The game launches at a promotional price of $0.99/£0.59/0.79€ which is amazing value for money for a beautifully realised game which includes 32 levels of time-warping puzzles, not to mention cats, professors and hair dryers.Released in tandem with the game is ‘Timeloop Lite’ – a free ‘taster’ of the full game. Timeloop Lite features five whole levels from the full game – the first four levels which ease you into the game plus
There are 32 levels in total and they all basically comprise a set of interconnecting rooms that are for the most part locked. You are a highly trained robot and to fix the doors, it's just a matter of going up to the door and the control panel, tap the icon and fix the problem. The tricky bit is that if you move away from the control panel, the door will lock itself again. This is where your other self steps in to help out. While your first incarnation is keeping the door open, your other self can walk through and tackle the next set of problems. If needed, a third robot can be summoned and walk all the way through to rescue the prof. Each time you reincarnate, time spins back and you see the shadow of your former self scurrying through the level repeating the moves you made. The key point to remember is that the first robot cannot interact with the second robot. Say the first robot unlocks a door for the second robot to pass through and the second robot then opens another door. The first robot cannot then walk through this second door because it wasn't open in the first instance. Lets not get in a debate about time travel. I know Back To The Future might have done things different but these are the rules of TimeLoop.
This is a mind boggling game at the outset and kudos to the development guys who thought up this crazy game. There is a countdown for the remaining oxygen and you do only have a set number of timeloops that you can generate. We've had the preview build for a few weeks and at first we were busy clock watching and trying to be super efficient and we basically overcomplicated the game. After leaving the game alone for a couple of weeks to fester in the back of our heads, it all became clear. With your first robot, a general rule is to do as much as you can and go as far as possible with it until time runs out. The TimeLoop will automatically engage once the time runs out and then you can take your second robot through the first set of open doors and continue in the quest. It's not the most efficient approach but it should just get you through most of the levels. For the real puzzle maniacs, the game does have an award system but getting the gold score is very very difficult and requires excellent timing and control.
The controls are all touch based. Tap the screen for the robot to walk there and tap the control box for the robot to fix the device. It's all pretty straight forward although sometimes your robot may slide across the walls trying to get through the door because you haven't directed it in a straight line through the opening. The graphics have that mad scientist feel to them with zany colours and just a general wacky feel to it all. The sound is actually quite good and the wails of the trapped scientists are particularly funny.
TimeLoop is a very well thought out game and should keep you amused for a good few hours. If you are keen to get all the gold, then this will definitely entertain and frustrate you for many more.