Find your inner clock

The 3 Second
Stillness Game

Hold a button. Release when you think exactly 3 seconds have passed. No timer. No countdown. No hints. Just you, your breath, and your internal clock.

tries today
tries all time

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The idea

You know that feeling in a long meeting when time slows to a crawl? Or sitting on a bench outside in the sun, eyes half-closed, when three minutes feel like thirty seconds? Time is not fixed. Your perception of it shifts with your mood, your focus, your stress level. Patience is built around that idea.

The game is simple: hold a button, release it when you think exactly 3 seconds have passed. No timer, no hints, no counting tricks allowed. Most people are shockingly bad at first. Then something clicks — a rhythm, a stillness — and suddenly you're hitting 20ms off. That feeling is what we're chasing.

Play it during a boring meeting. On a bench in the sun during a break. Challenge a friend and see whose internal clock is sharper. Every day brings a new target time — some days 3 seconds, some days 7, some days 1. The leaderboard resets. Everyone starts equal. Pure feel, no tricks.

Athletes call it flow. Meditators call it presence. We just call it patience.

How to play

1

Press and hold the circle button. A hidden timer starts the moment you touch it — you won't see it.

2

Release when you feel the target time has passed. Trust your gut — no counting out loud, no tricks.

3

See how close you were. Under 30ms off is a perfect. Under 100ms is great. Your history builds up below the circle so you can see your streak improving.

4

Change the target — tap the "3 SEC" pill at the bottom to pick 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s, or any custom duration up to 60 seconds. Each target trains a different feel.

5

Hit the ⚡ Daily pill to play today's challenge — a single target shared by every player in the world that day. The target changes every 24 hours.

6

Tap the 🎯 button in the top bar to activate Chase mode. Your first hold sets a personal target — now try to match that exact time on every following attempt. No fixed targets, just you chasing yourself.

7

Log in to unlock the full experience — friend requests, private challenges with custom targets and limited tries, a global leaderboard, and your personal stats page with history and streaks.

8

Challenge a friend — create a challenge, set the target and number of tries, share the link. Whoever gets closest wins. No excuses.

Every play is counted anonymously — we only track the total number of tries, nothing else.

Accounts

👤
Username + password only. No email address, no phone number, no verification. Just pick a username (3–20 chars, letters/numbers/underscore) and a password. Done.
🏆
Accounts unlock the leaderboard. Your username is unique — no one else can submit scores under your name. Guests can still play but won't appear on the leaderboard.
🔑
Forgot your password? There's no email reset — just create a new account with a different username. Accounts are free and take five seconds to make.
📱
Session lasts 1 hour, auto-renewed silently in the background. If you get logged out, just log in again — your scores stay on the leaderboard permanently.

Friends

Add friends by username. Open the Friends panel, type a username, and send a request. They'll see a notification badge on their Friends button. Once they accept, you're connected.
🔗
Invite via link. Hit the Invite button to copy your personal invite link. Send it to anyone — when they sign up through that link, you're automatically friends. No manual approval needed on either side.
🟢
Online status. The Friends panel shows who's currently active (green dot = online in the last 2 minutes) and who's offline. Only mutual friends can see each other's status.

Game Modes

🎯
Chase mode. Toggle with the 🎯 button in the top bar. Your first hold sets a personal target — every attempt after tries to match that exact time. Get within 20ms and you win. The target picker is hidden since you're chasing your own number, not a fixed duration.
👻
Ghost mode. Toggle from the ··· menu. After each hold, a ghost marker remembers where you released last time. On the next attempt you'll feel a subtle flash when you pass that exact point — a memory aid, not a timer.

Also from Patience

⏱ Stop Time — stoptime.3sec.site

A companion tool for mobile. Hold a button to start a timer — release to stop it. Add a note to the timing and save it. Great for tracking how long things actually take, from a pause in conversation to a stretch of focus.

Works on Safari & Chrome on iPhone and Android. No account needed. Install it to your home screen for instant access.

Leaderboard

📊
Scores are ranked by milliseconds off target — lower is better. Three views: Mine (your personal history), Friends (you + your friends), and All (everyone).
Scores are submitted automatically after each round — no button to press. Only logged-in users appear on the leaderboard.

Privacy

What we store: your username, hashed password, and your scores (time diff, target, play count, timestamp). That's it. No email, no IP address logging, no tracking pixels.

What we don't do: sell data, show ads, send emails, or share anything with third parties. Analytics are handled by simpleanalytics.com — privacy-first, no personal data.

Your session is stored in your browser's localStorage. Clear it anytime to log out on this device.

FAQ

Is it free?

Completely free. No download, no subscription, no app. Open it in any browser and play instantly.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes — Patience works on any device. Desktop, tablet, or phone. Touch and mouse both work.

Do I need an account?

No. You can play the 3-second game and the daily challenge without logging in. An account unlocks stats, friend challenges, and the full leaderboard.

Can I change the target time?

Yes. Press the "3 SEC" button at the bottom to choose 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s, or any custom duration up to 60 seconds.

What is the daily challenge?

Every day a new target time is set for all players worldwide. You have 24 hours to set your best score and see where you rank globally.

What is Chase mode?

Chase mode replaces the fixed target with your own last hold. Your first attempt sets the number — every attempt after that tries to match it exactly. Get within 20ms and you win. It's you vs. you.

How do friend challenges work?

Logged-in users can create a challenge with a custom target and a set number of tries, then share a link. The player with the smallest difference wins.

Is my username permanent?

Yes. Once registered, that username is yours. Nobody else can register the same username.

Can I change my username?

Not currently. Create a new account if you want a different name.

What happens to my scores if I make a new account?

Old scores stay on the leaderboard under the old username. New scores go under the new one.

How does the invite link work?

Click the Invite button to copy your personal link. When someone signs up using it, you're automatically added as friends — no request needed on either side.

Can I remove a friend?

Open the Friends panel and hit the × next to their name.

Get in touch

Got a bug to report, an idea you'd love to see, or just want to say how you like the game? We'd love to hear from you. Reach us at info@3sec.site — no message is too small.

Ready to play?

No signup needed — just hold and release

Play now