Groundhog Day, celebrated every February 2nd in the US and Canada, started in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The tradition, where folks believe that a groundhog is able to predict the change in the seasons, has carried on for over 100 years. It gained even more popularity in 1993, after the release of the film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray.

In the film, Murray’s character Phil (named after the Punxsutawney groundhog) is trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day until he can break the cycle. Time loops are also a popular theme in video games, whether as intrinsic plot devices, handy mechanics, or core genre features. 

To celebrate Groundhog Day, check out this list of games on the Epic Games Store that prove repetition is the key to success.

Deathloop

Arkane Studios

Deathloop is the quintessential time loop game. As Colt Vahn, you find yourself on the island fortress of Blackreef, on the run from an assassin named Juliana and countless hostile soldiers. Colt is trapped in a time loop, and the only way to break the cycle is by eliminating eight bosses known as Visionaries.

Each day begins anew if Colt dies three times in a zone or if you advance the time past evening/midnight. You'll need to plan ahead to take out all eight targets in one perfect run.

Rue Valley

Emotion Spark Studio

Rue Valley is a narrative-driven game where you play as Eugene Harrow. While dealing with mental health issues, Eugene has only 47 minutes to spend in the titular town before the next cycle starts. Along the way, you'll also ascertain Eugene’s personality—whether he’s impulsive or calculated, introverted or extroverted, and so on. These traits open up new dialogue options when conversing with other characters. Maybe there’s a way to help Eugene and everyone else with their problems?

The Outer Wilds

Mobius Digital

The Outer Wilds has an even shorter cycle: 22 minutes until the sun goes supernova and destroys all life. From your campfire on the planet of Timber Hearth, you'll embark on a journey to discover strange new worlds—and meet other explorers too.

Death is expected, whether it’s due to the sun’s explosion or your character haplessly running out of oxygen. However, every bit of knowledge you gather fuels your next attempt, as you solve puzzles, uncover bizarre alien ruins, and decipher high-tech contraptions. Perhaps you’ll finally reveal the heart of the mystery?

The Forgotten City

Modern Storyteller

The Forgotten City started out as a mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Created by solo developer Nick Pearce, it has since transformed into a standalone title that retains the mystifying themes that have kept Skyrim fans hooked for years.

The Forgotten City takes you to an underground Roman ruin where citizens live by the Golden Rule—anyone who commits a sin (i.e. lying, stealing, or killing) causes the entire populace to be punished. Traveling through a portal allows you to restart your run, though, and you get to keep all items that you’ve acquired thus far. In many ways, breaking the Golden Rule is integral to discovering new solutions to complete quests.

Prince of Persia

Ubisoft

We’ve long been fascinated by the nature of time, especially the idea of going back to the past to correct our mistakes. Very few have managed to capture this concept better than the Prince of Persia series.

Classic titles—such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands—showcase the Prince’s mastery over time via the rewind mechanic. Fell down a pit? Slashed by a pendulum trap? Fear not. Simply rewind time and retry until you succeed. More recent games, such as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, grant the prince additional time manipulation capabilities.

Timelie

Urnique Studio

In isometric puzzle game Timelie, you play as a young girl who wakes up in a futuristic dreamscape. Pathways and corridors are guarded by robots that you need to avoid. Thankfully, with your precognitive abilities, you’re able to control time like a media player. Dragging to the left rewinds time, letting you undo errors. Dragging to the right causes events to unfold as they would normally, letting you see enemy patterns and potential escape routes. Even better, you get to control a cat!

Detroit: Become Human

Quantic Dream

Narrative-driven titles like Detroit: Become Human rely on choices and consequences as part of the gameplay loop. This is seen not only in the answers you provide in conversations, but also pivotal options at key moments in the campaign and whether or not you’re able to pass quick-time events (QTEs).

As you complete chapters in Detroit: Become Human, you can replay earlier moments to unlock new branches. The decisions you’ve made—and the paths you never took—appear in a flowchart. We recommend doing a full playthrough so you can see all the chapters and checkpoints first. From there, you can select earlier scenes in the game to unveil every potential outcome.

The Casting of Frank Stone

Supermassive Games

Part of the Dead By Daylight universe, The Casting of Frank Stone brings you to the quiet town of Cedar Hills where the titular serial killer awaits. Similar to Detroit: Become Human (as well as other titles from Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology), The Casting of Frank Stone allows you to replay chapters via the Cutting Room Floor feature. Knowing that each mistake can be costly, you’ll often have to make different decisions to ensure everyone survives the night.

Hades II

Supergiant Games

Let’s face it: You’re going to die over and over in Hades II. As Melinoë, princess of the Underworld, you’re battling not just against the denizens of the depths, but also constructs sent by Chronos, the Titan of Time.

Fortunately, the gods of Olympus lend you their aid in the form of boons. With each failed run, Melinoë’s power grows, allowing you to unlock weapons and permanent upgrades, including keepsake accessories and arcana cards.

Dead Cells

Motion Twin

Dead Cells is a roguelite similar to Hades II. The key difference is that it’s also a Metroidvania—and whenever your character perishes, you won’t be sent back to a save point. Instead, you’ll have to restart a fresh run, losing almost everything you’ve collected.

Granted, you still keep rune items that help with traversal, as well as a currency known as cells. These cells let you unlock permanent boosts, including health flasks and gold retention. You can even choose weapons and equipment that have a chance to appear in subsequent playthroughs.

The Alters

11 Bit Studios

The Alters might necessitate a few restarts as you encounter issues throughout your adventure. As Jan Dolski, you must gather resources and keep your mobile base functional, all while dealing with multiple variants of yourself, the titular Alters.

If you mess up later in the day, you might want to restart just as Jan wakes up. If you don’t have enough resources and the sun is about to scorch that sector of the planet, you could opt to load a save from a few days earlier. And, if your clones have become too much of a hindrance, maybe you should restart the entire chapter. Given that there are multiple endings, you’ll need to replay the story to tread both familiar and unfamiliar paths.

ARC Raiders

Embark Studios

In terms of repetition, extraction shooter ARC Raiders will have you queueing for matches numerous times. The goal is to scavenge resources in the Rust Belt, while also fending off ARC machines and rival players. These materials can then be used to upgrade workbenches and craft higher-tier equipment.

There are mechanics in ARC Raiders that give you more leeway than other extraction shooters, such as starting with a free basic loadout. Likewise, your behavior can influence matchmaking—having a more pacifist playstyle might send you to a queue with random players who prefer to cooperate against hostile AI instead of competing with each other.

The Long Dark

Hinterland Studio Inc.

If Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow, then we’re in for six more weeks of winter. Perhaps it’s only fitting to play The Long Dark, which puts you in the shoes of a survivor stuck in the Canadian wilderness. A cold and harsh winter awaits, and you have to scrounge for clothing, food, tools, and sources of warmth. You can attempt to stay alive for as long as you can in Survival Mode or experience the episodic story of Wintermute.

These are just some of the titles on the Epic Games Store that you can play now to celebrate Groundhog Day. In keeping with the theme, we also invite you to try Returnal, Minit, In Stars and Time, Not For Broadcast’s The Timeloop DLC, and many more.