Raise the strength of a story hint only with time really spent stuck

A hint that gets clearer the longer the player is lost helps, but only if the clock counts time spent playing, restarts when they make progress, and does not run while they have gone to make tea. Here is how to measure that and turn it into a step of hint strength.

Why this works

Help should rise with real struggle. Counting only time at play, capping long idle gaps because the player was likely away, and restarting on real progress means a break never triggers the answer and a stuck player always gets it.

When not to use it

Skip it when the player should discover everything alone, or in a game where hints cost something by design, such as a puzzle with a limited number of clues. There, ask the player to request a hint instead of offering it on a timer.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• A diagram of every state
• 12 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Raise the strength of a story hint only with time really spent stuck" (read_entry hints-grow-with-time-spent-stuck) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP