History Main / TakeYourTime

** In the end of ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' [[spoiler:Richter is attempting to force the door between the world of the living and Niflheim, the demon world, open to allow the demons to invade the world.]] After finding this out the gang splits up to prepare for the final fight (and you can visit them). After the team regroups, you can take care of all the things you forgot, including Gladsheim (a bonus level that can take an upwards of 3 hours to complete). When you finally do get to the final boss [[spoiler:he]]'s JUST about to complete [[spoiler:his]] goal.

** What's worse is that if you do the mage origin, Wynne will ask you how long you've been away from the Tower, and your answer? ''One Year''. Which means that it takes roughly ''one year'' just to go to Ostagar, witness a battle, pass through Lothering, spend one day at Redcliffe, and fight your way to the top of a tower. (Assuming the player proceeds in the intended order, anyway.) Given that this is about a quarter of the game, it's theoretically possible to leave elves [[NightmareFuel in pain and shapeshifting into werewolves]], let the dwarves continue fighting over succession, watch Arl Eamon die slowly of poison, and even keep a demon-possessed child in his room, for ''up to four years''. The only exception is Redcliff - Take Your Time around the village, but if you leave to go anywhere else, it's completely destroyed.

* The 2010 live-action adaptation of ''SpaceBattleshipYamato'' has the titular battleship arriving at Earth after [[spoiler:having annihilated most of the attacking alien race's home planet]], only to find a ''very'' pissed force of survivors preparing to blow Earth to smithereens. [[spoiler:They decide to use the wave motion gun to destroy the attacker, but the barrel is blocked, meaning the ship will be destroyed after the shot. Upon realizing they must sacrifice the ship to stop the destruction of Earth, they spend the next few minutes emoting over who's staying, who's going, who's dying and who's in love with whom, not to mention doing a saluting flyby]]. Take your time guys, it's not as if there's an alien mothership energizing a destructive nuclear reaction or anything.

* The 2010 live-action adaptation of ''SpaceBattleshipYamato'' has the titular battleship arriving at Earth after [[spoiler:having annihilated most of the attacking alien race's home planet]], only to find a ''very'' pissed force of survivors preparing to blow Earth to smithereens. [[spoiler:They decide to use the wave motion gun to destroy the attacker, but the barrel is blocked, meaning the ship will be destroyed after the shot. Upon realizing they must sacrifice the ship to stop the destruction of Earth, they spend the next few minutes emoting over who's staying, who's going, who's dying and who's in love with whom]]. Take your time guys, it's not as if there's an alien mothership energizing a destructive nuclear reaction or anything.

* ''{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'' plays this dead straight over the course of the game, though averts it for a handful of locations where you're on a timer (specifically, a bomb's timer). You can even take a break from the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon where you're supposed to be chasing Nazis intent on bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and go visit the final section of the optional dungeon (which only opens after you've been through the first part of the VDFD!), grind your way to the level cap, gather up everyone's ultimate weapons, waste time in the casino, and play as many magazine sweepstakes as you feel like.

* An inversion occurs in ''GrimFandango''. No matter how long it takes you to figure out how to unlock the lighthouse during Year 2, Manny will get there just a moment too late to save the girl. He will, however get there in time to hear her last words and receive a clue, before she turns into flowers and blows away.

On a smaller scale, even the most pressing, immediate tasks, such as, say, rescuing a fellow character who is dangling off a ledge at five hundred feet in the air, can be done at one's leisure, provided there isn't a [[TimedMission number countdown ticking away on screen]]. Of course, the accompanying cutscene might still depict you [[AlwaysClose arriving just barely in time]] (or [[YouWereTooLate moments too late]]), and you can expect [=NPCs=] to [[ContinueYourMissionDammit nag you constantly to establish a false sense of urgency]].

On the other hand, just because there's no timer counting down on the screen doesn't mean you're not in a TimedMission. Periodic reminders that you have X minutes left for decreasing values of X should be taken as warnings that, unlike with MagicCountdown, you'll fail if you take more than X minutes, at least in terms of in-game time. If there's an InUniverseGameClock, even an offhand mention of something that won't happen for several days may be something for players to worry about.

On a smaller scale, even the most pressing, immediate tasks, such as, say, rescuing a fellow character who is dangling off a ledge at five hundred feet in the air, can be done at one's leisure, provided there isn't a [[TimedMission number countdown ticking away on screen]]. Of course, the accompanying cutscene [[AlwaysClose will always depict you arriving just barely in time]], and [[ContinueYourMissionDammit you can expect [=NPCs=] to nag you constantly to establish a false sense of urgency]].

[[AcceptableBreaksFromReality From a gameplay perspective]], suddenly railroading you into the final dungeon or an urgent quest seems a little unfair, doesn't it? Traditionally, quite a few sidequests like the quest for the InfinityPlusOneSword only open up when the final dungeon is in the sky, or in a part where you aren't powerful enough, even with the PeninsulaOfPowerleveling...if you have a very small window before it's LostForever due to you getting stuck in a PointOfNoReturn, how will a player [[GuideDangIt who doesn't have a strategy guide]] know they had a small window of opportunity to do the sidequests? Or that it was possible to recruit a GuestStarPartyMember permanently before the final boss?

Contrast InUniverseGameClock, TimedMission, ContinueYourMissionDammit, AlwaysClose. Compare with OffstageWaitingRoom. May overlap with TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot or MagicCountdown. May be caused by OrcusOnHisThrone

* In ''{{Okami}}'', a later sequence in the game tells you about the coming Day of Darkness, when the sun will be swallowed and there's nothing you can do about it. Since you're the Goddess of the Sun, this would be a Very Bad Thing [[spoiler:but of course, no matter how much you dawdle, the sun is only swallowed the ''moment the final boss stares you down'', leaving you powerless]].

* If you TakeYourTime rescuing the seals in ''{{Drakengard}}'', visiting other places, perhaps grinding away if you feel like it, TheEmpire will take its time in destroying them.
** Though it should be said that the trope is averted somewhat in the game; ''every single level'' is on a time limit. Thankfully, unless the level has a significant plot reason to be especially urgent, the time given is either 30 minutes or a full hour depending on the size of the area, which is generally more than enough.

* In ''CityOfHeroes'', unless your contact specifically says that you X amount of time before the bomb goes off/they escape with the hostages/initiate their plan you can take all the time you need. But ''if'' there is a set time, you have exactly that much time; even if you exit the game and get back in, the timer is still ticking.

* In ''RuneScape'', many quests have rather urgent situations that you can just leave alone and solve it later.
* The island quest in ''KingdomOfLoathing'' is an impressive example. Ostensibly a war between two opposing hordes of mobs, it actually involves both armies waiting passively for you to systematically eradicate them. If you do some sidequests, killing a mob will trigger a fixed number of extra kills by the side you're fighting for, but they still won't score any kills when you're not around, no matter how long you screw around in other areas.

Please only list notable examples, subversions, or aversions, as this trope is very common.

[[folder:Exceptions]]

[[AC:ActionAdventure]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', Link only has three days to do his stuff before the moon [[TimedMission crashes into Termina]], resulting in a NonStandardGameOver. Although time can be slowed, fast-forwarded, and [[GroundhogDayLoop reset]] for his benefit, it adamantly refuses to stand still -- [[TalkingIsAFreeAction except during conversations]], of course. Oddly, also played and justified in your ability to reset time as many times as you want, while it is unclear what effect this has on Link, the people he helps, the masks and the gods, the Mask Salesman and the outside world.
* In the final dungeon of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', you have to rush to the roof of the castle before the bell chimes three times, or Princess Zelda will be turned to stone forever. If you take too long to get there, the bell ''really'' chimes three times, resulting in Game Over.
** Actually, only the third bell has a time limit. The first two ones ring once you go through two of the doors in the hallway. So, technically, this is played straight AND subverted within one hallway.

[[AC:ActionGame]]
* In the {{Spiderman}} games if you take too long to rescue a person about to fall they will drop. However, once you've grabbed them it's treated as completely reasonable to walk all around UsefulNotes/NewYork with them.
** This can lead to some pretty funny results if you're investigating a random crime, in which case you're not ever punished for failing, taking too long, or going outside the event area. As a result, you carry around things like muggers, balloons, or even a ''purse'', which doesn't impede your abilities at all, and you can carry it back to its owner for a free health refill.
** You can even take time out from fighting a pair of battlesuits to rescue a little girl's balloon, and the health refill you get from this ''will actually enhance your fight with the suits''.
** Also happens with the plot in ''Spider-Man 2''. Unless a timer specifically shows up, you can spend ''ages'' swinging around solving random crimes and you will always be just ''sliiiiightly'' late, when rationally you should be showing up three days after class ended.

