Sleep/rest
An interaction, usually with a bed or campsite, that passes time — often skipping to a specific hour, healing the player, or triggering scheduled events — rather than waiting in real time. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's bed-rest (with a well-rested bonus for owned property) and Stardew Valley's mandatory nightly sleep (which advances the day and resets energy) both use rest as a deliberate time-control and recovery mechanic tied to the game's daily rhythm. Designers use sleep/rest to give players agency over pacing (skip an uneventful night, or wait for a specific in-game hour), to tie recovery (health, stamina, energy) to a meaningful ritual rather than passive regeneration, and to create scheduling stakes (Stardew's forced sleep-or-collapse mechanic makes each day's time budget a real planning constraint). Key decisions: whether resting is optional or mandatory, what it restores and by how much (a location-based bonus, as in Skyrim's owned-bed rest buff, adds a housing incentive), interruption rules (can enemies attack while resting?), and how much control the player has over the exact wake time. Pitfall: rest mechanics that are purely a time-skip with no meaningful cost or decision attached (free healing, free time-skip with zero downside) remove the tension that makes managing a daily schedule interesting.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: rpg, life-sim