Time Gamers: Guardians of the Marble Man

Time Gamers: Guardians of the Marble Man is a first-person exploration and discovery game set in Columbia, South Carolina during the American Civil War. The player takes the role of a Time Gamer sent back to 1864 to find a missing Roman-style marble statue of John C. Calhoun, referred to as the Marble Man. The statue disappeared when Union forces occupied the city in 1865, and historical accounts suggest it may have been hidden beneath the Old State House. The developer describes the game as a 3D historical orienteering simulator.

Players are given a period map and a list of historic locations, and must navigate the city, search for clues, collect keys and work out connections between them to track down the artefact. There are no enemies, combat or time limits. Each playthrough uses a randomised set of clues, locations and targets. Narrated commentary provides historical information about each location, and the player can meet and interact with characters from the era. Beyond the main objective, the city contains additional secrets, challenges and achievements to discover.

The game world covers over 170 city blocks reconstructed from 1850 and 1872 maps, early city directories, archaeological findings and records of buildings destroyed in the 1865 fire, drawing on more than a decade of research. The Old South Carolina State House is modelled from original architectural plans and archival materials held by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and the game also references local legends such as the underground tunnels and the USC Third-Eye Man. Additional features include an optional red/cyan anaglyph 3D mode, an original soundtrack with location-specific scores, and full controller support so the game can be played on Steam Deck without a keyboard or mouse. Official Steam Deck Verification was pending at the time of the description.