Zero Time Dilemma

The third game in the Zero Escape series, Zero Time Dilemma is a 2016 Visual Novel and Adventure Game developed by Chime.

Nine people awaken inside a bomb shelter in Nevada, United States. They are held against their will by a masked, mysterious figure called Zero. He wants them to play a game that will affect the future of the captives, Zero and apparently mankind itself. The first challenge is simple:guess the result of a coin flip. And then... That's where we have to stop because the result of this early challenge that is played even before the proper opening begins can trigger an early ending. Yup, this game is... unusual.

Directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi.


 * Abusive Parent: Eric's dad became....meaner after his wife dad.
 * Alcoholic Dad: Eric's dad, at least after his wife died, as evidenced by the bottles that we see on a picture and his voice.
 * A Child Shall Lead Them: Zero makes Q the leader of his team.
 * A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: In the "Gun and Incinerator" dilemma,.
 * Air Vent Passageway: Averted, at best a dog can walk through it. It is still of some use because the dog can be used to transmit messages between teams.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Akane implies that between Carlos and his little sister as retribution for him teasing her about her and Junpei.
 * Child Prodigy: Q is much smarter than he looks like at first. Not only he knows a lot about the virus Radical-6, he knows how to explain it in proper terms to Mira and Eric.
 * Couldn't Find a Pen:.
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight:.
 * Disaster Dominoes: Zero seems to be a firm believer on this trope, though he uses a snail rather than the traditional Butterfly of Doom.
 * Driven to Suicide: Oh boy.
 * In the "Gun and Incinerator" dilemma,.
 * In the "Suspicion" dilemma,.
 * Emotions vs. Stoicism: The crux of the relationship between Sigma and Phi, with she being the emotive and him the rational. Since Diana is the playable character, you also get stuck between the two very soon.
 * I Gave My Word: Probably the most exaggerated example to ever come from a villain..
 * Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: It's New Year's Eve, that Zero helpfully tells his captives early the game.
 * Layman's Terms: Mira asks Q to explain Radical-6 in these terms.
 * Legacy Character: Akane and Junpei believe that the present Zero is this to a past one.
 * Malevolent Masked Man: Zero, wearing a plague doctor's mask.
 * Mental Time Travel:.
 * Mood Whiplash: The game is generally very dark and serious with some dark jokes there and there. Eric's flashback to his childhood with his family is so heartwarming and nice it crosses right back into hilarious, specially when we see a zoom of adult Eric apparently thinking about this, with a goofy open mouth smile on his face.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Mira is clearly built to attract, showing her legs and with an open jacket exposing her bra that is containing...well, some volume.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Taken to the extreme;.
 * Older Than He Looks:.
 * Reality Ensues: Junpei is so cynical and pessimistic all the time that Carlos mistakes his joke about "hot dog" for an implication that the dog is really gonna be killed.
 * Sarcasm Blind: Carlos really can't get Junpei's jokes.
 * Schmuck Bait:.
 * Shipper on Deck: Carlos is really into Akane x Junpei.
 * Stepford Smiler: Eric was one in the past to try to endure through his hard life.
 * Take Your Time:.
 * Too Soon: Junpei mentions the trope while making a joke about the very risky situation his team is in. You could say it is exaggerated since the fact isn't even over yet.
 * Violation of Common Sense:
 * In the "Gun and Incinerator" dilemma,.
 * In the "Inject the Radical-6" dilemma,.