History Main / FreemiumTimer

* ''VideoGame/ElSword'' has a stamina meter that is depleted whenever you play in dungeons. When it reaches 0, you won't be able to play dungeons again until tomorrow. You're still able to play PvP regardless of stamina, though. The meter resets to full every 24 hours.

These systems started life out in those [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash-based]] Facebook games from the late 2000s, and when the Mobile market became viable enough for gaming on the go, these systems spread to the mobile market like ''wildfire''. Not surprisingly, most addicts attribute their long playtime for their game of choice to constantly emptying the Energy Bar or resetting the timers over the actual intended gameplay experience, due to them timing their lives around these timers. As such, detractors of these systems have coined the terms "Free To Wait" or "Wait to Play" games; games that are intentionally designed with abusing these systems in mind, so as to maximise the full profiteering potential.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'': The "Sortie Fuel System" limited how many times you could play in either the campaign or multiplayer modes unless you waited for supplied fuel to recharge or buy stocked fuel if you didn't want to wait. The normal rate was seventy-five cents per unit of stocked fuel at best, one dollar at worst,[[note]]The one-unit fuel pack is one dollar; some included free extras, i.e. the 50-fuel pack included ten free units[[/note]] and to play the campaign past the second mission one had to pay a massive amount of credits to unlock the mission on top of the fuel cost, and more credits was necessary to replay it. Critical feedback from the fandom eventually tweaked the system so that you used exactly one unit of fuel per mission (originally it was planned to use one unit for every five minutes of gameplay, though given that co-op missions only lasted five minutes anyway it's basically the same), and stocked fuel could be gained through challenges or random drops. There was also an Unlimited Campaign play ticket that removed the fuel and credit costs from playing missions. It was possible for a player to receive stocked fuel via challenges and random drops faster than they spent it, especially after buying the Unlimited Campaign Ticket.

* ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' uses a replenishing stock of generic, low-level NPC duelists that slowly respawn over time. These are primarily used for grinding out EXP and Gate Keys used to level up characters and challenge Legendary Duelists, respectively. However, the ability to play PlayerVersusPlayer is completely unlimited.

* ''VideoGame/D4DJGroovyMix'' downplays this trope. Before beginning a song, you choose how much Voltage to spend, up to 5. Voltage multiplies your rewards for the song and is required for the limited-time Battle Live ArrangeMode, and recharges at a rate of 1 per hour, up to 10, although you can use items or [[PremiumCurrency Diamonds]] to refill your Voltage, even over 10. If you have no Voltage left, or simply don't want to spend it, you can opt to play in Rehearsal mode, which will give you item and EXP rewards as if you got a D rank with 1 Voltage spent, but this will not affect the one-time score, combo, or play count rewards. In other words, nothing stops you from playing all day, but DiminishingReturnsForBalance is in effect to reduce rewards after multiple plays within a short period fo time.

# '''The Timeout Timers:''' The second variety, more common in ConstructionAndManagementGames and/or {{Idle Game}}s, gives individual timers to complete specific actions, and the player must pay real money to speed up the process.

* ''VideGame/{{Arknights}}'' has Sanity, which is used to start operations in story mode and most events. Sanity is refunded if player fails an operation; normal operations has a first clear refund and all failures after that cost 1 sanity on retreat, challenge mode and H stages refund half of sanity consumed, and Annihilation stages refund sanity based on number of enemies killed. Players can replenish sanity using certain items, or Originite Prime (the premium currency); after the release of chapter 8, the community has spawned memes revolving around [[PlayerCharacter the Doctor]] having questionable behaviors when at low Sanity.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'': The "Sortie Fuel System" limited how many times you could play in either the campaign or multiplayer modes unless you waited for supplied fuel to recharge or buy stocked fuel if you didn't want to wait. The normal rate was seventy-five cents per unit of stocked fuel at best, one dollar at worst[[note]]The one-unit fuel pack is one dollar; some included free extras, i.e. the 50-fuel pack included ten free units[[/note]], and to play the campaign past the second mission one had to pay a massive amount of credits to unlock the mission on top of the fuel cost, and more credits was necessary to replay it. Critical feedback from the fandom eventually tweaked the system so that you used exactly one unit of fuel per mission (originally it was planned to use one unit for every five minutes of gameplay, though given that co-op missions only lasted five minutes anyway it's basically the same), and stocked fuel could be gained through challenges or random drops. There was also an Unlimited Campaign play ticket that removed the fuel and credit costs from playing missions. It was possible for a player to receive stocked fuel via challenges and random drops faster than they spent it, especially after buying the Unlimited Campaign Ticket.

* ''VideoGame/Arcaea'' has an energy meter that is used in World Mode, which is required to unlock much of the game’s content. You spend one unit of energy to move a certain distance on the map, based on a combination of your performance in a song (usually) of your choosing and selected character.

Many {{Allegedly Free Game}}s have some sort of limitation intentionally added or sweet perks to entice players into spending money. Unlike the usual method of [[BribingYourWayToVictory offering special premium items and/or characters]] for you to use (yet nefariously, these systems run in tandem with one another), the Freemium Timer limits how much a player can play a game over a given period, unless they are willing to pony up one of their precious game credits, or [[AdReward watch an ad]], to extend their playthrough. This is either to monetize off of impatient players, or as an AntiPoopSocking mechanic.

These systems started life out in those [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash-based]] Facebook games from the late 2000's, and when the Mobile market became viable enough for gaming on the go, these systems spread to the mobile market like ''wildfire''. Not surprisingly, most addicts attribute their long playtime for their game of choice to constantly emptying the Energy Bar or resetting the timers over the actual intended gameplay experience, due to them timing their lives around these timers. As such, detractors of these systems have coined the terms "Free To Wait" or "Wait to Play" games; games that are intentionally designed with abusing these systems in mind, so as to maximise the full profiteering potential.

[[NonIndicativeName Despite the name]], these systems are not limited to Free to Play games, as many full-priced retail games also use these mechanics (much to the increasing ire of players everywhere). Often overlaps with PlayEveryDay, as these timers' duration generally take less than 24 hours to finish, or refill fully in the case of the energy meter.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'': The "Sortie Fuel System" limited how many times you could play in either the campaign or multiplayer modes, unless you waited for supplied fuel to recharge or buy stocked fuel if you didn't want to wait. The normal rate was seventy-five cents per unit of stocked fuel at best, one dollar at worst[[note]]The one-unit fuel pack is one dollar; some included free extras, i.e. the 50-fuel pack included ten free units[[/note]], and to play the campaign past the second mission one had to pay a massive amount of credits to unlock the mission on top of the fuel cost, and more credits was necessary to replay it. Critical feedback from the fandom eventually tweaked the system so that you used exactly one unit of fuel per mission (originally it was planned to use one unit for every five minutes of gameplay, though given that co-op missions only lasted five minutes anyway it's basically the same), and stocked fuel could be gained through challenges or random drops. There was also an Unlimited Campaign play ticket that removed the fuel and credit costs from playing missions. It was possible for a player to receive stocked fuel via challenges and random drops faster than they spent it, especially after buying the Unlimited Campaign Ticket.

* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'' features two stamina meters. The first, which is simply called stamina, is consumed whenever you clear a quest alone. The other meter, referred to as getherwings, is consumed when clearing coop quests. The stamina meters max gets bigger the more a player levels up while getherwings always have a max of 12. Both meters, however, can be overfill past their max through use of items, wyrmite, diamantium, leveling up, or collecting from the halidom, but they won't reload on their own when they are over their current max.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'': The game uses a "Fatigue Points" system, which starts at 156 points and goes down by 1 for every uncleared dungeon room traversed, although the game will let players finish a dungeon if the FP bar hits 0 during a run. The sole exception is with special dungeons, which simply subtract a fixed amount of FP at the start of a run. The only free-to-play options for restoring FP are waiting until 9 AM UTC the next day, buying/crafting a "Fatigue Recovery Potion", or handouts from events. Otherwise, FP potions of varying recovery amounts can be bought with real money, or players can subscribe for "Neo Premium", which raises the daily FP limit to 273.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' has a Stamina point which refreshed by 1 point every five minutes. The number of stamina used increases in higher difficulties. It originally had a limit of 50 stamina but was increased to 99 in an early patch. There are also Dueling Swords which are used for the Arena which only refreshes on the next day. Both of these can be refreshed through Stamina Potion and Dueling Crest, respectively.

