Hamburg, Feb 2025
Time travel is often a mix and match sort of theme, and so it was here – essentially a sequence of mostly independent mini games, each with its own style of decor and puzzles. Given the whole of history to choose from, some designers go for more obvious time periods and some less obvious; the ones here are distinctive and mostly fairly original choices.
Your mission is to repair the damage caused by a previous time traveller, setting history back on course at each point of intervention; although first you’ll need to get the machine working again. The different stages of this game are not of equal difficulty; we flew through two of them in minimal time, and took longer to solve another, and I guess that same section would be the hardest part for most groups.
In a game with generally high standards of decor, the transitions between periods could have been more dramatic – you’re simply stepping through a door from one period to another, which is fine but could be made more thrilling.
As with the other rooms at Big Break, the puzzles were consistently well designed and interesting. In places they were also gently humorous, with a take on time travel that’s more Bill & Ted than anything ultra serious, which gave an enjoyable light tone. One puzzle early on was a standout for me, with a beautiful moment of realisation when we figured out how it worked.
This is not the best game available at Big Break – at present that’s the exquisite Toymaker – but if you’re visiting for that one, then Time Machine is a thoroughly enjoyable add-on to include as you pass through. 
