Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
Alex (Erin Yvette), a teenager, is on the last ferry heading to the fictional Edwards Island for a weekend party. She is accompanied by Ren (Aaron Kuban), her stoner friend, and Jonas (Gavin Hammon), her new stepbrother. On the island, Alex and company meet Clarissa (Avital Ash), the ex-girlfriend of Alex's deceased brother Michael, and Nona (Brittani Johnson), Clarissa's best friend and Ren's love interest. Ren explains the island was once a military base and that the island's only permanent resident, Maggie Adler, has recently died. After camping on the beach, Alex, Ren, and Jonas explore the nearby caves, where it is rumored certain radio frequencies cause supernatural events. In a small cavern, Alex tunes her radio to a floating shape and unexpectedly forms a dimensional rift. A voice answers and the teens experience visions before passing out. Jonas and Alex awake in front of a communications tower elsewhere on the island. Ren calls, having passed out in the woods, while Clarissa calls from the decommissioned military fort on the island.
In the woods, Jonas and Alex encounter supernatural events, including Alex's reflection in the water communicating with her, objects moving on their own, and time looping repeatedly. Time corrects when Alex plays a reel-to-reel tape. They spot Nona, who claims she saw an alternate Jonas and Alex. Alex and Jonas find Ren, but after another time loop, they find him possessed by a "ghost". Using the radio, Alex creates another rift which returns Ren to normal. Ren and Nona return to the tower.
At the military fort, Alex's reflection appears in a mirror, giving Alex advice. A ghost questions them and possesses Jonas, revealing that the ghosts are the crew of the submarine USS Kanaloa, thought lost at sea. Alex creates another rift that revives Jonas. They find Clarissa, but time loops to her jumping to her death before disappearing. Nona, Alex, Jonas, and Ren regroup at Harden Tower. Unable to send a radio transmission off the island, Ren suggests finding the key to Maggie Adler's estate, where she kept a boat. At Adler's estate, a possessed Clarissa talks with Alex; her conversations and scattered letters left behind by Maggie Adler reveal that Adler mistakenly interpreted scrambled messages from Kanaloa as an enemy transmission, and the submarine was sunk by friendly fire. The crew was not killed, but transported to another dimension due to the submarine's experimental nuclear reactor. Adler and her friend Anna had attempted to communicate with the Kanaloa crew via radio, but Anna was absorbed through the rift. The Kanaloa crew intend on using Alex and her friends' bodies to escape the dimension, keeping them on the island long enough for their possession attempts to be successful.
Alex and the group discover Maggie Adler's plan to fix the rifts—crossing to the other side of them and tuning the radio within. Alex repeatedly loops back to the past, mainly to times she talked with Michael. A ghost possesses Jonas and attempts to bargain with Alex, offering to spare her and the rest of her friends if they leave Clarissa behind. Returning to the caves, Alex tunes into a rift that sends her into a void. Encountering the possessed Clarissa, the ghosts warn Alex that she will die if the rift is closed, and Clarissa will be kept by the ghosts if Alex leaves through the rift. Alex can choose to leave, erasing Clarissa from existence; close the rift herself, trapping her with the ghosts; or, if she has found certain letters from Maggie Adler that mention crew members by name, Alex can appeal to them directly, convincing them to let both Clarissa and her go. The reflection of Alex giving her advice is revealed to be Alex from the future. She loops back to a conversation with Michael, who admits that he and Clarissa are planning to move away from town and asks for Alex's advice. Time then corrects.
Alex wakes up with the others on the ferry back home; Jonas informs her that whatever she did fixed the rift and that everything is normal. Everyone reveals that, for a limited period, they revisited memories. They then swear to not tell anyone about their experiences, and Nona takes a final group picture.
Endings
In an epilogue, Alex reveals the fate of the characters, with Nona's picture of the group shown and the outcomes dependent on actions made during the game:
Clarissa's friendship with Alex and Michael can be either preserved or destroyed. Clarissa can also be sacrificed to the rift, with no one remembering Clarissa except Alex herself. If she is saved, she will either drop out of school or continue her studies.
Ren and Nona may or may not be in a long-distance relationship depending on Alex's actions.
Jonas's relationship with Alex can be either preserved or destroyed.
Michael can be revived if Alex encourages him not to move away in the time loop. If so, Jonas and Alex will cease to be step-siblings. The player's actions can either destroy or preserve Michael's relationship with Clarissa.
Alex also describes her own plans; she may go to college, either in or out of her hometown, or take time off. Thereafter, the screen flickers and Alex tells the player she is going to Edwards Island and is meeting Jonas for the first time, revealing that time is still looping.
