TEMPUS
One day a day. Every level is one real day.
You can always make more money. You can never make more time.
TEMPUS is a side-scrolling platformer where every level is one day of 64,800 waking seconds. You run a small Dutch town, jump the gaps, collect the coins - and everything you do spends the one thing you cannot earn back. Worrying costs triple. Six seconds of held breath ends any thought spiral, every time. At sunset your day becomes a picture of where the hours went, the game asks one honest question about your real screen time, and tomorrow's town answers it.
Everyone on Earth plays the same day. Anonymous planet-wide counters show how many days the world lived today, and how many breaths it held. Then the day ends - on purpose. There is no endless loop to fall into. Come back tomorrow.
Facts
| Developer | Independent, made and run in the Netherlands |
| Play now | tempusgame.site - free, in the browser |
| Platforms | Web (desktop + mobile, installable, plays offline). iOS and Android in preparation. |
| Price | Free to play, forever, everywhere. No ads, no data collected. Optional credits buy characters, clothes and day-tools - never a day, never time, never an advantage a free player cannot earn with in-game coins. |
| Spending | A grown-up sets a monthly cap, on by default at EUR 15. A parent confirms the first purchase by email. No timers, no streaks, no fake scarcity - the shop never pressures a child. |
| Languages | Dutch (full story) and English. Menus also in German and Spanish. |
| Audience | All ages, 4+. Schools are one option on top, not the product - a classroom kit is at /teach. |
| Engine | Custom. One HTML file, ~570 KB. All art and music procedural - nothing licensed, nothing borrowed. |
| Structure | One level = one day. 28 days = a season, ending in a report card a kid can read and a Freedom Day. |
| Press contact | contact@tempusgame.site |
Story angles
The game that teaches screen time by being honest about it. Doomscrolling in-game burns the clock at double speed with a live counter of what the session cost. Each evening the game asks how many hours you really spent on a screen today - honesty is rewarded, the number never is - and tomorrow's weather answers. A EUR 600 in-game brick phone that "cannot scroll" is the best purchase in the game.
The daily ritual, as a platformer. One day per sitting, the whole planet on the same day, then the game tells you to go live your own. The anti-speedrun rule is absolute: unspent time earns nothing, and rushing is the only way to lose.
A whole economy lesson hiding in a jump-and-run. Money compounds 8% overnight, rent arrives on Mondays, debt compounds against you, and the interest pays the debt before it grows anything. Teachers get a four-week lesson plan for free.
The town remembers. Letters arrive daily - a kite club is founded, a coffee stall opens, the local crypto guy cleans up his fries van and pays everyone back. A ghost of your own yesterday walks the street. After 28 days the whole town walks you home.
Screenshots
Right-click to save. Larger sizes (up to 2868 px) available on request.
Logo
Pixel logo (PNG, transparent) · App icon 512 · Social card 1200x630
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