Time Paradogs is a 3D video game prototype created for the 2017 iteration of the Ubisoft Game Lab competition, a collegiate level challenge where the goal is "to develop, in 10 weeks, playable 3D-video-game prototypes while adhering to the theme, mandate and constraints provided by a jury of Ubisoft professionals." The theme given was "“Playing With Time", with an added design requirement of creating a multiplayer game that showcases "asymmetrical gameplay", and a technical requirement that the game should be a networked experience.
This entry is called Time Paradogs, a 2-player cooperative puzzle game taking place in a science research facility located on the moon, where dogs are used as live test subjects for time travel experimentations. One player plays as the "Overseer", tasked with giving instructions to the test subject and managing togglable doors, all facilitated by their raised vantage point of the level. The other player plays as "Laika", the main test subject awarded with time travel powers and a jetpack for mobility. Laika can travel back through time, but whenever she does so, she creates a second instance of herself in the game level, as her future self manifests itself in the past. Laika must use this power in order to be in multiple places at once to solve the game's puzzles, but must be careful to avoid a time paradox by interrupting one of her past selves, either by direct contact or mismanagement of the level elements by the Overseer. A time paradox will create a chain reaction that will revert the current timeline to when the paradox occured, thus undoing the progress of both players. As the game progresses, Laika will also rescue the rest of the test subjects, as her ultimate quest is to escape the test facility they've all been sequestered.
