---
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t252
type: mechanic
id: time-world-rules--t252
lang: en
title: 'Recorded actions, replays and interacting with copies'
summary: >-
  Recording turns an action sequence into a repeating participant with whom the
  current player can coordinate new actions.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t252/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t252.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t252.md
aliases:
  - Recorded actions and copies
tags:
  - 'Time, information and world rules'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-eceba0e40b661634
  - source-aba2be33e4d64649
sources:
  - id: source-eceba0e40b661634
    title: 'PuzzleScript: Rules'
    url: 'https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-aba2be33e4d64649
    title: Braid
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: time-world-rules
    id: t252
    title: 'Time, information and world rules'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/time-world-rules/#t252'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Recorded actions and copies
    description: >-
      Recording turns an action sequence into a repeating participant with whom
      the current player can coordinate new actions.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-braid-04.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/26800/0000007892.1920x1080.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: Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid
      alt: Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid
      markers:
        - x: 40
          'y': 65
          label: Hero’s current position
        - x: 74
          'y': 54
          label: An echo repeats rewound actions
    tips:
      - Distinguish recorded copy actions from current player input.
    examples:
      - title: Braid
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/time-world-rules
---
# Recorded actions, replays and interacting with copies

id: time-world-rules--t252
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t252
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t252/

Recording turns an action sequence into a repeating participant with whom the current player can coordinate new actions.

## At a glance

![Repeated actions and their echo after rewinding in Braid](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-braid-04.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. Hero’s current position
2. An echo repeats rewound actions

- Distinguish recorded copy actions from current player input.

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

## How it works

Recording turns an action sequence into a repeating participant with whom the current player can coordinate new actions.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t252-variants"></a>

- Ghosts replay input on a shared timeline. <a id="t252-v1"></a>
- Copies encounter the changed environment. <a id="t252-v2"></a>
- New recordings replace a limited replay slot. <a id="t252-v3"></a>
- Synchronization aligns actions from different attempts. <a id="t252-v4"></a>

## Design example

A first recording holds a lever while the current character carries cargo through an open gate.

Prototype check: Test replay divergence after geometry changes and explicitly choose input replay or stored-trajectory playback.

## Context and limits

Time and space rules change action causality; the interface must show which state survives a transformation. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [PuzzleScript: Rules](https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html) (id: source-eceba0e40b661634)
- [Braid](https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/) (id: source-aba2be33e4d64649)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors