Loops

The premise of Gnosia sees the player and Setsu trapped in a time loop, each new loop having slight differences that offer new opportunities to collect knowledge. By making different allies and donning different roles each loop, the protagonists seek to fill out their Silver Keys with Notes about their fellow crew members in hopes that they'll find a way to break free.

In terms of gameplay, each loop is a new "game". At the beginning of each loop all characters' roles (aside from the player's, as they can select their own role) are randomized and their Discussion Stats are reset. A loop ends once the player either wins, survives until an opposing side wins, or is eliminated/put into cold sleep.

Most loops will be random, with which events occurring in which loop varying across playthroughs. There are several loops at the beginning, however, that serve as tutorial loops; while the roles may still be randomized there are static events within that help set up the plot and ease the player into new mechanics.

Player's Loops
The player's first dozen or so loops are somewhat static, serving as an introduction and tutorial of the game. The number of loops it takes to beat the game will vary depending on the player, but the game will continue to be playable afterward.

Loop 1
The beginning of the game. The player is introduced to Setsu, Gina, SQ, and Raqio. Raqio is voted off without player input and Gina is eliminated overnight. SQ is always the Gnosia in this loop, but the player can put Setsu into cold sleep and unlock a bonus scene if they'd like. Either way, Setsu gives the player the Silver Key at the end.

Loop 2
The same cast as Loop 1 is present, but this time the roles are randomized. Setsu and LeVi explain the procedures for dealing with Gnosia before the debate begins. At night, LeVi shows the player around the D.Q.O. and the player speaks with Gina. The next day the Engineer role is introduced as Gina claims it. The last remaining character may claim it as well, and the real Engineer could have already been eliminated, so it's up to the player to determine who the real Engineer is.

If the player puts the last remaining character aside from Gina into cold sleep, there will be an extra scene with Gina. If it turns out Gina was Gnosia, the player will be introduced to the lying mechanic here.

While this loop is more random than the first, it seems guaranteed that Gina will survive until the second day so that the Engineer role can be introduced.

Loop 3
This loop introduces Shigemichi and Stella and is the first loop to have more than one Gnosia. It also introduces the Night Phase, allowing the player to talk to other characters at night.

Loop 4
Loop 4 is the first loop in which the player is not Crew, instead being assigned the Engineer role. This loop introduces the Guardian Angel, which Stella will always be. Due to bringing up the role's existence she is immediately suspected of being the Guardian Angel herself, leading to her elimination by the Gnosia the next night. It is possible to win before then, however, and thus save Stella.

Loop 5
Loop 5 introduces Yuriko who, after the first round of debates, takes the player aside and disables their "plot armor". Up until this point it was actually impossible for the player to be voted for or eliminated overnight, but once this event with Yuriko occurs the player becomes as vulnerable as anyone else. Afterward the player gets access to their room, where they can level up and raise their Abilities.

Loop 6
Yuriko isn't present in this loop, introducing the fact that number of crew members and Gnosia vary with each loop and not all loops will have every character present. Otherwise, this loop is an ordinary loop.

Loop 7
Loop 7 introduces Chipie and Comet. After the first debate, Comet will take the player aside and tell them about lying, introducing the mechanic if they had put Gina into cold sleep during Loop 2 or if she was the true Engineer.

Loop 8
Loop 8 is the first loop in which the player gets the opportunity to be Gnosia themself. Raqio will always be the other Gnosia and guides the player through the process of eliminating characters at night. There will be a bonus scene if the player wins with Raqio still alive.

Loop 9
In this loop the player returns to being Crew. The AC Follower role is introduced. After the first round of debates Setsu will pull the player aside and give them some advice about Stealth and Engineers, teaching them the Step Forward skill.

Loop 10
Kukrushka and Jonas are introduced in this loop. This loop also introduces the Doctor role, which Jonas will always claim.

Kukrushka may close or open her eyes at the end of her introductory cutscene. If she keeps them open, she's human in that loop. If she closes them, she's Gnosia.

Loop 11
At the beginning of this loop Setsu teaches the player how to summon forth their Silver Key, unlocking the Crew Data feature. They exchange information with the player, revealing that they're on their 160th loop and currently Gnosia. The player will always be the Guardian Angel in this loop, which Setsu will be aware of. Setsu will avoid eliminating you overnight and there will be special ending dialogue if you let them win.

Upon conclusion of this loop the player will get access to Setup, though most options will be locked still. The player can at least set their own role starting from this point, allowing them to experiment with roles not yet assigned to them.

