Horror escapeHorror puzzleHorror
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
Rate itNine captives, one hatch, and it opens when six are dead.
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Stores
- Steam
- Price
- Paid
- Rated
- Very Positive on Steam (82% of 4,938 reviews); Metacritic 78 on PC
- Players
- 1
- Controls
- Mouse or controller; point and click in escape rooms
- Made by
- Chime (published by Spike Chunsoft)
- Released
- 2016
Not on itch.io. Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma is on Steam, PC, PlayStation and Xbox. It is not in the itch.io part of the site you came from.
What frightens Nine people wake in an underground facility with black bracelets on their wrists, held by a figure in a plague doctor's mask; the hatch opens only after six are killed, and you must make life-or-death decisions, such as who will die, where even the best choice has horrifying results.
Content: gore, graphic violence, death of characters, strong language.
Zero Time Dilemma is the third Zero Escape game, written by Kotaro Uchikoshi. Nine people trapped in an underground facility play the Decision Game, where the exit opens only after six have died, and you solve escape-room puzzles and make life-or-death choices across a story told out of order.
About Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
Zero Time Dilemma was developed by Chime, published by Spike Chunsoft, and written and directed by series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, released in 2016 on Windows, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, then on PlayStation 4 in 2017 and on Xbox in 2022. It concludes the series begun by Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward, bringing back characters from both with a new cast, and the store says first-time players are brought up to speed.
Nine participants awaken in an underground facility, each with a strange black bracelet on the wrist. A masked figure called Zero explains the rules of the Decision Game: after six people are killed, the escape hatch will open. They are split into three teams, and the story jumps between them.
You play in two ways. In escape sections you explore 3D rooms for clues and solve puzzles, from item combinations to code locks, to get out. In story sections, told in fully voiced, animated scenes, the game stops at decisions, some with a timer, some asking outright who will die. You choose the story fragments to play in any order and piece the fractured narrative together, with a flowchart to track where each branch leads.
The horror is in those choices and their results, which are shown with blood and little mercy, and in not knowing whom to trust. It suits players who finished The Nonary Games, and anyone who likes escape-room puzzles with a grim death-game story around them.
How to play Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
- Pick a story fragment from one of the three teams to play.
- In escape rooms, examine the surroundings, collect and combine items, and solve the puzzles to get out.
- When a decision comes, choose, sometimes against a timer; the result changes the story.
- Use the flowchart to return to earlier points and take the other branches toward more endings.
Screenshots
Tips
- Play The Nonary Games first if you can; this game concludes their story.
- Read every note and check every object in escape rooms; clues are often small.
- Expect bad outcomes; seeing a branch through often reveals what you need elsewhere.
- Keep paper handy for puzzle codes and numbers.
Questions
Do I need to play the earlier Zero Escape games first?
It is the third game and concludes the story of 999 and Virtue's Last Reward, both in The Nonary Games. The store says the new cast brings first-time players up to speed, but it means most after the earlier two.
Is Zero Time Dilemma a horror game?
It is a death-game thriller with horror: captives forced to choose who dies, shown with graphic violence, and escape rooms under that threat.
Which platforms is Zero Time Dilemma on now?
Windows through Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One and Series X|S. It also came out on 3DS and PS Vita.
Does it have multiple endings?
Yes. Your decisions branch the story, and you piece fragments together to unlock its multiple endings.
Ratings and reviews
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma.
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