Time Rewind

Lore & Background

The game follows an unnamed Prince whose father sacks an ancient city at the instigation of a traitorous Vizier. During the attack, the Prince obtains an artifact called the Dagger of Time, while his father's army captures an hourglass containing the mysterious Sands of Time. Visiting the palace of the Sultan of Azad to present the Sands as a gift, the Vizier tricks the Prince into releasing the Sands, transforming the people of Azad into savage monsters under his control. Together with Farah, a young Princess who knows the power of the Sands, the Prince works to correct his mistake and foil the Vizier's evil plans.

Reader's Guide

The gameplay revolves around the Prince's platforming abilities, broken up by fights with the creatures created by the Sands. A key mechanic in the game is using the Dagger to rewind time if the Prince makes a mistake while platforming and use it to kill and freeze enemies. The Prince restores health by drinking water from pools and fountains; total loss of health results in a game over. Collecting Sands increases the Prince's power, and drinking from hidden magic fountains increases maximum health.

The Prince's main contextual move is wall-running. Other acrobatic abilities include climbing along and across ledges, walking along beams, swinging on and jumping from poles, jumping onto and between pillars, and swinging on ropes. In combat, the Prince fights monsters with dual wielded melee weapons, his sword and Dagger of Time. After being damaged by the sword, enemies can only be killed by stabbing them with the Dagger of Time.

The most basic power is Rewind, the ability to rewind time by up to ten seconds. In combat, the Prince can also use offensive Sand Powers that can slow time, freeze time for a single enemy, or freeze time completely so that he can attack enemies at great speed.

Did You Know?

• Concept work began in spring of 2001, after Ubisoft acquired the Prince of Persia catalog.
• The game used Ubisoft's Jade engine, originally designed for Beyond Good & Evil.
• A version for mobile phones was developed and published in North America by Gameloft in 2004.
• As of 2014, the game has sold over 14 million copies worldwide, across all platforms.
• A remake of the game was cancelled in 2026.