Loop 12
This loop introduces Otome and Sha-Ming, though the latter will skip out on the first discussion and will have to be dragged back by Setsu and the player.

Loop 13
Yuriko returns in this loop and Remnan is introduced alongside her. She and Remnan will always be Guard Duty, introducing the role. After the first round of debates there will be a scene with Otome and Remnan, unlocking their files in Crew Data.

After the conclusion of this loop the player unlocks the rest of the options in setup, allowing them to set all loop parameters freely. This is the last of the "tutorial" loops, and after this loop the player will be able to unlock Notes, collect skills, etc.

Loop 16
When attempting to start this loop, the Setup will glitch and a window will pop up explaining that "An error occurred in the linked universe," assigning the player the role of Crew. The player will explain this to Setsu at the beginning of the loop, who will express that they've never heard of such an error occurring before. The player and Setsu will exchange information again, revealing Setsu's current role to the player.

After the first round of discussion, the player will notice a glitch in their vision. If the player survives until the end (and it seems like the loop may be configured to ensure this) their surroundings will suddenly glitch out. The game will reveal that they were assigned the role of Bug, which ends the universe upon victory.

Loop 17
At the beginning of this loop - which will immediately occur after Loop 16, preventing the player from using Setup - Setsu will explain that the Bug exists and how the role operates, claiming it took them 20 loops to completely figure out. In this loop all characters will be present with 3 Gnosia, all roles in play, and the player assigned the role of Crew.

Loop 61
If the player hasn't yet unlocked Setsu 2 and Event Search by the time of their 61st loop but manages to do so on their 61st loop, the conversation will go differently as Setsu expresses excitement that their loops have aligned for once. The game will also keep track of whether the player has seen Citizen Slime or Kukrushka the Guard (or possibly Return of the Saint; whichever is "the Kukrushka incident") by that point, and if so will eliminate the player's ability to respond to Setsu's allusions to those events with confusion (though the scene will continue as if Setsu has gotten the impression you've seen neither event).

Setsu's Loops
Setsu and the player realize early on (at least, from the player's perspective) that they are looping in a different order; sometimes the player knows more than Setsu and sometimes Setsu is aware of events the player hasn't experienced yet. The exact number of their loops isn't known, nor which of their loops line up with each of the player's, but they do note a few loops of theirs.

Of note is that while Setsu will always be present in all of the player's loops, the same doesn't seem to apply to Setsu's. Per their CG in Information Exchange they've had at least two loops in which the player wasn't present. However, the code for their loops is missing the player's name, is missing a name for either Comet or Otome, and has one name that doesn't appear to line up with any character; it's possible that this was a mistake, the CG was made early on and is a bit outdated, or that the developers didn't intend for the player to read too deeply into the CG in the first place.

While Setsu doesn't mention having any loops without the player at their side, the possibility certainly exists: if the player finished the game on their 100th loop, for instance, there would be at least 60 loops Setsu would have to go through without the player being there.

Setsu Loop 1
In Setsu's first loop the player gave them Raqio's Silver Key, condemning them to the loops in order to save them from death.

Setsu Loop 31
During the obtaining of Setsu 2 Setsu mentions that their 31st loop was "really hard to forget," but decides not to tell the player any further details to avoid them going into that situation with preconceived notions. It's unclear which event Setsu's 31st loop might have contained, but it's unlikely to be Citizen Slime or Kukrushka the Guard/Return of the Saint due to them having alluded to both events immediately prior. It could be a more positive event, like Let's Play.

Setsu Loop 61
When obtaining Setsu 2 and Event Search, Setsu reveals that they're currently on their 61st loop. Therefore Setsu's 61st loop always involve both they and the player being human and winning that loop. As explained in the Player Loops section above, if the player waits until their own 61st loop to unlock this event there will be bonus dialogue in which Setsu points out their matching loops.

Setsu Loop 157
Per the CG in Information Exchange, a few of Setsu's loops can be discerned by decoding the text.

RL stands for role, nm stands for number (of characters), and g stands for Gnosia. Next come the roles present in that loop:
 * N = Crew (None)
 * E = Engineer
 * D = Doctor
 * A = AC Follower
 * K = Guardian Angel (the only role unaccounted for present in Loop 11)
 * W = Guard Duty (the only other role to be called out)

After come the characters present in that loop:
 * cp = Chipie
 * gn = Gina
 * jn = Jonas
 * kk = Kukrushka
 * lv = Stella (LeVi)
 * nn = ?
 * rc = Raqio
 * rn = Remnan
 * sg = Shigemichi
 * sm = Sha-Ming
 * sq = SQ
 * st = Setsu
 * yr = Yuriko

Otome and Comet are both unaccounted for, but one of them must be nn, perhaps referencing a beta name. The player does not have a "nickname" - likely due to their name being determined by the player - but even with that taken into account per their 159th loop there is still one more "namecode" missing.