If the player starts another game with the same save file (New Game Plus), Alex has the chance to send herself a message from the island. After the epilogue, a new scene plays of Alex, Jonas, and Ren at a supermarket waiting to buy alcohol before getting on the ferry. Tuning her radio, Alex receives the message her future self sent from the island. Depending on the message sent and how the player responds, Alex, Jonas, and Ren can decide not to go to Edwards Island at all, preventing the loop.
In the woods, Jonas and Alex encounter supernatural events, including Alex's reflection in the water communicating with her, objects moving on their own, and time looping repeatedly. Time corrects when Alex plays a reel-to-reel tape. They spot Nona, who claims she saw an alternate Jonas and Alex. Alex and Jonas find Ren, but after another time loop, they find him possessed by a "ghost". Using the radio, Alex creates another rift which returns Ren to normal. Ren and Nona return to the tower.
At the military fort, Alex's reflection appears in a mirror, giving Alex advice. A ghost questions them and possesses Jonas, revealing that the ghosts are the crew of the submarine USS Kanaloa, thought lost at sea. Alex creates another rift that revives Jonas. They find Clarissa, but time loops to her jumping to her death before disappearing. Nona, Alex, Jonas, and Ren regroup at Harden Tower. Unable to send a radio transmission off the island, Ren suggests finding the key to Maggie Adler's estate, where she kept a boat. At Adler's estate, a possessed Clarissa talks with Alex; her conversations and scattered letters left behind by Maggie Adler reveal that Adler mistakenly interpreted scrambled messages from Kanaloa as an enemy transmission, and the submarine was sunk by friendly fire. The crew was not killed, but transported to another dimension due to the submarine's experimental nuclear reactor. Adler and her friend Anna had attempted to communicate with the Kanaloa crew via radio, but Anna was absorbed through the rift. The Kanaloa crew intend on using Alex and her friends' bodies to escape the dimension, keeping them on the island long enough for their possession attempts to be successful.
Alex and the group discover Maggie Adler's plan to fix the rifts—crossing to the other side of them and tuning the radio within. Alex repeatedly loops back to the past, mainly to times she talked with Michael. A ghost possesses Jonas and attempts to bargain with Alex, offering to spare her and the rest of her friends if they leave Clarissa behind. Returning to the caves, Alex tunes into a rift that sends her into a void. Encountering the possessed Clarissa, the ghosts warn Alex that she will die if the rift is closed, and Clarissa will be kept by the ghosts if Alex leaves through the rift. Alex can choose to leave, erasing Clarissa from existence; close the rift herself, trapping her with the ghosts; or, if she has found certain letters from Maggie Adler that mention crew members by name, Alex can appeal to them directly, convincing them to let both Clarissa and her go. The reflection of Alex giving her advice is revealed to be Alex from the future. She loops back to a conversation with Michael, who admits that he and Clarissa are planning to move away from town and asks for Alex's advice. Time then corrects.
Alex wakes up with the others on the ferry back home; Jonas informs her that whatever she did fixed the rift and that everything is normal. Everyone reveals that, for a limited period, they revisited memories. They then swear to not tell anyone about their experiences, and Nona takes a final group picture.
Endings
In an epilogue, Alex reveals the fate of the characters, with Nona's picture of the group shown and the outcomes dependent on actions made during the game:
Clarissa's friendship with Alex and Michael can be either preserved or destroyed. Clarissa can also be sacrificed to the rift, with no one remembering Clarissa except Alex herself. If she is saved, she will either drop out of school or continue her studies.
Ren and Nona may or may not be in a long-distance relationship depending on Alex's actions.
Jonas's relationship with Alex can be either preserved or destroyed.
Michael can be revived if Alex encourages him not to move away in the time loop. If so, Jonas and Alex will cease to be step-siblings. The player's actions can either destroy or preserve Michael's relationship with Clarissa.
Alex also describes her own plans; she may go to college, either in or out of her hometown, or take time off. Thereafter, the screen flickers and Alex tells the player she is going to Edwards Island and is meeting Jonas for the first time, revealing that time is still looping.
If the player starts another game with the same save file (New Game Plus), Alex has the chance to send herself a message from the island. After the epilogue, a new scene plays of Alex, Jonas, and Ren at a supermarket waiting to buy alcohol before getting on the ferry. Tuning her radio, Alex receives the message her future self sent from the island. Depending on the message sent and how the player responds, Alex, Jonas, and Ren can decide not to go to Edwards Island at all, preventing the loop.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Oxenfree. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license