TIME LIMIT

The Borrowed City · iPhone and Android

TIME
LIMIT

01:30.0

Life remaining

Your life. Your currency.

Every second on your wrist is health and money at once. Defeated enemies give seconds back. Hits, tolls and upgrades take them away. When the clock hits zero, the city collects.

▶Try it nowPlay in your browser ▲Coming toApp Store ▶Coming toGoogle Play

The browser version is the original three-sector prototype with keyboard controls. The full 108-district game is the mobile release.

The first district: a green figure with a drawn blade faces two hunters in a stone arena while the clock reads one minute thirty.

How it plays

Fight for seconds. Spend them on purpose.

Strike, dodge, decide

A left-thumb stick and three buttons. Strikes aim themselves at whoever is nearest. Dodge gives you a heartbeat of safety. Every red shape on the floor is a warning you can read.

Time is the only currency

A hunter pays eight seconds. A gatekeeper pays forty. The smith wants fifteen for a sharper blade, the toll gate wants ten, a stranded resident asks for twelve. Nothing is mandatory and everything costs life.

Choose where the reserve goes

Eight story districts end with a question the city has never let anyone answer. Then a hundred more districts open across ten regions, each with its own rule.

108districts
440sectors
10region rules
0accounts needed

Scenes

Ten regions. Ten ways the floor fights back.

Every region has its own look and one rule that changes how you move. The clock never changes. How you spend it does.

Neon Foundry: pink conveyor belts cross a blue floor while sentries line up shots.
Neon Foundry. The belts carry whatever stands on them. Including you.
Silent Quarry: a cone of light around the player in a dark room of sleeping enemies.
Silent Quarry. They are asleep. Strike before they wake and the city pays double.
Midnight Ring: a red clock hand sweeps across a purple arena.
Midnight Ring. The hand sweeps the floor. Stay ahead of the wedge.
Ember Harbor: a crate falls toward a marked red square beside the player.
Ember Harbor. The cranes are still running. Watch for the marked square.
Ashen Viaduct: black gaps in a cracked floor between enemies.
Ashen Viaduct. The floor is missing in places. Dodge across, never walk.
A gatekeeper's name card fades in as the Collector walks to its mark.
Gatekeepers. Every region ends with three of them. The clock holds while they walk in.
  • Iron CanalWater slows every step. Arenas flood from the west until the fight ends.
  • Ashen ViaductGaps cost five seconds to fall into. Dodging across is free.
  • Neon FoundryConveyor belts move you and your enemies alike.
  • Frost ArchiveIce keeps your momentum. Fog hides you until you are close.
  • Copper MarshMist charges you by the second. Vents are free air.
  • Silent QuarryDarkness. Sleeping enemies. Quiet kills pay double.
  • Ember HarborCranes drop crates on every live fight.
  • Glass SpireShots bounce once. Cover is not a wall any more.
  • Midnight RingA clock hand sweeps the arena every eight and a half seconds.
  • Last HorizonDilation zones drain you twice as fast and slow everyone inside.

The city

A map you can read at a glance.

The district map: a route through eleven stops with progress rings.
District map. Eleven stops, your progress on each, every badge you have earned.
Signal siege: the player holds a relay inside a ring while a flood rises on the left.
Signal siege. Stand in the ring and keep standing. They will come to you.

Premium

No ads. No waiting.

US$10 / year

Time Limit Premium · auto-renewing yearly subscription. Local price shown in the app and in your store.

  • Every ad in the game goes away, including the ad between districts.
  • Borrowed time after a failure is granted the moment you ask, with no video to watch.
  • Same three borrows per district. Same game. Premium changes nothing about difficulty.

Payment is charged to your Apple ID or Google account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically for the same price and period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; renewal is charged within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your store account settings. By subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use (EULA) and the Privacy Policy.

The in-app Premium screen with the yearly price, the plan status and the subscribe button.

The free game is complete. Free players see one short ad between districts and can watch one rewarded video to borrow thirty seconds after running out of time. Nothing in the game is sold separately, and the seconds you earn or borrow have no value outside it.

Questions

Short answers.

Does it need an account or a connection?

No account, ever. The game is offline. Only ads and the subscription store use the network, and the game stays fully playable without them.

How do I cancel Premium?

In your Apple ID subscriptions or your Google Play subscriptions, not in the game. Cancelling stops the next renewal; Premium stays active until the end of the period you paid for.

I reinstalled. How do I get Premium back?

Open Premium from the main menu and tap Restore Purchases while signed in to the same store account.

What happens when I run out of time?

You can retry the district from its entrance, or borrow thirty seconds and carry on from where you stopped. Free players watch one rewarded video per borrow; Premium players borrow instantly. Up to three borrows per district attempt.

How do I delete my data?

Everything the game keeps is on your device. Uninstalling removes it. For data held by our ad partner, see the Privacy Policy.

More in the support page.