---
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
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
---
# Time and causality

id: puzzle--family-time
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/puzzle--family-time
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/puzzle--family-time/

The player changes available actions through temporal states and causal dependencies.

## At a glance

![A ring creates a local time-dilation area](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-braid-00.webp)

[Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Area where time advances differently

- Distinguish states that rewind, persist or change independently.

- [Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/)

## How it works

Change the availability of actions through temporary states and dependencies.

## Variants

### Variants and applications

<a id="family-time-variants"></a>

- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>
- 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>

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and 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.

- [Mobius Digital: Outer Wilds](https://www.mobiusdigitalgames.com/outer-wilds.html) (id: source-20507e7aa4895c2c)
- [Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/) (id: source-aba2be33e4d64649)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors