Best Games That Use Your Real-Time Clock

Since the inception of gaming, game developers have searched for ways to innovate and further bring players into their worlds. One such way to achieve this is to use the real-world time and clock as a mechanic in a game. This can truly set some titles apart from others and opens up a plethora of unique approaches to game design.

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Some games use the real-time clock to simulate a one-to-one day/night cycle, allowing the player to feel immersed at all times while they play. Others require that the player waits a certain amount of time for tasks in the game to complete, whereas others use real-life chunks of time to dictate the entire gameplay loop.

1

Pokemon Emerald

Eeveelutions And More Based on Real-Time

Pokemon Emerald

Systems

The Pokemon video game series is no stranger to the use of real-time clock functions. One example of this is the acclaimed Pokemon Emerald, which was originally released for the Game Boy Advance and built upon Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Many Pokemon games have used real-world time to add small but engaging gameplay elements.

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Pokemon Emerald utilized real-world time and had mechanics relating to the time of day. While this time has since proved to be slightly off, players with cartridges that still have battery in them can use the real-world clock and engage with these features. One example of a real-time feature is the Shoal Cave, wherein the tide will rise and lower based on time. The more notable real-time feature is with the Eeveelutions Espeon and Umbreon. In the day (6 am-6 pm), Eevee can evolve into Espeon and at night (6 pm-6 am), Eevee can evolve into Umbreon.

2

Burnout Paradise Remastered

Match The Day/Night Cycle To Real Time

Burnout Paradise Remastered is the 2021 remaster of the classic and beloved racing title, Burnout Paradise. Players can engage in races throughout the city, with the remastered version bringing the graphics up to a modern resolution standard and introducing new audiences to the game.

Burnout Paradise Remastered, much like its original, uses real-time in a simple but highly effective manner. If they so choose, players can enable a setting that allows the game to sync to real-world time. This means that the day and night cycle reflects the real-world day/night cycle based on the system’s clock. This allows players to immerse themselves in the setting, only night racing when the sun goes down.

3

Minit

Play In 60 Second Intervals

Minit is an incredibly unique and visually distinctive indie title that blends the time loop system of Groundhog Day and similar stories, with a retro aesthetic. The game involves partaking in a loop and slowly figuring out how to progress and what exactly is going on. It is a puzzle/adventure game at its core, with a simple, minimalist appearance that hides a unique and compelling mechanic.

Minit, as the name would suggest, takes place entirely within 60-second loops. Every 60 seconds, the player is reset to a checkpoint with only the items they obtained before and must work at progressing within the time slot. This use of a real 60-second time frame creates not only a frantic rush for progression but sets Minit apart from other similar titles.

4

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Simulate Real Flight Times

Systems

Released

November 19, 2024

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the latest installment in the massively famous and tenured Flight Simulator series. Using all the latest technology, Flight Simulator 2024 is the most advanced and immersive entry in the series. Any aviation fan is sure to enjoy the pure depth that Flight Simulator 2024 has to offer.

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One such example of depth is the games’ ability to sync to the real-world clock. This allows players to not only experience day and night cycles, but to tackle flights in their entirety. If they so wish, players can plan a route to a destination and, in real-time, fly the plane to the location, all while the time, and in some cases, the weather syncs up with that of the real world.

5

The Longing

Waiting Is The Aim Of The Game

Adventure

Idle Games

Indie Games

RPG

Systems

Released

March 5, 2020

Developer(s)

Studio Seufz

The Longing is another incredibly unique indie title that offers many distinct features. The first of which is the aesthetic, presenting players with an equal-parts unsettling and cozy visual style. The second and more distinct feature is the genre and mechanics of the game, blending adventure and idle games.

At its core, The Longing is more of an idle game than anything else, but not in the sense of building and spending resources like Cookie Clicker, for example. The Longing sees the player embody The Shade, a servant of a sleeping King, who must complete various tasks set for him by the King before his slumber. The player can either slowly tackle objectives, most of which require real-life days to access and complete, slowly chipping away at all of the tasks. Alternatively, the player can simply start the game, and in 400 real-life days, return to complete the game as the King awakes.

6

Cozy Grove

Wait Real-Time For Quests

Cozy Grove is a life-sim inspired by the Animal Crossing series, sporting a cozy and warm aesthetic with beautifully constructed hand-drawn landscapes. The game gives players lots of small tasks to accomplish, slowly building up their community and exploring the island. Players are given many tasks to accomplish over a long period.

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Cozy Grove operates on a real-life timescale. The game syncs to the system clock, reflecting the time of day and length of time between activities, in order to immersively simulate the gradual progression of the game. Players roughly have an hour of game time worth of tasks a day, ensuring the title is a marathon, not a sprint.

7

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Time Passes As It Does In Real Life

Systems

Released

March 20, 2020

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

Animal Crossing is a game series that needs no introduction as it is one of the first major life-sim games to use the real-time clock to its advantage. New Horizons is the latest main entry into the series, made for the Nintendo Switch and sporting more content and improved graphics.

The entirety of Animal Crossing: New Horizons operates on a real-life timescale using the system clock and calendar. Players must slowly build up their town, building structures, meeting and completing tasks for villagers, collecting items, and planting crops. All systems in the game take real-world time, allowing players short but regular play sessions as they build their town. While many games have operated this way since the inception of the Animal Crossing series, many players will find New Horizons to be the best example of a life-sim operating on a real-world timescale.

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