[[AC:AdventureGame]]
* The AdventureGame ''FullThrottle'' double subverts this trope in its endgame; if you take too long during any section, the vehicle you're currently in either falls into a canyon or explodes. However, after fading to black, the protagonist, Ben, says "Let me try that again," and the game automatically restarts in the last stage of the endgame you reached. This is because the entire game is told in flashback.
* Speaking of adventure games, some of the older text-only games had time limits in spades, particularly ''{{Spellcasting 101}}'' and its sequels, in which you had to complete certain tasks in a certain number of actions or else the entirety of the game would be impossible.
* In the shockwave-based puzzle/adventure game ''Lenny Loosejocks in Space'', the player has four real-time hours to complete the game before the entire galaxy is nuked to oblivion.
** [[spoiler:You only think that will happen, but it ends up being delayed by the Y3K bug.]]
* ''TheLastExpress'' is an AdventureGame by [[PrinceOfPersia Jordan Mechner]] that takes place entirely in a kind of real time, sped up by a factor of five. The game spans three days, though there are a couple of time skips when you are knocked out or fall asleep. You often have to be at the right place at the right time to witness a plot event. Good news is that the game has MultipleEndings. Bad news is that only four out of 34 of them don't see you dead. Luckily, the game has an absolutely ingenious retry mechanic. Fail at a task, the clock simply rewinds to a point where it is possible to complete it. You can also do this manually.
* Sierra's ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series. TimeKeepsOnSlipping, but you actually get all the time you want to beat the game, with a few exceptions:
** ''Quest for Glory I'' has no day-specific events. There is, however, the [[FetchQuest errand]] Baba Yaga gives you in exchange for not having you for dinner--she asks for a mandrake root from the local graveyard, and if she doesn't have it before the ''very next morning'', "her curse turns you into a frog on the spot, and you are forced to live out your years dodging Sauruses (Saurii?) with large feet."
** Only ''Quest for Glory II'' is on a strict timetable - you get sixteen days in Shapeir to freely do as you wish (just remember to deal with the Elementals within three days after they appear, or they'll destroy the city), followed by three completely linear days in Raseir, and the endgame takes place in one night.
** ''Quest for Glory III'' has the character go to a meeting with Rakeesh and Rajah at day 3, after which you join Rakeesh to go to the Simbani village. After that, you can take your time doing as you wish.
** ''Quest for Glory IV'' has Igor falling into a grave at day 5. If he's not rescued in three days, he'll die, and so will the unjustly convicted gypsy (and so will you and the townspeople, because of the gypsy's dying curse). Also, you need to speak with the Domovoi at day 5 to get the doll to give to Tanya, or the game becomes UnwinnableByMistake. Other than that, you can waste as such time as you wish.
** In ''Quest for Glory V'', the storyline doesn't start until you're ready to enter the Rites of Rulership. This is explicitely told to you and your old friends advise you to [[TakeYourTime take some time to relax]] and enjoy yourself before the Rites (and hopefully, build up skills and look for better weapons and armor). Once the fun starts, certain quests allow you to TakeYourTime because only you can complete them, with others if you wait long enough, someone will beat you to them. Also, the Arena fights are set for the first 25 days of the game regardless of anything else.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestII+ VGA'' mostly plays this trope straight; although most of the game is set over the course of a day, time only passes to the next stage when you get a Gem of Destiny. One exception, however, is when you must get Caldaur's tiara. If you take too long, Caldaur will appear and kill you.
** ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'' averts this. There is a [[InUniverseGameClock clock]] at the top of the screen at all times, and the evil wizard who imprisons Gwydion has a set schedule, which he keeps to regardless of how fast or slow you figure things out. Even if you ready all the ingredients for his demise [[spoiler: or rather, [[BalefulPolymorph transformation into a cat]]]], you still have to wait until he gets home to do anything. Also, after you complete a certain event, a ship sails into the harbor and stays there for no more than twenty minutes. If you don't get on it, it leaves and the game becomes {{Unwinnable}}. [[GuideDangIt Not that the game tells you this.]]
* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' has several moments of these. In ''Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards'', there is a time limit of 2 hours in which the player has to make Larry have sex, or else he commits suicide. After achieving this goal, this trope comes into play for the rest of the game though. And in ''Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places)'', not going to the cruise ship in time or lounging around the ship for too long will result in a game over.

