History Main / MenuTimeLockout

Menus are the most common place for this to occur, but it often happens with certain other types of interactions. For instance, lock picking frequently gets done as a HackingMinigame. In these cases, you may also be able to get this trope if you are able to play this to your advantage. You also very often get something similar with dialogue, but the player is normally locked into the dialogue and unable to do anything, See TalkingIsAFreeAction for details.

* The KingdomHearts series averts this to a degree. You still equip items, accessories, weapons, and abilities in the pause menu, but the game will give you a normal pause screen rather than the menu if you are in the middle of a fight.

* Averted again in the 2008 reboot of ''AloneInTheDark'', although the monsters do seem to move a bit more slowly than they otherwise would whenever the player is accessing his inventory. This still doesn't help much, considering the inventory system is [[SomeDexterityRequired agonizing to use in a hurry]].

* ''CaveStory'''s pause menu allows for such things like reading a lenghty letter, equipping/de-equipping jet-packs, consuming life pots, checking map and last but not least, changing weapon. All while the game is paused.

* Completely averted in DemonsSouls: pausing the game stops nothing, so either make sure to secure the area beforehand (Bosses will not hesitate to kill you while you're opening the game menu; something ZeroPunctuation laments) or be proficient in selecting and using items while moving (the game lets you do that). The latter is essential for survival in Player-Versus-Player.

** Not to mention that you could change your entire outfit - armor, gloves, boots, hats, the works - without leaving the menu. This let you keep a [[hammerspace]] full of various equipment, run up to an enemy, and the monster politely waits while you change into the perfect outfit for killing it.

* GuiltyGear [[Discontinuity X2 Overture]] normally averts this, but there is an option to turn this on. Makes the game much easier.

* {{''Stonekeep''}} pauses the game in the inventory screen, letting you change equipment or use as many healing items as you need to fully recover your HP.

** Hold that thought. I gotta run this by Otacon. BeepBeep.

* ''Scarface: The World Is Yours'' subverts this. The ramshackle island has a 'bloodsport betting' game. It's possibly to place a bet and have the fights fight while a guy is sawing bits off Tony Montana.

* ''[[TheElderScrolls Oblivion]]'' takes this trope to an almost absurd level. Talking to [=NPCs=] completely freezes time around you and the NPC in question, allowing you to potentially carry on a conversation for eternity. The worst part is, any other [=NPCs=] behind the one you may be addressing will visibly stop dead in their tracks and wait until you have concluded your business, even if they are ''attacking you''. Lockingpicking also pauses the game, removing any need to try to do it quickly or stealthily.

* ''{{Fallout}} 3'' had this as well, which was important if you needed to pause the Deathclaw reaching for your face in order to pop some Stimpacks or Buffouts.
** Used in ''FalloutNewVegas'' as well.

* Completely averted in ''DeadSpace''. Accessing your inventory, buying items out of vending machines, and even upgrading your rig does ''not'' pause the game around you. A careless player can easily killed by a necromorph sneak attack this way.

* ''{{BioShock}}'' is occasionally parodied for the fact that all its hacking is done by a form of plumbing minigame. You could reorganise the pipes to get turrets to fight for you so it became a common trick to quickly jump up to a turret and then alter it in the middle of a fight where you were outgunned and outnumbered. Also, in the console versions the game pauses while you're selecting a weapon or plasmid.

* The first two ''Megaman'' games had this as an actual offensive/defensive (respectively) tool. In the first, if you paused and unpaused rapidly, large attacks like the Elec Beam would register several hits instead of one (this being the only real way to beat the NintendoHard Yellow Demon). In the second, Megaman's weird little transformation blip animation would allow certain small projectile attacks to pass right through him-- again, almost mandatory for a certain late-game boss.