{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/puzzle--family-time","type":"mechanic","id":"puzzle--family-time","lang":"en","title":"Time and causality","summary":"The player changes available actions through temporal states and causal dependencies.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/puzzle--family-time/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-time.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-time.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Puzzles","Mechanics catalog"],"sourceIds":["source-20507e7aa4895c2c","source-aba2be33e4d64649"],"sources":[{"id":"source-20507e7aa4895c2c","title":"Mobius Digital: Outer Wilds","url":"https://www.mobiusdigitalgames.com/outer-wilds.html","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-aba2be33e4d64649","title":"Braid","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Change the availability of actions through temporary states and dependencies."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants and applications\n\n<a id=\"family-time-variants\"></a>\n\n- Rewinding the state. Definition: Return the system to the previous state and change the further sequence. Conditional example: Rewind the fall and select another moment of the jump. <a id=\"variant-rewind\"></a>\n- Different times for objects. Definition: Start, stop or reverse the time of individual objects independently. Conditional example: Return a bridge to the past, maintaining the current position of the load. <a id=\"variant-selective-time\"></a>\n- Stop the process. Definition: Freeze movement or processes, while maintaining the possibility of other actions. Conditional example: Fix a flying platform in a convenient position. <a id=\"variant-time-freeze\"></a>\n- Record and playback of actions. Definition: Leave the executable sequence of your own behavior. Conditional example: Record the path of the double to the pressure plate. <a id=\"variant-record-replay\"></a>\n- Repeating cycle. Definition: Plan actions on a repeating schedule using knowledge of past attempts. Conventional example: Get into a passage before it floods. <a id=\"variant-time-loop\"></a>\n- Changing the past for the sake of the future. Definition: To change an early state and use the consequences in a later one. Conditional example: To plant a plant in the past and climb it in the future. <a id=\"variant-past-future\"></a>\n- Action in the availability window. Definition: Coordinate actions with periodic or irreversible changes in the environment. Conditional example: Pass the gateway at the moment of phase coincidence. <a id=\"variant-temporal-window\"></a>\n- Synchronization of cycles. Definition: To change the beginning, period or delay of repeating processes. Conditional example: To combine the opening of three rotating valves. <a id=\"variant-phase-sync\"></a>\n- Order of cause and effect. Definition: Arrange events so that each creates the conditions for the next. Conditional example: First fix the support, then trigger the collapse. <a id=\"variant-causal-order\"></a>\n- Time loop coordination. Definition: Construct actions that are compatible with already observed consequences. Conditional example: Transfer an object to a past version of oneself without contradiction. <a id=\"variant-self-consistency\"></a>\n- Time dependent on actions. Definition: Take into account the rule that connects the flow of processes with the move or movement of the player. Conditional example: Move forward so that a moving danger does not block the path. <a id=\"variant-action-time\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A wide catalog of mechanics for digital puzzles, paper logic problems and physical puzzles. Each position contains an action or rule and a conditional example of application."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"puzzle","id":"family-time","title":"Puzzles","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/puzzle/#family-time","categoryIds":["section-1"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Time and causality","description":"The player changes available actions through temporal states and causal dependencies.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-braid-00.webp","width":1280,"height":720,"game":"Braid","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/26800/0000007887.1920x1080.jpg?t=1734027955","credit":"Number None","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"A ring creates a local time-dilation area","alt":"A ring creates a local time-dilation area","markers":[{"x":27,"y":72,"label":"Area where time advances differently"}]},"tips":["Distinguish states that rewind, persist or change independently."],"examples":[{"title":"Braid","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/puzzle"}}