Design Notes · Timers · 3 min read

A march timer is a promise

Travel time turns an attack into a story with a beginning, a middle and an alarm clock.

Instant attacks feel powerful for the attacker and miserable for everyone else. A visible march changes that. The defender gets a window to scout, call for help or move troops, and the attacker has to commit.

The best timers are long enough to react to and short enough to feel urgent. That tension is why people remember setting alarms for 2 a.m. It's also why we treat every march as a decision both sides get to make.