After that the events of each day are noted, using the following codes:
 * D# = Day Number
 * CO_x = Called Out (role)
 * WH = ?
 * BL = ?
 * CS = Cold Sleep
 * DEL = Eliminated

WH and BL's meanings aren't clear, but they seem to refer actions taken during discussion by a single character. WH could possibly stand for "Was Human" in reference to Engineer reports, but WH doesn't appear every day that an Engineer is present. It could possibly refer to Setsu's own reports, but it appears in a loop where they weren't an Engineer making things less clear.

The code for Setsu's 157th loop is: RL:E nm:11 g:2 E D A K st,gn,sq,jn,kk,nn,sg,sm,yr,lv,rc D1:CO_E st gn jn,CS rc,DEL kk D2:CO_D sm,WH yr,CS gn,DEL sg D3:CS lv,DEL st

Through this we can tell that Setsu's 157th loop had 11 crew members, including 2 Gnosia, an Engineer, a Doctor, an AC Follower, and a Guardian Angel. Setsu's role was Engineer. Gina, SQ, Jonas, Kukrushka, "nn", Shigemichi, Sha-Ming, Yuriko, Stella, and Raqio were also present.

On Day 1 Setsu, Gina, and Jonas stepped forward as the Engineers. Raqio was sent into cold sleep and Kukrushka was eliminated overnight.

On Day 2 Sha-Ming stepped forward as the Doctor. Yuriko has "WH" next to her, possibly meaning Setsu scanned her as human. Gina was sent into cold sleep and Shigemichi was eliminated that night.

On Day 3 Stella was put into cold sleep and Setsu was eliminated at night, ending the loop.

Setsu Loop 158
The code for Setsu's 158th loop is: RL:N nm:6 g:1 E st,gn,sq,lv,sg,rc D1:CS rc,DEL gn D2:CO_E sq,WH st,CS sq

This loop had 6 characters: Setsu, Gina, SQ, Stella, Shigemichi, and Raqio. There was 1 Gnosia and an Engineer, with Setsu's role being Crew.

On Day 1 Raqio was sent into cold sleep and Gina was eliminated overnight.

On Day 2 SQ stepped forward as the Engineer. Setsu has "WH" next to them, possibly meaning she reported them as human. SQ was sent into cold sleep.

The code ends here, suggesting Setsu won this loop. On the second day 4 characters remained, including known human Setsu. SQ was sent into cold sleep, meaning that if she wasn't Gnosia there would be two humans and one Gnosia left. This would require someone to be eliminated overnight for the Gnosia to win, and as there's no "DEL" included it seems that SQ was the Gnosia in this loop. By association, then, either Raqio or Gina was the true Engineer.

Setsu Loop 159
The code for Setsu's 159th loop is: RL: E nm:15 g:2 E D A K W st,gn,sq,jn,kk,nn,sg,sm,yr,lv,rc,cp,rn D1:CO_E yr sq,CO_W sg jn,CS sm,DEL sg D2:CS rn,DEL jn D3:CO_D nn,BL sq,CS sq,DEL nn D4:CS lv,DEL st

This loop had every character, 2 Gnosia, an Engineer, a Doctor, an AC Follower, a Guardian Angel, and Guard Duty. Setsu's role was Engineer.

On Day 1 Yuriko and SQ claimed Engineer while Shigemichi and Jonas claimed Guard Duty. Sha-Ming was sent into cold sleep and Shigemichi was eliminated overnight.

On Day 2 Remnan was sent into cold sleep and Jonas was eliminated overnight.

On Day 3 "nn" came forward as the Doctor. SQ has "BL" next to her, but it's unclear what this means. SQ was subsequently put into cold sleep and "nn" was eliminated overnight.

On Day 4 Stella was put into cold sleep and Setsu was eliminated at night, ending the loop.

Setsu Loop 160
Setsu's 160th loop will always be the player's 11th loop, as Information Exchange will always occur at the beginning of Loop 11. Per the code, this loop will always have 11 crew members: all of the characters save Otome, Sha-Ming, Remnan, and Yuriko. There will also always be 2 Gnosia, an Engineer, a Doctor, an AC Follower, and a Guardian Angel.