* Exploring locations and/or playing mini-games in ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' requires energy, and once the it runs out, the player must either wait for the bar to replenish (at a rate of 3 minutes per energy point) or consume energy boosters, which can be bought using Premium Currency or obtained as rare quest rewards.

* ''VideoGame/LilysGarden'', a mobile and browser game, grants the player four hearts, with one heart being depleted each time you fail one of the puzzle levels. If all the hearts are depleted, the player is prevented from attempting any more puzzle levels until at least one heart has been replenished. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to win unlimited-heart boosts, either as random prizes or from being ''really'' good at the puzzle levels.

* ''VideoGame/MafiaWars'' has three meters: energy (used for performing jobs), stamina (used to fight and rob) and health (depleted whenever player takes damage).
* ''VideoGame/PunishingGrayRaven'' has a stamina system which regenerates one point of "serum" every five minutes, though it can also be refilled by using earnable serum items, when the account gains a level, or by spending Black Cards.

* ''VideoGame/SimplestRPG'' has an energy meter which goes down by 4 with every battle and 150 with every visit to the ruins. It caps at 500 and refills by 1 every second. You can buy King mode which refills it by 4 every second, and because auto fight works once every second, it allows for unlimited battling and not worrying about the energy bar.

* ''Summoners War'', an app game, lets you start out with a certain fixed amount of "energy" so you can play. You can find more as drops from defeated enemies, you can win more on the daily prize wheel game. But once you use it all you either have to pay to refill the energy meter to keep going, or wait for it all to slowly build back up.

* ''VideoGame/TokyoAfterschoolSummoners'' uses a stamina meter that goes down any time you start a battle, whether it be a free quest, daily quest, or main quest.[[note]]It should be noted that it does not go down when doing quests where there are no battles, such as certain main quests where the story progresses without a fight ensuing or any special quests where there is absolutely no fighting.[[/note]] When the number on the stamina meter goes below the second number, a timer begins that tells you when it will fully refill. Using stamina drinks, that can mostly be acquired by logging in or playing the game, can not only help speed up the process, but it can also increase the first number to have more than the second number, allowing more opportunities to battle.

* ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Grand Theft Auto Online]]'': Although ''GTA Online'' is technically retail, this trope still applies for many of the most lucrative money making methods in the game. Players can own illegal businesses that take supplies and turn them into sellable product. The supplies can be either stolen or bought at a rate of GTA$15,000 per 20% supplies missing in stock. Selling Import/Export cars takes a different approach; the player is prevented from selling more cars for a period of time depending on how many cars were sold in one go (generally 15 minutes per car).

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Unlike its predecessor, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', production orders are based on real time instead of how many missions are completed. The production timers only tick down while the game is running, with the exception of online productions, which always tick down regardless of the game's status in exchange for having longer timers, some going on for ''days''. Players can send some of their soldiers on expeditions to procure crafting materials, soldiers and vehicles, which also run on real time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Vigor}}'' gates shelter upgrades and ItemCrafting behind timers of varying length. The shelter's Antenna upgrade, a facility that generates tiny amounts of premium currency every day, gets it the worst -- its first upgrade level takes six hours to finish and every level thereafter takes an additional six hours on top of that (level 2 takes 12 hours, 3 takes 18 hours, and so on).

** You can make a DealWithTheDevil every five to ten minutes (every four hours for item crafting) for a slight boost to damage, income, speed, item crafting, or a small amount of diamonds (the game's premium currency). This is done either by watching a fifteen-second ad or by paying a bloodstone, a different kind of currency that is given out for every milestone level passed. And a regular event even makes devil deals free, so you don't even have to watch the ad.

