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Best Real World Clock Affects Play Games

Video games create fantasy space in which we play. These are often enjoyable because they are an escape from everyday life. Some, however, want to become a part of our day. One way they do this is to make things happen in the game in accordance with the time (and sometimes date) in the real world.

This can be games like The Longing or Animal Crossing that tie events in the game with the passing of real world time. Maybe you have to wait for a certain number of hours, or maybe you need to come back at a certain time of day. Either way, your in-game play is linked to the real world by the hands of time.

Other games use the real clock to reward you for not playing. Neo: The World Ends With You for example, offers certain types of pins (upgrades) that level up the longer the game has been off. Games like Pokemon have creatures that change form based on the season on your DS clock. Cozy Grove is synced to real world time, and provides 30-60 minutes of new quest content each day.

Mario Party 6 has certain mini-games and game boards that are different in day and night. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker's start-up screen varies depending on the time of day you were playing. In Simpsons Hit and Run, during Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year in the real world you get game characters dressed up in a special outfit. Simpsons Hit and Run also has a different start screen depending on whether it's Christmas or another holiday. Finally, how about Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP that uses the real world lunar cycle so that certain puzzles can only be completed during a full moon, and other elements only during a new moon.

This is a novel thing for games to do. It's also quite useful for families as it means you are usually limited in what you can do in a game in any one day. These games encourage players to pop in for 30 minutes or do, do their tasks for the day, and then leave until tomorrow.

List Details

Genres: Action, Adventure, Battle, Brain Game, Collecting, Communication, Creative, Fighting, Narrative, Physically Active, Platform, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Race, Role-Play, Sequencing, Shooting, Simulation, Sports, Stealth, Strategy and Traversal
Era: 1996 - 2023
Total Games: 30
Total Likes: 926

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Release Date: 25/04/2020

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a role-play collecting game where you live on a small island teeming with life. Insects, fish, trees, vegetation and fossils are represented with cute cartoon visuals. Rather than the scale or grandeur of other game...

Pokémon

PEGI 7 Video Game Age Rating for Pokmon in UK and Europe

Pokémon (Series)

Release Date: 27/02/1996, updated in 2019

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, DS, GBA, Game Boy and Switch

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon

Pokémon Sword and Shield are role-playing games where you explore a fictional world and collect different creatures called Pokémon. You progress through the game by exploring the world, talking to characters and winning turn-based battles with the...

Bury Me My Love

Release Date: 26/10/2017, updated in 2020

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon and Text

Bury Me My Love is a narrative adventure game where you play the husband of a Syrian woman, Nour, travelling to Europe. Play involves receiving and sending simple messages where Nout tells you how she is getting on and you influence her choices. It...

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Release Date: 24/03/2003, updated in 2013

Out Now: GameCube and Wii U

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an adventure game in the Zelda series. This one is set on a group of islands in a vast sea and follows Link as he attempts to save his sister from the sorcerer Ganon. This soon develops into a struggle to find the...

Wayward Strand

Release Date: 15/09/2022

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon and Hand-Made

Wayward Strand is a narrative game about Casey Beaumaris, an intrepid teenage journalist. You visit an airborne hospital, uncover the airship's mysteries, and explore the lives of its inhabitants. It's a Tintin-style point-and-click adventure with a...

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Release Date: 18/08/2020

Out Now: PC and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person, Day and Night, Open World and Weather

Microsoft Flight Simulator (Microsoft Flight Sim 2020) is a flight simulator game in the long-running series. Along with a huge range of aircraft, you can learn to fly, the game recreates the entire Earth using textures and data from maps and...

Cozy Grove

Release Date: 19/03/2021, updated in 2023

Out Now: Apple TV, Mac, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Hand-Made and Open World

Cozy Grove is a life simulation where you camp on a hand-drawn island. You play a scout and explore the ever-changing island's forest to find secrets and help the local ghosts. Like Animal Crossing, it has a children's storybook look but is a...

Lifeline

Release Date: 16/04/2015, updated in 2016

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC and iOS

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person and Text

Lifeline is a narrative adventure where you interact with an astronaut, Taylor via text messages. You help him return home after crashing his aircraft on a foreign planet.

