a narrative-driven adventure game with a horror bent. A bunch of friends to drinking on an island, discovering that an occupant of town had been responsible for an incident that cost the lives of nearly 100 people. It’s great, with all sorts of bizarre things going on that affect the relationships of the characters (as well as their survival).

At various points, you’ll come across puzzles that relate to events that have already happened as well as ones that haven’t happened yet (that you know of anyway), and the finale suggests a whole lot of time travel shenanigans! It’s really rather good and worth your time. It’s normally pretty cheap on most services too.
999: 9 Hours, 9 People, 9 Doors
This actually ties into pretty much the whole Zero Escape series. The amount of Groundhog Day style stuff going on here is incredible. In this first entry in the series involves 9 people waking up in a sinking ship who are told that they can escape should they solve enough puzzles to reach the final numbered door. They each have a number (1 to 9) on a watch strapped to them, and should they fail to follow the rules of the ‘game’ the watch will explode, killing them.

This is a game with multiple endings. In fact, there’s even a flow chart that shows you roughly where the choices that affect these paths are. But the thing is, it’s not actually possible to reach the ‘true’ ending first time around. You literally have to fail multiple times to open up further paths because your character will somehow remember the events that lead to their premature demise. It’s not actually a ‘time repeating itself’ thing, as it goes down the parallel universes path instead, but I felt that the waking with knowledge of your ‘other life’ linked in well enough. If puzzles aren’t your thing, there’s a novel version of it available on mobile.
The Sexy Brutale
Damn, I liked this game! The visuals! The music! The utterly bonkers story! It’s not completely flawless, but there was so much to love. You awaken in a casino (the titular Sexy Brutale) and witness a murder. You’re given a watch that allows you to restart the day, and the task of preventing this (and other) murder(s) from taking place. You do this by observing the murder, interacting with the environment in and around the murder scene, and setting events in motion that will save the victim’s life.

Here’s the trick though: you cannot be in the same room as another character. You can’t directly interfere with the murder, meaning that you need to find other ways to prevent the demise of the other casino patrons. Saving someone gives you their mask and allows you to access more of the casino. There are some genuinely creative ways to save their lives and it acts more like a point and click puzzle game at times. The story goes utterly bananas by the end, with there being a lot of explanation as to why you can Groundhog Day the world at will and why all the patrons wear different masks. It’s pretty great and well worth a look.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop banging on about wanting a sequel to this, or at the very least the next part of the story! Set in an oppressive, dystopian future, two scientists manage to create a time machine. The implications for this are quite significant, but I won’t spoil any more as it’s a very short point and click game (not bad for a free game jam game at any rate).

You’ll repeatedly need to head back to the beginning to continually try to change events in certain ways. In a nice touch, Unloop keeps track of the number of loops you took to reach the conclusion. It’s certainly worth a look and probably won’t take more than 15 minutes to finish.
I did consider Alan Wake’s American Nightmare due to the nature of the early part of the game. I really do like Alan Wake, but I felt as though this section just artificially elongated the game rather than serving a real purpose.
What Groundhog Day style games do you know of? As a mechanic, I find it really interesting so I’ll certainly listen to any recommendations!
Minit
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Ah yes! I didn’t think of that. Also Half Minute Hero would fit the bill nicely.
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The Stanley Parable. I haven’t played it myself but I think it’s getting a re-release this year so will be picking it up. I’ve watched parts of it on a Let’s Play and it looks great!
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Also a good suggestion! I’ve played it to death and subsequent playthroughs are different depending on what you’ve done previously. I’m glad console’s are finally getting a release, although it would run on pretty much anything these days.
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I actually can’t think if any. Didn’t even think of Majora’s Mask…
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It’s surprising how few of them there are. If it’s handled well it can be a pretty cool mechanic. Badly, and it’s just playing the same level forever!
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I still haven’t beaten the 1st proper temple in Majora’s Mask, so that is technically true
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Was going to say Minit, but Richenbaum has that covered. I really like this sort of time loop premise. Not a game, but I loved the recent TV series Russian Doll on Netflix which used this concept.
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I saw that mentioned a few times whilst doing a little research for this. I’ll have to add it to my Netflix list.
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The bleak pathos of MM was such a contrast to the triumphalism of OoT but a great mechanic that worked and is more memorable in certain ways today
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Certainly more memorable thanks to anyone that was so utterly at odds with what had come before.
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Some of these sound great. I can’t think of a game I’ve played with that format (unless you count Bandersnatch) but I love the concept, despite that it’s been done a lot in film/TV. 999 looks right up my street.
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999 was pretty good on iOS as it does away with some of the puzzles from the DS version which were pretty tough (you can still get them in the Zero Escape collection on Steam though). It’s a pretty bonkers series but well worth a look!
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Unloop sounds amazing, so I know what I want to play now. Also, Oxenfree is basically the best game ever made. This is also seriously making me remember that I never finished Half Minute Hero and want to go back and do that, too. Also, I’ve never played The Sexy Brutale and that’s a crime. Basically, my gaming list just got longer because of you.
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You’re very welcome 😂
I’m really keen on more Unloop, and one of the developers have hinted to me that they may be working on a full game based on it. I’m looking forward to that!
The Sexy Brutale is really quite unique. I love the art style and music. Of the more recent games listed I’d probably recommend that most highly.
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The Stanley Parable. That game is a wild ride and when I mean wild ride, I mean BioShock levels of a wild ride. Definitely check it out!
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I really do like the Stanley Parable, so I’m not sure why I missed that one! I’m glad it’s getting a console release finally.
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Is it? Nice! Will gladly pick it up again.
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If it has more endings then I’ll certainly give it another go!
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Edge of Tomorrow and Source Code were enjoyable to watch. I watched a play-through of The Sexy Brutale, and all that I’ve got to say is it’s fascinating to watch how different choices play out. All around great genre!
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I think it’s such a nice way of handling game mechanics, plus it allows developers to reuse assets in ways that aren’t just rehashes. Having said that, I’m glad it isn’t something that’s horribly overdone.
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I always appreciate the shout out! I’ve either played/watched these games or I have them on my backlog. Majora’s Mask is probably my favorite Zelda. I just recently watched it, and it’s always enjoyable.
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I like the idea if visual novels using the multiple play through with more knowledge thing, but I find they can drag on a bit. I’ll have to look out for shorter ones that do that.
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