[[AC:FirstPersonShooter]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3'', during the opening sequence, a meteor begins falling toward the Federation base on Norion, and you have a limited amount of time to stop it. While at first, you can mess around, after a certain point, it turns into a TimedMission. While there's no timer on-screen, if you disobey the words of the Female ComputerVoice, you will be a very sorry BountyHunter indeed.
** Most ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' games have at least one timed mission - usually escaping the area before it blows up at the end of the game. The cardinal ''Metroid'' rule is that if the game ever mentions an explicit amount of time - "Meteor impact in four minutes", for example - ''you better fucking heed the warning'' whether the clock's onscreen or not.
* Used, Averted, and Semi-Averted in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando''. During a few missions you're told to rush but there is no timer and events won't happen until you trigger them. Other parts, have 'time limits' in the form of more enemies being in the area depending on how long you take to get there. And then there's the last mission of the first chapter where you're trying to get off a ship that you've sabotaged. When the mission starts you hear a voice saying '5 minutes to self destruct'. You have 5 minutes to complete the entire level, no timer is shown but every once in a while you'll hear 'x minutes till self destruct'. To make it harder you need at least 1:30 in the last room to complete it, and generally more like 3 minutes. The instant the 5m are up the ship explodes and you're squad is killed (unless you've triggered the end sequence, where the ship explodes around you but you win anyway).
* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' has at least one aversion: In the "Power Out" level after [[spoiler: the Ceph spear]] appears you must complete the objective that follows within a certain timeframe or die.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' if you play on the highest difficulty level - this implements a strict time limit and if you go over it you get a NonStandardGameOver.

[[AC:GenreBusting]]
* Averted in ''{{Pathologic}}''. The restrictive InUniverseGameClock is ticking ''constantly'' unless you pause the game, and it will make you hard-pressed to finish everything in time thanks to the fact that your PlayerCharacter can only walk at a leisurely pace. If you spend all day looking through garbage bins, going shopping, and sleeping, the plot ''will'' progress without you, usually locking you into an {{Unwinnable}} state (or giving yourself a GameOver).

[[AC:LightGunGame]]
* The ''TimeCrisis'' games. You have to clear each screen of terrorists or whatever they are before a timer goes to zero - doing so causes the timer to reset. This prevents the slow and safe technique, where you hide to prevent wasted ammo and getting hit while shooting everyone. This, if you do run out of time, will take one of your lives away, and kill you if that was your last life. It also doesn't help in TimeCrisis 2-4, when a supporting character will go into your range and you aren't supposed to hit him.
** The first ''TimeCrisis'' was ''much'' more stubborn with regards to time. Instead of the timer resetting after clearing a wave of bad guys, time would get added to the timer. Trouble is, the timer runs even while the player is (non-controllably) running to the next wave of bad guys - and running out of time ''ends the game'' (unless you [[BribingYourWayToVictory insert another coin or two]].)
** The ''VideoGame/SilentScope'' series works this way as well. Later games melded time and life into one entity (you can only receive bonus time, getting hit by an enemy costs you time, etc.)

[[AC:MiscellaneousGames]]
* [[StalkedByTheBell Averted]] in ''[[VideoGame/HalfMinuteHero Half-Minute Hero]]''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title suggests]], you have exactly thirty seconds to grind up, buy equipment, perform sidequests, and kill the [[BigBad Demon Lord]]. You can buy extra time, but the cost goes up every time. Unlockables include a five minute mode and a brutal ''3-second'' mode.

[[AC:{{MMORPG}}s]]
* Played completely straight in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' nine times out of ten. One quest in particular that springs to mind involves a competition with a dwarf as to who can kill 60 animals first. This quest is specifically designed to overlap with other "[[TwentyBearAsses Kill X many Y]]" quests which have a far smaller amount of animals to kill - at certain points when you have killed a specific number of animals, the dwarf will appear, laugh at you about how many more animals he has killed, and disappear. Around the 40 point he'll take a nap, at 55 or so he'll wake up, and at 60 he'll be 2 or so kills behind you.
** An example pointed out a few times on fansites involves Sentinel Hill, a military base and the only place in the entire Westfall region that isn't full of homeless people, burning to the ground by the Defias Brotherhood. The leader, Gryan Stoutmantle, yells at you to hurry to Stormwind and tell King Varian, telling you to take a gryphon and not waste any time. You can go anywhere on that gryphon, maybe spend a few hours in a dungeon, heck, level all the way up to the level cap if you'd like.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' by Recipe For Disaster: the events of the quest are in a time-bubble.