The Simpsons Hit and Run

Release Date: 16/11/2003

Out Now: GameCube, PS2, Wii and Xbox

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon and Open World

The Simpsons Hit and Run is an adventure game based on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

The Garden Path

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: Mac, PC and Switch

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon and Open World

The Garden Path is a slice-of-life simulation game about the small pleasures of gardening. You tend to a world and make it your own through fishing, growing, trading and making new friends. As you do an adventure emerges.

Animal Crossing: Wild World

Release Date: 23/11/2005, updated in 2016

Out Now: DS and Wii U

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather

Animal Crossing: Wild World is a quirky life simulation game where you live in a small village and build your dream home. You develop relationships with the animal townsfolk, collect fossils, fish and insects and build a home to help the village grow...

Star Stable

Release Date: 01/01/2011, updated in 2022

Out Now: Mac, PC and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World

Star Stable Online is a hugely popular adventure game where you care for horses, take on daily challenges, solve mysteries and explore a fantasy online world. Originally only available for PC and Mac, it's recently come to mobile devices. Star Stable...

LOCK

LOCK (Dreams)

Release Date: 17/10/2020, updated in 2021

Out Now: PS4 and PS5

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

LOCK is a puzzle game about escaping rooms. LOCK stands for Logic Operated Combination Keep, referring to a digital password protected door lock. You must discover secret four letter word clues by exploring each space, in order to unlock panels, collect...

Bird Alone

Release Date: 15/06/2020

Out Now: iOS

Components: 2D Side-On, Day and Night and Hand-Made

Bird Alone is a narrative game where you befriend a bird. Your feathered companion encourages the conversation in the direction of real life worries while you make music, draw pictures and write poetry. It’s a slow game that unfolds in real time with...

Burnout Paradise

Release Date: 16/03/2018, updated in 2018

Out Now: GameCube, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person, Day and Night and Open World

Burnout Paradise is the latest game int the Burnout series, an over-the-top racing game where you’re encouraged to crash, bash and ram other cars. Throughout the series the bravado and crashing increases, but they all have the same novel core gameplay.

World of Warcraft

Release Date: 23/11/2004

Out Now: Mac and PC

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Open World and Persistant World

World of Warcraft (WoW) is an online role-playing game set in the fantasy world of Azeroth. You create a character who works with other players to explore, fight monsters and complete quests. It's a hugely popular game that makes lots of headlines, but...

The Longing

Release Date: 05/03/2020

Out Now: Mac, PC and Switch

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Persistant World and Pixels

The Longing is a point-and-click adventure about waiting and loneliness. It's an intentionally slow game that takes 400 elapsed days to finish. It draws on the Idle Game genre, where you use minor interactions to incrementally advance. Here though, the...

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Release Date: 27/04/2011, updated in 2018

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an adventure game in miniature. You explore a myth-rich world and use your sword to do battle and evoke spells to solve musical puzzles. It's a world that changes with the moon as you guide your wandering warrior monk.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure

Release Date: 16/10/1997, updated in 2020

Out Now: PC, PS4 and Switch

Components: 2D Overhead, Day and Night and Pixels

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is a role-play adventure set inside another role-playing game where "the hero" has wreaked destruction, killing hundreds of creatures and looting homes. Unusually, you play a supporting character in the game who tries to undo...

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Release Date: 29/02/2012, updated in 2022

Out Now: Android and iOS

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Pixels

The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a city-building game based on the popular and long-running cartoon. After Homer causes the destruction of Springfield, you complete quests to earn money, unlock buildings and characters, and rebuild the town. The free to...

Animal Crossing

Release Date: 14/12/2001, updated in 2004

Out Now: GameCube

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World, Pixels and Weather

Animal Crossing is a quirky life simulation game where you live in a small village and build your dream home. You develop relationships with the animal townsfolk, collect fossils, fish and insects and build a home to help the village grow. It's a simple...

Fallout Shelter

Fallout Shelter (Series)

Release Date: 14/06/2015, updated in 2016

Out Now: Android, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Fallout Shelter is a time management simulation game. Set in the Fallout wasteland after a nuclear war, you play as an Overseer of an underground bunker. You accrue currency to build rooms, attract people and train them to provide resources, craft...

