Jan 092026
As the end of 2025 approached, I looked for a short game I might finish up before the end of the year and pulled Loopers out of my backlog.
Loopers is a short visual novel about a young man who loves treasure-hunting and finds himself caught in a time loop, where the same day repeats for the people caught in the loop over and over again.
It was written by Ryukishi07, but it’s not horror – although the beginning had me wondering if I’d been misinformed and it was at least a spooky story after all.
But it isn’t long before the spooky elements fade into something that’s surprisingly upbeat. For a story about people trapped in a time loop, it has a surprising focus just on good feelings and learning to love life. It’s very positive and almost cozy, with some romantic elements as well.
The treasure hunting aspect is also fun, if a little silly in how the main character’s love of it reinvigorates the entire group.
It’s a kinetic novel, so there are no choices to make, and it took me under 4 hours to finish.
Overall, my final feelings on Loopers were that it’s… fine. Pleasant. It isn’t the sort of story that will stand out to me for years to come, but it was nice enough to spend a few hours with.
Hm, good to know. I am partial to time loop stories, and this one has been on my radar for a while now but I never actually went for it. Seems like it could be a nice time, but nothing mindblowing.
Yeah, that’s how I’d describe it.