[1] In a multiplayer real-time game, players perform actions simultaneously as opposed to in sequential units or turns.
For example, in Persona 5 and Monster Prom, turns represent high school class periods,[9][10] and in Visigoths vs.
In chess, for instance, a pair of stop clocks may be used in order to place an upper limit on turn length.
[17] The early Ultima role-playing video games were strictly turn-based, but starting with Ultima III: Exodus (1983), if the player waited too long to issue a command, the game would issue a "pass" command automatically, thereby allowing enemies to take their turns while the player character did nothing.
The "Active Time Battle" (ATB) system was introduced by Hiroyuki Ito in Final Fantasy IV (1991).
[20] The ATB system was further developed in Final Fantasy V (1992), which introducing a time gauge showing which character's turn is next.
Examples of video games that use a clock-based system include Typhoon of Steel (1988) and MechForce (1991), both originally for the Amiga.
Examples include the video games The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003) and Final Fantasy Tactics (1997).
Examples include the X-COM series of video games, the board wargame Advanced Squad Leader (1985), and attacks of opportunity in Dungeons & Dragons.
Newer editions of Dungeons & Dragons also allow a Ready-action to prepare an action to be executed during the enemy's turn.
The Silent Storm video game series includes an "Interrupt" statistic for each character, to determine the likelihood of out-of-turn action.
In the board game Tide of Iron, a special card interrupts an opponent's turn to perform an action.
In the Mario & Luigi series, the player often has the opportunity to "counterattack" on the enemy's turn, causing damage and often halting the attack.
[23][24] Other video games, such as the Total War series, X-COM (1994) and Jagged Alliance 2 (1999), combine a turn-based strategic layer with real-time tactical combat or vice versa.
[25][26] The video games X-COM: Apocalypse (1997), Fallout Tactics (2001) Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001), Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (2018), Pathfinder: Kingmaker (2018, added later per patch) and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (2021) offer the option of turn-based or real-time mode via a configuration setting.
This offers additional tactical options, such as letting players issue orders to multiple units at the same time.
[29] Further, in Baldur's Gate, players are able to configure the game to automatically pause when certain conditions are met, such as at the end of a round or upon the death of a non-player character.
In the single-character console RPGs Parasite Eve (1998) and Vagrant Story (2000), the player can pause the game to take aim with a weapon.
[37] Jagged Alliance 2 (1999) and Fallout (1997) allow players to target individual body parts during turn-based combat.
The latter led to the creation of the V.A.T.S system in the real-time RPG Fallout 3, where players could pause the game to target individual body parts.
[38] Final Fantasy XII (2006) expanded on active pause combat with its "gambits" system, which allows players to collect and apply preferences to the artificial intelligence routines of partner characters, who then perform certain actions in response to certain conditions.
[40] Knights of Xentar (1991)[32] and Secret of Mana (1993)[41] also allow an adjustable artificial intelligence to take control during combat.
[43] A progress clock is a tabletop role-playing gamemaster (GM) tool for keeping track of ongoing events that cannot be handled within a single turn, such as the player characters' continuous headway toward defeating a challenge, the gradual approach of an enemy, or a time-limited window of opportunity.
[44][45] Debates occur between fans of real-time and turn-based video games based on the merits and flaws of each timekeeping style.