Temporal Agency and Timeplay in Video Games

Abstract

This paper examines temporal agency in video games, referred to as the player's ability to manipulate time within the game world, to make decisions, and to observe their consequences. Building on existing scholarship about ludic agency and ludic temporality, this paper utilizes analytical formalism to examine how games with time manipulation, particularly those with recursive temporal mechanics, shape gameplay experience. The analysis identifies four key forms of Timeplay (gameplay with time): Adaptive, Strategic, Ethical, and Reflective, each emphasizing a unique aspect of the player's relationship with time. By analyzing selected games, this paper demonstrates how each form of Timeplay provides players with distinctive forms of temporal agency, deepening our insights into the interplay between time, choice, and the gameplay experience. This paper offers a framework for understanding and analyzing the multifaceted ways players engage with time in video games, expanding the existing analyses of ludic temporality and broadening our understanding of ludic agency.