Time Loop Class Revision/Proposal

Just in case you weren’t there, yesterday in class, Ashtrick held a time loop class. Ashley would walk in first, followed by an irritable Patrick asking, “Why is it on the opening slide?”, followed by the command of Ashley to “clap once if you can hear me”, “clap twice…”. At first, I was struck by the unusual hostility of the professors, the first hint at contrivance, but still I was confused, in a sort of limbo. That is, until they re-entered the classroom. It was then apparent that we were in a “time loop”. I and others in class thought of ways to disrupt the game to win, but after a few minutes, I was enjoying myself so much I didn’t want the game to be broken. In between loops, there would be a few moments of people furiously discussing what to do or not do. The TAs helped facilitate and enforce the game reality onto us and at the end of class made me wish I had a part to play in the game.

Usually when playing a game or watching a movie that falls into the category, dare I say genre, of time loops, there is a more noticeable separation between player and media. I’ve never had the pleasure, or displeasure, of experiencing a time loop in real life. Thanks to the splendid performance of Ashtrick, I was able to engage in an escapist fantasy. Yes, I knew it wasn’t real, but I suspended my disbelief to participate and enjoy the game. One thing that took away from this fantasy is that everyone around me was also experiencing the time loop…

What makes time loop games escapist? We never get to relive a moment. Thinking about the ever flowing passage of time is a great way to give yourself an existential crisis. But with a time loop, we are given the chance to get stuck in a series of moments with the opportunity to redo our actions. In the end I think we all wanted the story to end with a resolution with Ashpatrick, for our professors to make up and for our final project deadlines to be extended. 

As discussed in the presentation in class, time loop games increase in popularity during economic depressions. Seventh week, as Patrick said several times, makes everyone irritable. With finals looming, the sunlight diminishing, and for some, seasonal depression kicking in, a time loop game comes in the knick of time. 

So far, I’ve been arguing that the classroom time loop is a good example of a time loop game, and why it is escapist. However, I would argue that in order to have a true time loop experience, it should be experienced by only one person. A key difference between our classroom game and traditional game loop narratives is that in Ashtrick’s game, we were all experiencing the time loop, whereas it’s usually a single protagonist who experiences the time loop. This difference fundamentally changes the experience of a time loop narrative because everyone around you is aware of the time loop. There is a comfort in not being alone in the loop, and a shared humor when acknowledging the time loop in talking to the professors, subtle suggestions that they should talk with each other. There was discussion in class and the possibility to collaborate on discord, eliminating the usual distinct sense of dread found in a usual time loop. That said, I had fun, and think the game was a success. But, I think the time loop is better experienced when there is a sense of dread at the repetition of loops, and frustration at the situation.

So, I propose that to make it closer to a traditional time loop, and I would argue a more compelling game, is to recruit all the students in class, with the exception of one, to convince someone that they are in a time loop. This game could be the same scenario, Ashrtick being irritable and walking out when tensions broke out into an argument. And perhaps in this version it would be expanded to the whole class, everyone would act a bit on edge, and irritable towards each other and the player. I have no idea how you would pick the student/player, randomly, I guess. Although, it would suck if that day they were sick and couldn’t attend class. This game would be so much more unpredictable and a possibly distressing experience depending on how the player reacts to the situation. And to what extent would they believe everyone? While I would imagine that they wouldn’t actually believe what was happening, they would be very confused and surprised that everyone was in on the joke, and I would hope that the student would choose to participate in the game, wanting to figure out the puzzle. Would they be annoyed, amused, frustrated, a bit of everything? All these feelings would be aligned with the feeling of actually being in a time loop.

I think it would be hilarious because unlike our class yesterday where we all turned to each other and laughed at the situation, if the student turned to others to laugh, they would act bewildered, oblivious to the time loop. It would also be funny if the professors scolded them, saying, please stop disrupting the class. Also, if the student tried going onto discord, the professors would re-emphasize the no discord rule. Yes, this game would be much more challenging to host because it would require everyone to be a somewhat convincing actor for successful gameplay. I would expect the hardest part for everyone would be not laughing, to act completely deadpan.

(Yes, if I had time I would love to draw the whole class, it would be cute in an 8-bit style) ~~ edit: just realized I forgot to draw everyone with a mask, uh, use your imagination

So, how would each time loop end and how would the next loop begin? In the solo experience there would be no in between loop time, also making it closer to a time loop game. In no time loop narrative is there a limbo between loops. I would propose that the professors walk out, and the students would pretend to pack up. Once the professors re-enter the classroom, everyone would then unpack. Each student would roughly reenact the same routine at the beginning of each class, unpacking the same way, saying the same things. There would have to be a sort of pre-class planning session to coordinate all of this. When the player would ask others what’s going on, responses could follow the lines of, “what are you on?”, or “stop distracting me?”, all in the theme of everyone being irritable. I would encourage everyone to improv to a certain degree, and if there are mistakes or slip-ups, to just roll with it. Also, I would be fascinated in thinking of what possible solutions there could be. At the end I would also host the play testing debrief both for the sanity of the student, and to talk about everyone’s experience and what it shows about time loops.

While this was very fun to think about, disclaimer, I don’t think it is reasonable to subject someone to this. Could we ask a student to play along beforehand, but would that be satisfying? Is there another environment or group this could work better with? Would you do this in your friend group? Should you even do this prank? 

All that being said, thank you Ashtrick for a super fun time loop class that I’ll never forget.