Time Lab
Design Documentation
Introduction
I created this puzzle game where you play as a robot trying to escape a mysterious facility. To progress, you’ll use three core abilities: rewind objects to their previous state, swap positions with them, and freeze time. These mechanics combine to create challenging puzzles and an immersive escape experience.
Post Processing
One of the key things I learned in Unity during this project was how to use post-processing effects on the camera to enhance gameplay feedback. By dynamically changing the post-processing volume when activating abilities, I created distinct visual effects that make it feel like you’re rewinding objects or shifting into another realm, adding depth and immersion for the player.
Powers
The core highlight of the game is its unique suite of time‑manipulation abilities, which the player uses to solve puzzles and navigate each level. Each power interacts with the environment in a different way.
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Rewind: The primary mechanic is the Rewind ability, which allows the player to reverse an object’s state back in time. This can be applied to objects, enabling solutions such as restoring platforms, resetting weights on scales, or reversing moving hazards. The mechanic functions similarly to the Recall ability in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but is integrated into more puzzle‑driven scenarios.
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Grab: Another key mechanic is the ability to grab and reposition objects, then immediately rewind, swap or freeze them. This creates a powerful combo where the player can manually place an object,use abilioty to change its physics, and use its movement path to solve traversal challenges or manipulate puzzle elements.
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Swap: The Swap ability lets the player instantly exchange positions with a target object. This is used for mobility and stealth‑style solutions, such as crossing gaps, bypassing obstacles, or repositioning behind enemies without being detected.
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Freeze: The Freeze ability stops time for specific objects or hazards, allowing the player to move safely through dangerous areas. It’s often used to climb falling debris, bypass moving traps, or slip past enemies while their awareness is frozen.
What I learned
I learned how to use Unity's post-processing volume to make abilities feel like they affect the environment around the player, even though the effect is achieved entirely through camera effects and color changes. This helped reinforce the impact of each power without touching the environment.
I learned how to implement an object rewind system by storing the last 8 seconds of an object's movement. During rewind, the object is interpolated between stored positions, allowing it to smoothly return to its previous state in time.
Lastly, I learned how to properly pause and unpause the system in Unity. This was used for the freeze ability, where most objects are paused while specific objects remain active (player).