Synchronising times: Waiting as a relational mechanism in simulative browser games

This article explores how waiting is an essential element in browser-based games. As a phenomenon that combines activity and passivity, waiting reflects the real-time mechanics of gameplay and illustrates the intertwining of simulative games with social and individual time structures. Drawing on a synthetic framework, the study demonstrates how players must synchronise their actions to align the game’s demands with their daily rhythms. RailwayOperator thus exemplifies not only the representation of temporal logics in digital games but also the production of novel temporalities. Waiting emerges not as a passive void but as a dynamic and constructive process that renders digital games intelligible as temporal and social structures from a new perspective.