Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma
Nine participants awaken, trapped in an underground facility. To escape, they must play a game with deadly consequences. Who will live, and who will die? The choice is yours. Let the Decision Game begin…
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Zero Escape: The Nonary Games on Steam
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Kidnapped and taken to an unfamiliar location, nine people find themselves forced to participate in a diabolical Nonary Game by an enigmatic mastermind called Zero. Why were they there? Why were they chosen to put their lives on the line? And more importantly, who can be trusted?
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a visual novel, story rich and puzzle game
developed and published by Spike Chunsoft Co. and Ltd..
Released on March 24th 2017 is available only on Windows.
It has received 6,206 reviews of which 5,798 were positive and 408 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 24.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Zero Escape: The Nonary Games into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: Intel Core i3-530 CPU 2.93 GHz or better
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 9.0 compatible GPU with at least 1GB of VRAM
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
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One of the most intriguing, plot heavy games. This convenient title, packs the first two games in the Zero Escape saga, the third and last one is a separate entry. Since this compilation add new features to the original GBA releases, let's talk first about the games and then we'll dwell with the updates. The first game is 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. Probably the best game in the saga and one of the most interesting and engaging visual novels ever made. The basic plot is that you are Jumpei, a boy kidnapped with 8 other persons and put into a ship that is a Titanic replica full of puzzles and traps. Your captor, a gas mask person known as Zero, explains a complex set of rules involving painted doors, mathematics and that you have only 9 hours to escape. The brilliant twist, is that each character has a watch with a different number from 1 to 9. You have number 5. The watch is used to open the different painted doors and require cooperation with some of your teammates, the ones not chosen are left behind and free to wonder other possible doors if their watches match what another door needs to open. However, if any of the rules is violated, Zero will blow up that person from inside. He made everyone ate a small bomb before the game started and is quickly demonstrated. Needless to say, the game is full of huge plot twists, revelations, myths, legends, a lot of philosophical discussions and character development. There's various endings but only one true, a golden ending, that superseeds all the previous ones and is the one that needs to be found to properly understand the whole deal. There's also graphical and crude descriptions of deaths and bodies, fortunately you never see anything apart from some blood. This was changed in the sequels where people will still die in horrible ways, but you are not treated by these descriptions. Each one of the numbered doors lead to self contained puzzle rooms. This is the moment where the game feels light and more relaxing. It plays as a classic first person adventure game where you explore your surroundings, inspect objects, combine them and use them on the room. They generally have a moderate difficulty and with the space being so small and the great hinting by the characters, they don't overstay their welcome. Mind that some of the plot and world relies on an abstract, not totally explained, supernatural science. This is not a deal breaker but if you want a 100% realistic game, this is not it. The same cannot be said for the second game, Virtue's Last Reward, where it moves into the supernatural terrain much more comfortably. This sequel deals with a new set of 9 characters, some returning ones, and a new Zero trapping everyone in an abandoned warehouse. You play as Sigma, a young man who has no clue why he was kidnapped. The main game proposed is now the Ambidex game, similar to the famous Prisoner's dilemma problem. After going through doors to solve puzzles, you are forced in groups of three to ally or betray each other and affect the points that each bracelet holds. If anyone reaches 9 points, the final door opens for them to escape but if it reaches 0, they are immediately executed. This time, there's more timelines and it's very easy to switch from one to the other. You can play most of the game in any order and that works back into the plot. It's a much crazier setting, with more twists and eventually explanations that are so far fetched and obscure that you have to suspend a bit of disbelief once the late explanations start. About this release, this is the best way to play these games. They are now fully voiced and they even retroadded the timeline branches into the first game. Now after reaching an ending, you can quickly jump to a random scene without having to replay the whole game. Fortunately there's also a quick skip dialogue function for every text that you've already seen, only stopping for new conversations if they arise. Be very careful of spoilers, you can only be amazed once by each one and these games are totally worth for those moments.
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a 2 in 1 bundle that includes the first two games in the Zero Escape trilogy. For those who know nothing about this franchise, it’s essentially a mystery visual novel series where escape rooms are the main interactive feature. It’s just as much a puzzle game as it is story based (both of which are extremely confusing at times). I constantly had a pen and paper next to me while playing and I don’t regret it, these games make you THINK. Without spoiling anything, I think it’s important to make clear that all Zero Escape games feature multiple endings. Do NOT stop playing once you hit your first game over. These games require you to play through multiple endings to access more of the story. It’s a unique design choice but these stories don’t work otherwise. The first game in this bundle, 999, is a remake of the original DS port with brilliant voice acting and 2D visuals. It’s largely considered the best game in the trilogy (though personally I prefer VLR). The only negative point I have with this game is that it can force you to replay through escape rooms you already cleared when searching for certain endings. Thankfully this is something the sequel fixes entirely, and 999 isn’t a terribly long game so it’s not a huge deal. The sequel, Virtues Last Reward is around twice the length of 999 and has a completely different appearance with 3D models and new atmosphere. It can be quite jarring at first and honestly, I really didn’t like VLR in the beginning. There was a bit too much change, I didn’t care for the story, and it felt like I was just hitting pointless endings constantly that meant nothing (spoiler: they weren’t pointless). It was only after about 15 hours I really started to care about the game at all. By the time I finished the game though I loved it more than 999 and it was so unlike anything I’d ever played. It’s definitely a slowburn but I’m so grateful for the experience. It’s hard to compare this franchise to any other game because of how original it is. If you’re not opposed to a fascinating story game that will make you rack your brain trying to solve a problem, I definitely recommend giving Zero Escape a shot. I can guarantee it will surprise you.
999 is a brilliant game with kookie stupid reveals that make you laugh but ultimately mostly all make sense together. its characters are likeable and while its scale seems vast and convoluted, ultimately it's understandable and funny with lovable characters. worth it for that game alone. **those who say this game is better on DS are referring to one single story moment which is cool, but you can probably figure out exactly what it is while playing on PC. not major loss if playing on a physical DS with OG game isnt reasonable for you. emulation and all isnt worth it with multiple windows and all compared to this steam version.** Zero's Last Reward one ups 999 in every imaginable way, and not always for the best. Way longer, WAY more convoluted to a fault at time, and way more to keep track of. overall i really enjoyed it but there's some details near the end of the game that are clearly just there to flex how far thought out the story line is. while impressive. the game's content could legit be cut down 30% and nothing of value would be lost. you'll also find yourself enjoying the art and character designs but lamenting that it's now a rough 3D that is far less expressive and clean looking than 999's 2D sprites. im conflicted but i do love ZLR. it's just not as good as 999 overall imho due to where it trips up trying to outdo itself.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is currently priced at 24.99€ on Steam.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 24.99€ on Steam.
Yes, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games received 5,798 positive votes out of a total of 6,206 achieving an impressive rating of 9.03.
😍
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games was developed and published by Spike Chunsoft Co. and Ltd..
Yes, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is not playable on MacOS.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is not playable on Linux.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is not playable on Steam Deck.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is not playable on Steam Machine.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games does not support VR.
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a single-player game.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games does not currently offer any DLC.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games does not support Steam Remote Play.
Yes, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Zero Escape: The Nonary Games.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 17 September 2026 05:12 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 15 October 2026 13:37 UTC |
| Steam price | 27 October 2026 04:08 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 22 October 2026 16:09 UTC |
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Game modes
Features
Online players
73
Developer
Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Publisher
Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Release
24 Mar 2017
Platforms