NationStates

Release Date: 13/11/2002

Out Now: Web

Skill Rating: 13+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

NationStates is a government simulation game where you manage a virtual country's administration. You do this by responding to issues which affect your nation's political freedom, civil rights, and economy. It is up to you to decide how your country is...

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Release Date: 01/10/2007

Out Now: DS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Cartoon

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an action-adventure game where you help Link save his friend Tetra and defeat Bellum. The play combines exploring and sailing around the world with the classic Zelda dungeons that are solved with a specific...

Time Bandit

Release Date: 24/07/2023

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Time Bandit is a puzzle adventure where you spend your real-world time to earn money. Play is a mix of exploring the world, moving boxes and making decisions about your resources - all of which come at the cost of your time. It combines classic...

Animal Crossing: City Folk

Release Date: 16/11/2008, updated in 2008

Out Now: Wii

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather

Animal Crossing: City Folk (called Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City in Europe) is a life simulation game where you settle into a small village filled with anthropomorphic animals. Like other Animal Crossing games, you design and decorate your home,...

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Release Date: 08/11/2012, updated in 2016

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead, Cartoon, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a life simulation game where you design your dream village in a world filled with anthropomorphic animals. Like other Animal Crossing games, you design and decorate your home, collect and sell items, chat and play with...

Ridiculous Fishing

Release Date: 14/03/2013, updated in 2023

Out Now: iOS

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Ridiculous Fishing is a fishing and shooting game. Unlike any other fishing game, this isn't a sedate wait for the fish to bite. You frantically collect fish on the hook, and then when they reach the surface it turns into a clay pigeon shoot, where you...

Pokémon Sleep

PEGI 3 Video Game Age Rating for Pokmon Sleep in UK and Europe

Pokémon Sleep

Release Date: 18/07/2023

Out Now: Android and iOS

Skill Rating: 5+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Cartoon

Pokémon Sleep is a collecting game where your performance is based on how well you sleep in the real world. Depending on the length, quality and type of sleep, you are awarded with different Pokémon when you wake. In this way, you aim to improve your...

Ingress Prime

Release Date: 14/12/2013

Out Now: Android and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On and Day and Night

Ingress Prime is an adventure game that uses your smartphone's GPS to locate you in a game world that correlates with reality. You interact with virtual "portals" located near statues, monuments, and civic and historic buildings in your real world.

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Motion:	Motion Aiming Motion Pointing Motion Tilting Motion Gesture Motion Camera
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Button Combinations:	Holding Down Buttons Optional Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional No Simultaneous Buttons
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Getting Started
Onboarding Before Play:
Assistance Getting Starting:	Tutorials Practice Area View Control Mapping Assistance With Controls Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Adjust Speed No Jump Scares
Assistance For Progressing:	Guaranteed Progress With God Mode Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints Assisted Progress With Boosts Assisted Progress With Hints Assisted Recall for Characters Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue Save Progress Anytime

Reading
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Difficulty Options:	Simple and Full Version No Memorisation Advantage No Hidden Information No Deceit Advantage No Colour Advantage No Mathematics Advantage No Weighing Decisions

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Assistance Getting Started:	Clear Manual Electronic Version of Manual Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers Getting Started Video Digital Version Reference Aid
Assistance Progressing:	Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change) Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Low Impact Catch Up Rule

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Reading Level:
Necessary Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required) Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required) High Contrast Text (Or no text required) QR Code For Text (Or no text required) Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required) Information Orientation Clear Icons

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Pieces:	Components are Distinguishable by Touch Components are Replaceable No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice) No Tiny Pieces No Paper Money No Sprawl
Cards:	Large Card Size Standard Card Shape Limited Hand Management No Excessive Card Shuffling No Right-Handed Advantage
Placement:	No Unbound Placement Player Components Not Shared No Fiddly Placement Easily Verbalised Actions

Visual
Printed Visibility:	Colour Blind Friendly Design Double-Coding Colour High Contrast Colours
Component Identifiability:	Outline Key Elements No Busy Backgrounds Easily Verbalised Game State No Close Inspection Disadvantage Playable Without Sight

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Include compatible platforms:	Yes

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Communication:	Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals) No Pressured Reveals No Pressured Communication Playable Without Hearing

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Best Real World Clock Affects Play Games

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