The Best Worst Mechanic in Gaming

Download Opera GX for free here: operagx.gg/DarylTalksGames2 Thanks again to Opera GX for sponsoring! What in-game countdown was make or break for you?

Stardew's timer stressed me out because each Day of a playthrough is unique—there will never be another Spring 1 of Year 1. Inversely, Majora's Mask always felt very relaxed because I could just redo each day, even if it was sometimes a bit of a time commitment. Even if progress and item counts reset, the accrued knowledge didn't.

For me at least I remember playing a math game as a kid and the timer pressure brought up so much anxiety I avoided that game altogether. I now have generalized anxiety on top of a procrastination habit lol

The scariest time limit of all is the ones in real life, when it comes to gaming. I have 2 hours to play before hanging out with someone, or going to work, or exercising, or sleeping, or running errands, or going to an appointment, etc, etc. Some may happen in chains of events, for hours and hours at a time, I could leave at 8 in the morning, and not be home until 11 at night. Do I pop in a video game like Dark Souls? A personal comfort, but what's the guarantee that I'll get much done? Do I draw, knowing I can't do that for the rest of the day, assuming I'll start to miss it while I'm out? Do I play a game with quick rounds and easy entertainment, or will I feel as though I could be spending it on something else? Do I do something productive with my time, like Exercising so I have time later to do whatever I want? Do I nap for a while, because all this thinking is tiring me out and I need energy for the tasks ahead, while risking the feeling of having done nothing? The older you get, the more responsibilities you have, so you either attempt to maximize your time in some kind of optimal way, or you attempt to multitask, only stressing out your brain more. ...And by the time you start to come to a decision, you only have 1 hour left.

2:29 Actual footage of a Studio Pixel Punk meeting hahah We're actually so glad you enjoyed UNSIGHTED and that the world and systems we poured so much into resonated with so many people! It's heartwarming to see that our design worked and that our little game makes people feel things!

My version of warioland 4 was broken on my gameboy sp as a kid, the save function was completely bugged. My brother and I had to beat the whole game without a single game over or we'd lose all our progress That was one of the most memorable games of my childhood because of that I think. Beating the game felt like such an accomplishment

The only timer that stresses me out is where I have to make a game altering decisions. Sometimes I stop playing the games for weeks to think about what is the right choice…I probably have a problem lmao Edit: I really want to play unsighted but just watching it from this video makes me want to cry :)

Hearing Outer Wilds being called a stressful timer and Overcooked being a non-stressful timer threw me for a spin. I've never been more stressed by timers than in games like Overcooked and Smithworks where I need to frantically get things done to meet a seemingly impossible-to-please que of angry customers, yelling at my friends as we fumble orders up. Wheras Outer Wilds' inevitability is actually ...calming. Honestly just play Outer Wilds, the blinder you go into it the better! (And honestly you're still so lucky to not know too much about it.)

“If I show you a series of number then take them away theyre now sitting in your working memory” My adhd: you underestimate my power

Another thing about Unsighted that I love is that, if the timer and moral dilemas stress you out too much, you have the option to TURN OFF the timer in the options menu, letting you play the game at your own pace. It's really nice!

Outer Wilds SEEMS to have a very punishing 21 minute timer that runs out in the blink of an eye. But when you realise that you loose nothing if it runs out it makes you forget that its timed at all. You actually have as much time as you could possible need to solve the game.

I also hate time limits, but I recently saw another really cool use of it! Psychonauts 2 has a brain that mirrors a cooking reality show, where you have to make a series of dishes at different stations using your powers and platforming. Each dish has a time limit, and they get smaller with each more difficult dish. It stressed me out! The first time I played, I made the first two easily, but I could tell in the last 30 seconds of the last that I wouldn't make it in time. I was worried about how many tries it would take me to get it done within the time limit. Until the clock reached zero and nothing happened. It had no actual bearing on the game. There is a "mystery box" you would open if you did, but revisiting the brain afterwards would open it anyway. It was just a way to mirror the horrible and debilitating anxiety of the person whose brain you're in!

The subject being about countdowns reminds me of the DS game "Ghost Trick" which is an amazing (and very underrated) game that revolves around going back minutes in time to prevent specific deaths and accidents before they happen (by manipulating inanimate objects). I love the integration of the countdown with the gameplay, because in Ghost Trick, the player and the countdown kind of "cooperate" with each other to achieve certain actions. Ghost Trick is great, highly recommend.

i personally really like Stardew's timer - simply because it makes every day feel productive. it gives you a set time to get small, rather non-consequencial tasks done, and to me at least made those tasks feel more impactful. spending a day cleaning out my farm felt impactful, because it's something I got done in a meaningful amount of time. plus it let me divide up my play sessions, so even if every day was spent doing smaller things, I still felt like I spent my time playing well

One “timer” I remember really hating was in Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. If your team member got knocked out on the battlefield, theyd have a set number of rounds where if u didnt revive them before then, they’d literally just disappear lol as in permadeath (or unless u can finish the battle before that happens). Even after the battle theyd be GONE gone. You could literally lose your best characters to not reviving them lmao and I just found that so annoying, especially at the beginning where I found the game to be quiet…hard?? And with every one of your teams’ turns weighing so heavily , sometimes using one turn to just revive a character can turn the tides over to the enemy team so quickly 💀

I just started playing Majora and I’ve learned pretty quickly that the timer is rather forgiving once you know how to manipulate it to your advantage. Although the first hour or so was pretty stressful

A subtype of timer I find very interesting is the purely psychological timer. The devs have set an incredibly generous time limit, easily double the time needed to complete your task at a reasonable pace, but if it’s your first time playing you won’t know that. The timer isn’t there to mechanically impede you, it’s just there to stress out new players 😂

I don't feel like the time you have in Outer Wilds is stressful at all, you don't loose anything on death, you will gain something though. New knowledge going forward into the new run, a new perspective, death is simply a means to your success in outer wilds and isn't at all deemed as failure. Really Outer Wilds isn't about being good at the game, its about experiencing it. Also if you read this, DONT SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF, IT WILL RUIN THE WHOLE GAME. Outer wilds is too good of a game to be spoiled, if you are curious about it, then go play it (that's what the game is really even about). Sometimes when I was at the end of the run, I would just stare into the sun going supernova, with the music and all. At that time I didn't feel worry, I felt the opposite. I was in awe, calm and even content with what would happen. Outer wilds makes me appreciate the universe and my time in it.

One of my favorite timers is Deep Rock Galactic's timer when you call the drop pod. You can call the drop pod once the primary objective is completed, and a countdown begins while the drop pod comes to pick you up. But here's the catch: You don't know where the drop pod will land. It could be near you, but it also could be all the way at the cave's start. Although 5 minutes to run a hundred meters to the drop pod seems generous, the game also tries to kill you with huge swarms of enemies that really turn up the heat. Often, in higher difficulties, this mad dash back to the drop pod leaves just a sliver of time remaining for a huge rush of adrenaline. I really love this mechanic because it turns the final leg of the mission into an adrenaline rush.

They are completely different games, but Unsighted timer kind of reminded me of Pathologic. It's also on a timer and if you don't do well enough, key NPCs will die. And supposedly they intended for this to be unforgiving, and dialed it up in the remake.