Abstract: While many games have utilized the enormous computing power available on consoles and PCs for graphics, physics, and artificial intelligence, few games have realized this untapped resource for innovative gameplay. In this talk, I will discuss in-depth about the use of time travel and time manipulation in gameplay, sharing our experience developing the world's first meta-time strategy game Achron, a real-time strategy game where all players and units can jump to and play at different times independently and simultaneously.

I will present a brief history and overview of time travel and time manipulation as it is used in literature, movies, and current games. The types of time travel described in science fiction are much richer than have been previously implemented in video games, and I will discuss ways of implementing them from a gameplay perspective, while touching on some technical aspects. I will share various nuances about time travel and time manipulation mechanisms and how they affect game design, showing benefits and pitfalls, and how they relate to traditional puzzles and strategies in gaming.

Short Bio: Chris Hazard is both a PhD student in computer science at North Carolina State University and the president and founder of Hazardous Software Inc. His research at NCSU involves the study of trust and reputation in computational settings, guided by ideas from economics. At Hazardous Software, Chris has designed and developed the world's first time travel game Achron, where all players and objects within the game can jump to different positions in time independently. Chris won the Best Paper Award at the 2007 International Conference on Electronic Commerce and an Outstanding Teaching Assistant award at NCSU in 2008.