Time

“

But alas, the sands of time have run out for us. We'll meet again soon to see how you've fared... or failed...

”

Time is one of the basic mechanics in The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Overview

The time is displayed along with the name of the location and the name of the playable character in the lower left corner. Time is meant to help the player determine what time events take place and how close they are towards the end, as all the games in The Dark Pictures Anthology end at 6 A.M. The games usually take place in a span of 2 days, with the first day being from any time to midnight and the second day being from midnight to dawn.

Season One

Man of Medan

The time displays a normal clock. It runs on South Pacific Time, considering the game's setting.

The game's prologue takes place in 1947, on June 11, 9:12 P.M. and on June 22, 1:36 A.M. in the aftermath of World War II. The main story takes place 72 years later, in 2019, with the first half of the game on June 20 (8:30 A.M. to 11:22 P.M.) and the second half on June 21 (12:12 AM to dawn).

Little Hope

The time displays a normal clock, but is often shown due to constant character switching in certain situations (game segments and encounters with demons). It runs on Eastern Standard Time, considering the game is set in Massachusetts, U.S.A.

The game's prologue takes place on January 17, 1972, at 8:20 P.M. The main story takes place 47 years later, in 2019, with the first half of the game on May 27 (9:42 P.M. to 11:49 P.M.) and the second half on May 28 (12:01 A.M. to dawn).

House of Ashes

The time displays a clock in military format, with a 24-hour clock format and no colon in between, since all key characters are related to or part of the military (either American or Iraqi). It runs on Arabian Standard Time, considering the game is set in Iraq.

The game's prologue takes place on May 17, 2231 BC. Only the year and location are displayed, since the clock didn't yet exist at that time. The main story takes place 4234 years later, in 2003, with the first half of the game on May 30 (1500 HRS to 2353 HRS) and the second half on May 31 (0000 HRS to an unknown time later on).

The Devil in Me

The time displays a normal clock. It runs on Central Standard Time, considering the game is set near Chicago in Illinois, U.S.A.

The game's prologue takes place in 1893 (3:31 P.M. to 4:16 P.M.) during the World's Fair Columbian Exposition. The main story takes place 129 years later, in 2022, with the first half of the game on October 26 (4:56 P.M. to 11:52 P.M.) and the second half on October 27 (12:42 P.M. to dawn).

Trivia

• This feature was taken from Until Dawn, which starts at 9:00 P.M. (8:00 P.M. in remake) and ends at 7:00 A.M. (6:00 A.M. in remake) which is dawn, hence the game title.
• Unlike Little Hope, House of Ashes decided to abandon the display of location and time during frequent switching of characters (mainly in combat segments), as they occur in the same place and at the same time.