Summary
- Horror game time limits can add tension and urgency to gameplay, influencing outcomes and creating nail-biting situations.
- Key examples include Five Nights at Freddy’s, Silent Hill 4, and Until Dawn, where time restrictions impact player choices and gameplay.
- Titles like Dying Light and Dead Rising showcase how surviving timed challenges can make gameplay more intense and engaging.
Most of the time, when jumping into a brand-new terrifying horror game, players will prefer to take it nice and slow to avoid being suddenly jumpscared or caught off guard by a fighting enemy. If, however, a team of developers wants to ramp up the tension of the core gameplay loop, they can decide to add in a time mechanic, encouraging players to get a move on so that they don’t fail any objectives or find themselves in a dangerous scenario.
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Sometimes, these time limits will be attached to certain missions, meaning players must finish them as soon as possible to avoid receiving a bad ending. Another way to add some uniqueness to the gameplay is by implementing a real-time day and night cycle, making it harder for players to navigate their way through an area after the sun goes down. Needless to say, time has played a very important role in several horror games, especially these classic titles below.
1
Five Nights At Freddy’s
As Time Ticks Down, Players Must Use What Energy Is Left To Protect Themselves From The Animatronics
The only way to make it through a night of Five Nights at Freddy’s without being hunted down by the terrifying animatronics is by waiting for enough time to pass. In the meantime, players will need to be smart about using their remaining energy to activate the cameras, windows, and doors of the office to keep them safe from the robotic horrors that wander through the restaurant at night.
As a result, the core gameplay loop can feel like an intense fight against the clock, with players begging the hours to go by faster so that they can step out of the nightmare as soon as humanly possible. The digital clock on the screen, therefore, plays a very important role in the game, considering how often players will be glancing at it to determine whether they can make it out in one piece or not.
2
Silent Hill 4: The Room
The Player’s Actions Throughout Silent Hill 4 Will Dictate The Time Limit For The Final Battle
There are a lot of things players will be able to influence through specific means in Silent Hill 4, such as cleansing Henry’s room of the creepy hauntings or killing specific ghosts by using unique weapons. However, another major example of this is, depending on how well Henry manages to protect Eileen, the time limit in the final battle will either be extended or shortened.
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During the final duel against Walter, Eileen will start mindlessly walking toward a pool of red liquid, but because saving her can lead to a better ending, it’s better to have as much time as possible to avoid things getting out of hand. While it’s only for this mission, time still plays a crucial role in the last few moments of Silent Hill 4, making that epic final battle against Walter all so memorable because of how nail-biting it is.
3
Until Dawn
Taking Too Long To Reach Someone In Danger Can Result In An Early Character Death
Throughout a playthrough of Until Dawn, players will be forced to make several important choices that can end up deciding the fate of a character and whether they stick around to make it to the end of the story. The majority of these choices have very strict time limits, and if players fail to pick one by the time that the countdown ends, it can result in a character being injured or, even worse, killed off for good, never to be seen again.
There are also several areas in the game where a character needs to reach someone in time before they are inevitably killed by the ferocious Wendigo. Those who take the safe and straightforward path can waste too much time, while players who are willing to take risks and navigate their way through the shorter but more dangerous paths can end up saving a character’s life. Quick reflexes are a necessity to keep up with Until Dawn‘s tricky time restrictions.
4
House
The House Will Slowly Fill With More And More Creepy Enemies As Time Passes
- Platform(s): PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
- Released: October 30, 2020
- Developer(s): Bark Bark Games, Glowstick Entertainment
- Genre(s): Horror, Adventure
House is an indie horror game that only takes place in a single building, but the longer players spend trying to explore their new surroundings, the more characters and enemies will begin to appear. To avoid landing on a bad ending, players need to interact with everything they can see to influence specific story events, but of course, doing this is far from easy when giant rats and knife-wielding maniacs are hiding around every corner.
Letting too much time slip by at the beginning can quickly lead to things getting out of control, so being as curious as possible is the right attitude to have. House may look fairly easygoing on the surface, but the tension added from the in-game time system makes it well worth a try for horror fans who enjoy games that get the heart pounding.
5
Dying Light
Players Need To Change Their Strategy Depending On The Time Of Day In Dying Light
While there’s a lot about Dying Light that helps it stand out from other zombie games, such as the silky-smooth parkour movement system, what makes it so beloved, and feeds into the core gameplay loop, is the day and night cycle. When the sun is shining bright, zombies will be a lot slower, preferring to hide away indoors before re-emerging on the streets when night arrives.
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Needless to say, the time of day matters a lot, considering it forces players to switch up their game plan to avoid being hunted down by swarms of flesh-hungry zombies. In the daytime, it’s much easier to sweep the streets for supplies, but when the sun goes down, it’s advised to make use of the parkour mechanics to reach higher ground so that the zombies can’t get too close for comfort.
6
Dead Rising
Frank Can’t Waste Any Time If He Doesn’t Want To Get Left Behind In A Zombie-Infested Mall
Because of the sheer size of the zombie-infested mall that Frank finds himself in at the beginning of Dead Rising, it can be easy to get distracted by all the fancy shops and unique weapons scattered around the map. However, because the game’s cases run on a time limit, players always need to be focused on completing missions as quickly as possible, especially since they contribute to what ending will be unlocked at the end.
Though it’s a simple mechanic on the surface, the time limit keeps Dead Rising’s gameplay frantic and intense the whole way through by encouraging players to spend their time wisely, rather than getting a little too carried away with making cocktails and skating around the mall. There’s also the Overtime mode, which allows players to unlock even more endings even after the main game has been finished. When paired with the compelling story and lovable cast of characters, it’s no wonder why Dead Rising is considered such a classic and why it was seen as so deserving of a remake in the eyes of Capcom.
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