[[AC:PlatformGame]]
* According to the plot of the classic ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia'', the protagonist has only one hour to save the sultan's daughter. This carries over to the real world, as the player is only given one real-life hour to finish the game.
** More specifically, the player has 60 minutes of "alive time" to defeat Jaffar. The timer doesn't count down when the player is dead (a separate, ''hidden'' timer starts upon death, and if that timer finishes, the game restarts), and since the threat to the sultan's daughter is Jaffar, defeating him stops the timer.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission''. Despite the main character respawning upon death, you have only eight hours to complete the game (and each death penalizes you by a few minutes). You loiter, you lose.

[[AC:RealTimeStrategy]]
* ''WorldInConflict'' generally plays this realistically, rewarding you for accomplishing some tasks within a certain time-frame, and many primary objectives are timed on their own (the timer isn't always visible). However, there is one exception: the two missions before the finale are supposedly under time pressure [[spoiler:as you need to liberate Seattle before the president is forced to nuke it to prevent Chinese landfall]], but only one objective is time-based (and it has nothing to do with the primary threat).
* ''{{Pikmin}}'' is divided into thirty game days of about twenty minutes each. If anybody's not in their respective aircraft by nightfall, they're eaten. If you're not done with the game within the thirty days, your life-support system runs out and you get killed by the oxygen. C'mon, hustle! The sense of haste induced by this deadline so clashed with the rest of the game that Nintendo removed it for the sequel.
** Although the sequel ''does'' keep the "Pikmin left outside at night will be eaten" rule.
* While your superiors in ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' will [[ContinueYourMissionDammit continuously badger you]] that it would be really smashing if you could just finish your objective, like, now (and [[OfficeSpace use the new cover sheet on the TPS reports]]), at least the first phase of a mission will leave you enough time to you build up your defenses, construct the infinite resource generator, arm ten nuclear silos ... all while the enemy will send about ten units at a time to let you know he's still there. Occasionally, the difficulty is in ''not'' accidentally finish your objective (by, for example, building several long range artillery pieces that destroy the enemy base).
-->''(your ACU is [[spoiler:capturing Black Sun]] in the last Cybran mission)''
-->"[[MostAnnoyingSound I would suggest you check your objectives, commander.]] Ops out."
* In ''WarhammerDarkOmen'' you can swerve from the main course and take on side missions, but the enemy bulk will be on their way, so when you finally arive to the site of the next grand event, you'll find the enemy force much stronger then you could've otherwise or even that the castle you were to defend was taken and now you have to take it back. You also get chewed on by your mentor for your lack of determination.