** In the Normal mode, searching a location uses up from 15 to several hundreds energy points, and it takes 1:30 minutes to replenish one energy point. Of course, the player can spend money to buy food items to refill the bar faster.
** Similarly, the patrolling duties requires 10 stamina points to make a move, while the player has a limit of 150 stamina points (which cannot be increase through leveling up, unlike the energy bar).
** Locations in the MirrorWorld, on the other hand, has cooldown timers that prevents the players from immediately revisiting a location after searching through them, although paying [[PremiumCurrency Cash]] can speed up the process. These cooldown timers can range from 15 minutes to several hours, depending on the area.

** Gamatoto is a cat you can send out an expeditions for rewards. You can choose to have him adventure for 1, 3, or 6 real-time hours, and he returns with more rewards depending on how long he was adventuring.

* ''VideoGame/CookingDiary'': Playing a round cost a heart that needs to be refilled every ten minutes. Also, when you purchase a store upgrade, you need to wait several minutes for the upgrade to be "delivered", although you can speed up the delivery by paying with gems or watching ads.

** There are three types of "Energy bars" to play various puzzle stages. The first bar is used to play the normal campaigns (story mode and quests), and costs 3-8 energy points per stage. The second one is used to battle against other players, and is limited to 5 tries per day. The third is is used to battle Titans (the player must be a part of a guild for this feature to unlock), and is limited to 3 per day. Automatically refilling this bar requires potions, which, of course, is purchasable using real money.

* ''VideoGame/MergeMansion'' is a [[MatchThreeGame merge-2 game]] which requires the use of energy to generate items to merge, and once you run out, you have to wait 70 secods to gain another energy, or use diamonds to recharge the bar. The item generators also has cooldown times after generating a certain number of items (the higher the level, the more items it can produce before having to cool down), and diamonds can once again be used to skip the cooldown times.
* ''VideoGame/MyCafe'''s Quest Mode has an interesting combination of the two. The player is given an energy bar, and performing various tasks consumes 3-50 points. However, this bar doesn't automatically refill, and if the player wants to replenish their energy, they need to use the two energy generators available at the venue that can be used every 3 to 12 hours.

* ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'': Building new T-Dolls or putting them through training requires a period where they're locked away by a timer, which varies according to either the new Doll's rarity or the skill level that's being upgraded. They can be skipped with some currency, but since the game is meant to be played slowly, waiting a day for one of your many, many T-Dolls fully max her skill shouldn't affect anyone except the most impatient.

* In ''VideoGame/CriminalCase'', the player is given an energy bar with a limit of 110 points, which refills every 2 minutes. Investigating crime scenes requires 20 energy. Analyzing clues found in the crime scenes takes 3-12 hours, although cash can be used to speed things up.

# '''The Energy Meter:''' This is when the player consumes a number of points to perform a task or to enter a stage. When the player runs out of energy, they must either wait for that energy bar to refill on its own--which usually takes several hours--or pay real money to immediately fill up the bar and skip the grind.

* Unlike its [[VideoGame/DinerDash predecessor]], playing a stage in ''VideoGame/DinerDashAdventures'' requires the player to spend 10 "food supplies", and it is capped at 50. Supplies are obtained every 2 minutes, and the cap cannot be increased, although players can stockpile supplies during "Free Play" bonuses--i.e. a bonus where the players can play stages for free for a certain period of time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Vigor}}'' gates shelter upgrades and ItemCrafting behind timers of varying length. The shelter's Antenna upgrade, a facility that generates tiny amounts of premium currency every day, gets it the worst - its first upgrade level takes six hours to finish and every level thereafter takes an additional six hours on top of that (level 2 takes 12 hours, 3 takes 18 hours, and so on).

* ''VideoGame/CookingDiary'': Playing a round cost a heart that needs to be refilled every ten minutes. Also, when you purchase a store upgrade, you need to wait several minutes for the upgrade to be "delivered", although you can speed up the delivery by paying with gems or watching ads.

* ''VideoGame/AliceInTheMirrorsOfAlbion'' is a HiddenObjectGame that uses energy bars and timers timers to explore the various places around Albion.