Shake to start your turn.
Sands of Time is a game timer for board games, card games and quiz nights. Put your phone in the middle of the table, give it a shake, and watch the sand drain from the edges of the screen into the middle, like looking down into an hourglass.
Free to download. No account, no tracking and no ads.
How it works
1Pick a time
Tap a quick pick from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, or set any custom time down to the second.
2Shake to start
Put the phone in the middle of the table and give it a quick shake. No fiddly buttons mid-game.
3Watch the sand
Everyone can see at a glance how much time is left. When it's gone, the alarm sounds and the phone buzzes.
Made for game night
Chimes your way
Bell, glass, wood block, gong or beep. Choose a chime at the start, at halfway, every quarter, or every 15 seconds up to 5 minutes, plus ticks in the final 10 seconds.
Pick your table
Choose the surface revealed as the sand drains: wood, black, white, metal or grass.
Pause in a tap
Tap the screen to pause, restart the turn or change the time. Shake again for the next player.
Premium styles
A one-off upgrade adds futuristic lights, snake, water, rainbow rings and colour block, with a colour for each player.
Game extras
Premium also brings a turn and round counter, an overtime count-up, and flip face down to pause.
Private by design
No accounts, no ads and no tracking. Your settings stay on your phone and the app works offline.
Questions
What if the table gets bumped?
In Options you can choose Light, Normal or Hard shake. Hard shake stops a bumped table from starting the timer by accident. You can also tap the screen to start.
Can I turn the sounds off?
Yes. The start chime, the chimes during a turn, the final ticks and the time's-up alarm can each be switched off in Options, along with vibration.
What's free and what's Premium?
The timer, the sand style, every chime and every background are free. Premium is a one-off purchase in the app that unlocks five more styles and the game extras. There's no subscription.
Does it need the internet?
No. Everything runs on your phone. The internet is only used if you choose to buy Premium through Google Play.
Is there an iPhone version?
Not yet. Sands of Time is available for Android on Google Play.
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