[[AC:RolePlayingGame]]
* Some sidequests in some {{RPG}}s, such as, for example, a couple ''[[Franchise/TheElderScrolls Elder Scrolls]]'' games and {{MMORPG}}s have time sensitive sidequests.
** Exactly one quest in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]] has a time limit, the one to join the thieves guild, where you have to compete against someone else. The time is in fact ''exceptionally short'' - if you take too long talking to people to figure out where to go, you'll fail. Fortunately if you fail the mission, you are given a second chance.
*** Actually, there is another: taking too long to hunt down [[spoiler:Raynil Draylas]] at the end of ''Brotherhood Betrayed'' (one in-game day to be exact) results in him successfully fleeing to Morrowind and failing the quest.
** Several ''main'' quests in ''Daggerfall'' are timed. Even those generally aren't actually ''urgent'' -- most of the plot is driven by [[PlayerCharacter the Agent]]'s actions, and of the two things you are told to do before setting sail to Daggerfall, it is the supposedly ''less'' important one where waiting potentially could have caused trouble with solving it.
* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]''. Waiting around too long at the final level of the game will [[spoiler: result in the cannon being fired, causing Spira to be obliterated]].
* The above-mentioned ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'' also contains a quest chain in the Underdark wherein a series of tasks must be completed within a certain number of hours game time, or the quest chain is broken. As a result, you have to do a [[KillEmAll disproportionate amount of killing and maiming]] to complete the game.
** Even earlier (though less drastic) examples include several [=NPCs=] that join for quests of their own ([[spoiler:Minsc, Korgan and Nalia]]). But they will either leave the party or attack the party if you take more than ten game days to fulfill your part of the bargain.
** In the first game, your first party members outside of Candlekeep besides Imoen- Xzar and Montaron, and Khalid and Jaheira- will tell you to go south, pestering you if you take too long and leaving if you don't listen. In the eponymous city, you will get poisoned and must find an antidote in time.
* In ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'', the plot revolves around preventing an invasion of the dark elves into the human kingdom. The very first chapter has the goal of escorting a messenger who is bringing a warning about this invasion. Even though trooops are constantly amassing and preparations are being made, there is no drawback at all to taking your sweet time and exploring the WideOpenSandbox world the game has to offer right from the beginning.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'', the player must find a replacement water chip for his shelter's computer systems within a set period otherwise his people will die of thirst. He can, however, pay to have water taken by caravan at certain times of the month, thus extending the clock. This would, however, ''reduce'' the clock of the second time limit...
** The game used to contain an invisible ''second'' time limit; if you waited too long, [[spoiler:an army of supermutants would overrun the world - having water delivered to the vault would cause the mutants to be able to locate it faster]], ending the game. However, fan complaints led the developers to [[strike:remove this second time limit]] extend it to a ridiculous level (the 500 day limit became about 17 years) with a patch.
* Averted in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' for the SNES. At one point in the game, a Cortex Bomb that's been implanted in Jake's head is activated, and he finds out that he has 30 hours before it detonates. If the player does not find a way to deactivate the bomb in 30 real-world minutes, Jake dies.
** Staying at a hotel takes just a few seconds of real-world time, whereas adventuring is in 1:1 time; thus the bomb actually takes between 30 minutes and about a half-year of game-time to actually go off. Of course, apart from the bomb, you can spend years and years at a hotel to no effect whatsoever.
* In ''Fountain of Dreams'', the sequel to the acclaimed ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' RPG, the player characters must deal with the constant threat of mutation caused by post-nuclear holocaust radiation. Since mutation increases your attributes, but decreases your ability to heal from damage, if the player takes too long (especially if they wander carelessly into highly radioactive areas), the game essentially becomes unbeatable as you are no longer able to heal when hurt by enemies.
* While mostly subject to the trope, ''LostOdyssey'' does include one sequence in which the party must prevent four giant monsters from ravaging the country of Numara. Not only must the characters chase each monster down in their CoolBoat, but while they're busy fighting one, the others keep heading for the coast, and if any of them reach land, it's game over. Thankfully UselessUsefulSpell is averted for the most part in the game and thus you can put 3 of the monsters asleep while you take care of the 4th.
* The first ''ValkyrieProfile'' has a set number of Chapters, with a set number of Periods within them. Going into a dungeon or to recruit an Einherjar takes up one or two Periods, so you've got a rather limited amount of time to adventure before the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon triggers.
* ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}'' mess around with this as well. The games are run by a date system and you can only complete so many actions per day. For instance, while simple item exchange sidequests typically take up no time, social links and spending time in places advance the clock. There are only so many days in the game, ergo, you do not have infinite time to complete everything, hence necessitating [[NewGamePlus more than one play through]]. You can, in theory, spend an infinite amount of time in Tartarus/The TV World, but this is not recommended, since you would run out of items or money and would need to progress to the next day to heal. However, this trope is in effect with respects to Tartarus in ''{{Persona 3}}'', because Tartarus appears during the dark hour, a magical one hour block between midnight and 12:01, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation but you can remain in there for over an hour of game time]].
** Provided, of course, that your party doesn't get worn out from the constant battling, thereby necessitating your retreat within a reasonable amount of time. However, this is only an issue in the very early parts of the game when your characters are still at low levels, and is especially ''not'' so during the final climb to the very top where you are not allowed to leave Tartarus until the final boss has been defeated, and can take as long as you need in order to do so.
*** And (at least in FES) on the day before a boss fight, you're allowed as much time as you want in Tartarus without your party ever getting tired.
* In ''Devil Summoner: RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'', there's a case of this the first time Raidou travels to the Dark World, as he discovers he has to save a schoolgirl from being devoured by a tsuchigumo, but can do whatever he feels like without her getting eaten. [[spoiler:This turns out to be justified, as the whole thing was a trap, and it wouldn't exactly work if he ate the bait.]]
* {{Egregious}} in ''[[TreasureOfTheRudras Rudra no Hiho]]'', where having only 15 days before the end of the human race is the whole plot, yet days only pass if you advance the story, not when staying the night in an inn.
* ''[[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Might and Magic: World of XEEN]]'' attempted to use the availability of cash as a sort of level cap. Combine the ability to create new characters at any time, a bank with compound interest, and a job that made time pass quickly as well as netting some cash. Wait a century. Congratulations! A truly epic TakeYourTime, as you recruit a brand new party to actually save the world, since the guys you started with are so old that if you let them sleep they'll never wake up.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', there are several instances in both games where the party is forced to escape a structure or to rescue another character. Running out of time in either case will result in a NonStandardGameOver, and you cannot save during these situations for obvious gameplay reasons. It gets worse when you realize that the timer will keep counting down even while you're fighting [[RandomEncounters monsters]] and even {{Mini Boss}}es, and it gets even worse when you notice that the timer even counts down ''while you're accessing the menu/status screen or reading dialogue conversations''. Better set the Battle and Message speeds to the fastest settings!
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' even has a sequence where you want to cut it as close as possible while escaping the FloatingContinent, [[spoiler: if you jump down to the airship before the clock counts down to 5 seconds, Shadow won't be able to catch up and [[LostForever dies for good.]]]]
* The ''{{Suikoden}}'' series doesn't do this too often, but ''SuikodenII'' has an somewhat infamous example in Clive's sidequest to track down Elza. It requires talking to certain people across the game world within an extremely short amount of time (short for an RPG, anyway), and being late by even a second means the trail goes cold and the quest can't be completed.
** In Suikoden I, after you win Kwada's army everybody shouts "yay! let's go and kill the bastard!", the game picks your party for the mission and your party starts to run to the castle gates. People are waiting outside to see the results of the battle. And then you can go, rest, do whatever you like and come back to attack the castle. Everyone is still waiting outside.
** Another example from Suikoden I, you are rushing back to your castle which is under attack. Before the enemy's invasion begins, you can go anywhere you want to grind. Which is good, because when the invasion begins you have a defeat a level 40 with a single character which may have stayed at level 8 since the beggining of the game. Failing to win the duel means the good ending is gone. So good thing they give you time to grind.
* Partially averted in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''. You ''do'' have a time limit, but it's more related to how long you walk, use dragon powers, and explore around rather than how much time you take. Ryu could stand in one place and the D-counter never increases, but if he wanders around, then it increases.
* Even though ''VideoGame/PaperMario 2'' is already listed on this page with a straight example, there is an actual timed mission earlier on, at the end of the second chapter. You have to chase down TheDragon and defeat him in a certain amount of time, or you and a tree full of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s goes kablooie.
** Although, the battle against him itself is not timed. He'll stop the timer after a brief cutscene where he's yelled at by the elder, ''then'' you fight him.
* In the first ''WildARMs'' game, there's a timed mission where you have three minutes to escape a collapsing dungeon. However, the timer doesn't count down during battles--a very important caveat, because there's a GuideDangIt bonus boss that is only available during those three minutes, who you can spend as long as you need to actually fighting.

