History Main / DualWorldGameplay

* The most important game mechanic in ''[=YesterMorrow=]'' is switching between BadFuture and the past where it can be prevented.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' has Samus travel between Aether and Dark Aether. The planet was split by the impact of a [[spoiler:Phazon]] meteor, and the inhabitants of Dark Aether started an invasion. Even worse, [[ApocalypseHow Aether is in danger of being destroyed]] because the Ing stole critical technology from the native Luminoth. [[LateToTheTragedy Samus finds portals made by the Luminoth]] that let her travel there to set things right. Because Dark Aether isn't as interconnected, each level's DarkWorld feels like a claustrophobic, twisted splinter of reality. And the atmosphere of Dark Aether [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou will eat your suit, just like everything else there]]. Fortunately your suit gets an upgrade somewhat early in the game that makes it more resistant to Dark Aether's atmosphere, and another upgrade near the end of the game that makes it completely immune.
* ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' lets you leave your body temporarily to walk around in the spirit realm. This lets you walk through force fields, kill enemies with arrows, and do some other nifty stuff. The two worlds are so intricately connected, that at times opening a gate or moving a platform in one world shows a phantom of it's otherworld counterpart also moving shortly afterwards in turn.

* ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' lets you leave your body temporarily to walk around in the spirit realm. This lets you walk through force fields, kill enemies with arrows, and do some other nifty stuff.

[[foler:Real-Time Strategy]]

* [[VideoGame/ConquestOfElysium Conquest Of Elysium 4]] has multiple planes to conquer in each game; the most obvious example of this trope is the Underworld, a dead mirror of the living world filled with ghosts.

* ''VideoGame/GianaSisterTwistedDreams'' is built entirely around this concept. Every level has two variations: a bright and colorful SugarBowl and a gloomier, more macabre realm of nightmares. You can switch between both worlds on the fly, and the effect changes not just how the level looks, but how enemies behave, what items you can get, what areas you can access, what abilities Giana can use, and even the music.

* ''VideoGame/GianaSisterwTwistedDreams'' is built entirely around this concept. Every level has two variations: a bright and colorful SugarBowl and a gloomier, more macabre realm of nightmares. You can switch between both worlds on the fly, and the effect changes not just how the level looks, but how enemies behave, what items you can get, what areas you can access, what abilities Giana can use, and even the music.

* Character's actions in one world directly effect the other (a seed planted in the present grows into a climbable tree in the future)

[[folder:First Person Shooter]]

[[folder:4X]]

[[folder:Puzzle]]
* ''SugarWiki/{{Eversion}}'' actually has more than one layer: there are 8 in total, but per level, you'll only be using 2 or 3 of them. At different layers, different objects may be obstacles or even enemies. In the lower levels, clouds can be platforms. In the highest levels bushes are obstacles, go lower and they are death traps, beyond that they are just dead and background art. Enemies are deadly to different degrees with different one optimised for different levels.

[[folder:RPG]]

[[folder:Turn Based Strategy]]

*** The companion game, ''Seasons'', features season-changing gameplay. Every part of the world map is mapped differently for each of the four seasons. Spring makes big flowers grow that shoot you up cliffs, water dries up and vines grow up walls in the summer, leaves cover pits and mushrooms soften in the fall, and water freezes and snow piles up in the winter.

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain: Soul Reaver'' featured an original take on this with the material realm/spectral plane mechanic: Since the player character is an undead wraith, he is a native of the spectral plane, his energy drains constantly in the material realm (unless he has maximum health, and the titular Soul Reaver on-hand), and losing all of his health kicks him back into the spectral plane, although he can shed his material form at any time. However, travelling back to the material realm requires the player to find a conduit and be at full health. In the spectral plane, time stands still, so the player can't open doors or push or pull items, but with a certain skill they can at least transition through gratings. In addition, the scenery in the spectral plane is twisted and contorted, so what was once an impassable gap in the material realm can turn into a doable jumping puzzle in the spectral plane. The duality factored into the combat as well: The player could find dangerous wraiths in the spectral plane, and revive their bodies in the material realm, where they were even more difficult to fight.

* Happens in ''The Lake'' stage in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros The Subspace Emissary]]. Reused in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Great Maze]] as well.

* ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'' features a novel variation. The three characters are trapped in three different time periods and have to work together, [[BagOfSharing using items from different time periods]] [[JustifiedTrope by passing them through]] a time-traveling toilet.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' features Tiny-Huge Island, where Mario can go through pipes to change size. As a giant, Mario can easily jump up cliffs and doesn't need to worry much about enemies. As a midget, Mario can ride on breezes and enter narrow passages. This is implemented by two different maps of the same island. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' has a similar level, where going through doors shrinks the normally enormous enemies to normal size. The environment remains big, however.
** Happens strangely in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]''. In some places, Bowser can do things that change some aspects of his internal workings. If he drinks water, some areas become covered in such, allowing the Bros to swim. Standing in front of an X-ray sheds light on invisible blocks and causes ghostly blocks to vanish. And so on.
** A variation is used in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''. While Pi'illo Island and the Dream World don't have nearly identical maps like most examples of this trope do (largely because the former having ThreeQuartersView and latter having SideView make this impossible), the part of Pi'illo Island where the Dream World is accessed affects the latter's layout. For instance, if Luigi falls asleep on a pillow where a windmill is in the vicinity, that windmill will appear in the dream (though with a much different positioning and use).

** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' had the bros. and their baby selves alternate their travels between past and present. This is, however, a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example, as the only location you can explore in the present is Peach's Castle, which isn't accessible in the past until the very end of the game.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' had the player frequently alternate between playing as [[VillainProtagonist Bowser]] in the overworld, and as the bros. [[FantasticVoyagePlot inside]] [[WombLevel Bowser's body]]. The actions of either would frequently affect the other, requiring teamwork to advance through the game.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' had the dream world. The bros would alternate between exploring the real world, and lulling Luigi to sleep with his fast sleeping skills to open a portal to the dream world, which follows different laws of physics. It's perhaps the truest example of this trope in the entire series.

** Happens strangely in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]''. In some places, Bowser can do things that change some aspects of his internal workings. If he drinks water, some areas become covered in such, allowing the Bros to swim. Standing in front of an X-ray reveals some passages. And so on.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' takes place [[spoiler: mostly]] in the Dream World and the Real World, which look very much alike, (though they have different layouts, some towns exist in both worlds) and you'll be traveling between them often.

* The ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series is probably one of the better-known examples of gameplay involving switching back and forth between a {{Dark World}} and a... comparatively normal world, although it generally isn't really under the player's control. [[VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins One of the newer, not as well received games]], gave the player complete control.

* WhiteWolf loves this trope as an explanation for the creepy crawlies of the gamelines in ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':