One Player, Many Hands
Time Clones asks a strange question and then builds an entire puzzle platformer around answering it: what if you could send a recording of yourself back to the start of the level to help you finish it? Each stage is a small, self-contained room full of pressure plates, switches, doors, and gaps that a single character simply cannot solve alone. So you play the level once, and everything you did - every jump, every step, every switch you flipped - gets stored as a "clone" that replays your exact route the next time you attempt the room. Run it again with a second version of yourself following your first recording, and suddenly two of you are on the plate at once, or one of you is holding a door open while the other walks through. Layer in a third or fourth clone and the room turns into a small orchestra of past selves executing a plan you wrote for them.
How a Level Actually Comes Together
Use the arrow keys or WASD to move and jump, exactly as you would in any platformer - there's no separate "record" button to fumble with; the game automatically captures your route from the moment the level starts to the moment you finish, die, or reset. Once a run is banked, restarting the level spawns your clone to walk that exact path in perfect sync while you take control of a fresh character standing at the start line. The objective on each stage is the same: get every required switch triggered and every player character to the goal at the same time, using however many clone layers the puzzle calls for. If you mistime a jump or a clone gets stuck on a ledge, just reset and try the sequence again - nothing is permanent until the level is actually solved.
Tips for Staying Ahead of Your Past Self
- Before moving on your first pass through a room, actually scan for every plate and door - a clone recording that ignores a switch you didn't notice yet means restarting the whole sequence from scratch.
- Walk your first clone's path a beat slower than feels natural; a clean, deliberate recording is far easier to build a second and third layer around than a rushed one full of awkward stutter-steps.
- Think in terms of "who needs to be where, when" rather than "what do I do first" - Time Clones rewards working backward from the final goal state instead of improvising forward.
- If a puzzle needs a clone to hold a switch permanently, send that clone in early and have it stay put, then use your live character to handle the trickier timing-based platforming afterward.
- When a level feels impossible with two clones, look for a spot where a third recording could double back and cover a gap the first two left open - most late-game rooms are built around exactly that extra layer.
A Good Fit If You Like Thinking in Layers
Fans of self-referential, plan-ahead puzzle design will feel right at home here, the same way Brain Puzzle rewards spotting a non-obvious solution or Unpuzzle asks you to rethink the rules of a level rather than just react to it. If you enjoy the tension of a ticking clock layered on top of logic, Laqueus Escape is worth a look too. Time Clones stands out because the "opponent" you're outsmarting is a recording of your own choices - every mistake you make becomes part of the puzzle for your next attempt. You can find more brain-benders like this in our full games library anytime you want another puzzle to chew on.
