Time Mechanics Can Make or Break Your Game | Design Delve

On a meta level: Very interesting to see a JM8 and a Razbuten video essay on basically the same topic in relatively short order. I recommend the resprective other one as further viewing, so for those coming form here: "My favorite mechanic (that nobody likes)" by Razbuten on youtube.

FF13 Lightning Returns had the 'the universe is going to end in X days' mechanic, but later in the game you get an ability to pause time for a set amount, which you could activate from the pause menu (outside of battles). As long as you then farmed up enough AP while the clock was stopped you could instantly re-pause time whenever you wanted. Effectively giving you unlimited time to go around a mop up near-end game objectives. It put me off from finishing the game!

Majora is one of my least favourite Zelda games for this exact reason. Actual counter timers in real time stress me out hard, even just timed individual sections or missions. However timers in games that function more as turn/action counts are fine and enhance the experience for me when done well, as they provide a limit and reasonable pressure. Until it becomes clear that it’s so tight that you need a guide or multiple playthroughs to manage everything (looking at you, Persona/Danganronpa)

One of your best vids JM8. Constraints are generally a good thing IMO for gaming arts. From the arcadia and Ludo wordplay to how the time mechanics topic felt like it affected your delivery, this ep works. You even included a game i hadn't heard of

Turn based tactics games can really benefit from only giving you a fixed number of turns or offering a reward if you do the mission within a certain number of turns They force you to take some risks/be more aggressive. X-Com 2's mission timers are probably the best known but other games also do this (ex. Banner of the Maid). Turn based games that limit you to an fixed amount of time actual time to finish your turn suck

'The Sexy Brutale' is the most criminally unsung time-loop, mystery game. Highly recommend you check it out if you have a hard-on for time loop murder-sims.

Sorry to be THAT GUY, and it's not the most heinous of crimes, but showing how to access that safe in that Blue Prince room might count as a spoiler (certainly, I - who just rolled credits on that game - hadn't worked it out until now). On topic, I can't really think of any different types of time mechanic. Citizen Sleeper is another game that effectively ties the passing of time to number of actions. Loved that game.

I know what I'm watching at dinner! Always hyped for a new episode

Best timer I've ever played was in Fable (3?) It gives you like six years to get ready for the final battle, then five years, then four, then none. Time slips away like Pink Floyd man. Worst timer I've ever experienced was the 2nd level of the xenomorph campaign of Alien versus Predator Gold Edition. When every wall is also a floor mazes get exponentially harder.

You talked about in-game timers, and action-based timers, but there's a third kind of timer, the one based on real time. Most famously this is in Animal Crossing, but also common in idle games. It's a big turn-off for many players, and I think as a result it's under-explored. A really interesting example (though definitely not for everyone) is The Longing, which has a real-time time limit of 400 days. The time limit is so extravagant, that patience is framed as the central challenge.

The Persona games come to mind, with limited time slots for social activity, jobs and dungeon exploration, as well as certain deadlines. Going old-school, the original roguelikes (Rogue, NetHack, Moria and so on) used one tick per action, complicated by the effects of haste on yourself and certain dungeon monsters. Then there's SuperHot, the FPS where time only moves when you do...