Overview
The Blood of Dawnwalker gives players 30 in-game days and 30 in-game nights to save Coen's family from Brencis in Greifberg. Time does not pass in real time. Exploring the world freely, wandering through forests, or standing in a market square will not advance the clock. Only completing quests and key activities moves time forward by a set amount.
How time advances
Different activities consume different amounts of time. Some actions take one or more hours; others, like exploring a tomb, can consume up to six hours. The game always clearly telegraphs to the player when an activity will move time forward, and by how much. Hourglass icons appear in quests to indicate that time will advance. Players never lose time without warning.
No hard deadline
Rebel Wolves clarified that there is no "hard time limit" and players are not meant to rush. The game does not simply end when 30 days expire. However, running out of time has consequences: Coen's family "may suffer" for delays. Creative Director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz summarized it: "Your task is to save Coen's family, but how you do it is up to you."
Impossible completionism
The finite time supply means it is impossible to complete every quest in a single playthrough. This is intentional. Players must choose which NPCs to help, which areas to explore, and which objectives to pursue. Skipping a quest is always a trade-off: the time saved can be spent elsewhere, but the story and resources from that quest are lost.
This design reinforces the Narrative Sandbox philosophy. Every playthrough becomes unique because no two players will make the same time allocation decisions. The Notoriety System adds complexity, since aggressive actions against Brencis trigger countermeasures that may require spending additional time to work around.
Playing one form only
The developers confirmed that players can complete the entire game, including the ending, by playing only during daytime hours as a human or only during nighttime hours as a vampire. The game is designed for players to mix both forms, but a single-form playthrough is a valid approach. This makes the time system even more interesting: a night-only player and a day-only player will have fundamentally different experiences, encounters, and available abilities.