[[AC:ShootEmUp]]
* In ''StarControl II: The Ur-Quan Masters'', the LostTechnology superweapon of the BigBad will (unless you put a stop to it) eventually begin exterminating every other race in the game before reaching Earth. Also, the rogue Slylandro Probes will become progressively more numerous if left unchecked, to the point that there are so many running around, completing the game becomes nearly impossible. Players who specialize in battling the Probes will often deliberately not do the quest because salvaging destroyed Probes can be a more efficient resource-gathering technique than mining.

[[AC:SurvivalHorror]]
* The ending of ''[[VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth Call of Cthulhu]]'' involves your escape from a collapsing undersea temple while an American sub is attempting to destroy it. At first it seems like the standard "take your time" scenario, no clock or anything and the 'collapsing fortress' we've seen in so many games. The reality however is that if you take too long the ceiling falls in on you and you die, its an extremely hard time to make actually and there are programs/cheats out there to make it easier.
* Averted in ''{{Pathologic}}'' and ''DeadRising'', where the games' events play out over a number of days, and it's up to the player to complete his quests on time and be present for important events.
** ''DeadRising'' actually plays this somewhat straight, as some of the events will be going on for an absurdly long time if you let them. The first gunfight between Brad and Carlito in the Food Court will rage for over ''two days'' unless you intervene.
* This sort of happens in ''{{Obscure}}: The Aftermath''. When you go to rescue [[spoiler:Jun]], there's a health bar (read: timer of the non-showing you just how long you have left variety). If it runs out, it seems like nothing happens. [[spoiler:Although it technically has an effect- depending on how much of it dwindles down. If you make it with time to spare and kill the fat thing menacing her, she falls down a hole to the ScrappyLevel and subsequently dies. If she has a little health left, you see her die. If she has none left, you see the enemy and her body.]]
* Though the games try to imply that zombies are kicking in the doors, often you are free to take as long as you need in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games, with one *huge* exception. If you screw around too long in the Gamecube remake of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', all the normal zombies you killed without destroying their heads will eventually return as ''much faster, much stronger'' Crimson Heads. You can burn the bodies to prevent this, but there isn't enough fuel to do it to all of them.
** A second exception is the ''{{Outbreak}}'' series, where every character is infected with the TVirus (represented by a % counter) that ticks up and acts as the time limit. It ticks up much faster if wounded, so it also acts as the health bar.

[[AC:ThirdPersonShooter]]
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'' usually plays this straight, but in chapters 2 and 12, screwing around too long gets you game overs as [[spoiler: the kidnappers get away and the block collapses under Max respectively.]]

[[AC:TurnBasedStrategy]]
* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic V'' usually lets you take your time, but quite a few missions have time limits of one kind or another. In some cases you are running from an enemy or need to be at a place first, or the enemy forces a decisive battle at a certain time. The Dwarf campaign in ''Hammers of Fate'' is filled to the brim with time limits.

[[AC:WideOpenSandbox]]
* In ''{{Starflight}}'', the goal is to discover the cause of stellar instability moving through the sector. If you take too much gametime to stop it, your home system's sun will flare and destroy your base. (You can still "win" after that point, but you'll have nowhere to resupply your ship or make repairs in the meantime, and it makes for a somewhat bittersweet victory.) Also, depending on when you're in a given system, you may be warned of the star's instability; if you don't leave in time, the resulting activity will destroy your ship.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'', [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/11/15/ as lampooned by]] ''Webcomic/PennyArcade''.
** It is an exception because if you spend too long doing these things, the guy you're up against does, in fact, come back for the other mirror and kill you, resulting in the bad ending.
* ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai'' has a somewhat persistent timing mechanic going that can be sped up sometimes and ignored at others, but generally speaking if you screw around you'll probably get roped into one of the crappy endings, most of which involve everyone kicking the bucket. Unless you quit early, the game ends on day 3.
* Most missions in ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' have a time limit of a day, this can get fairly annoying when you have to cross several miles on foot to complete said mission while avoiding get shot, eaten or ripped apart.
* In Russian game ''SpaceRangers'', nobody waits until you arrive. Military forces and fellow rangers will launch assaults by they own, so will your enemies. Not only that, but, depending on the game difficulty settings, one of the warring factions can actually win if you linger long enough.
[[/folder]]

* Just about ''every'' ''ClueFinder'' game has this. Of course, considering they're all [[AlphabetSoupCans educational games]], what exactly would be the fairness in putting a time limit on long division problems? Kids struggle enough in ''school''!

** Averted in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity'' at multiple points, where your partner will insist that you attend to the matter at hand if you try to take any missions from the board or go out to do a dungeon without a mission. However, you can use Companion Mode to do missions freely at any point in the story (Albeit without the aid of your hero and partner).

* In the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games, there are some story based missions that try to give you a sense of urgency. But in reality, you can do whatever missions you please (or no mission at all), getting around to the story based one when you're ready to advance the story.

Contrast InUniverseGameClock, TimedMission, ContinueYourMissionDammit, AlwaysClose. Compare with OffstageWaitingRoom. May overlap with TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot or MagicCountdown.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' starts off on a tanker sailing down the Hudson River, and you're told you have to get off of it before it passes the Verrazano Bridge. You can see the tanker's movement from the decks, but it won't reach the lower bay until the plot requires it to do so, and won't get past the lower bay even if you spend hours on board after that.