The Hourglass is a minimalist narrative incremental game about capturing time, then capturing more of it, until it stops making sense. Over five eras you go from a village stall in 1784 to the stars in 2471. Each era has its own economy, its own rival and its own ending. And in each era, one question you can only answer once: sell time for power, or give it away. The world remembers which.

• Five eras, five economies. A village in 1784, an industrial valley in 1851, a Time Exchange in 1929, twenty-four time zones in 2026, a hundred billion stars in 2471.
• Time becomes the currency. One day nobody wants your coins. Machines, wages and customers are all paid in minutes.
• Greed or generosity, once per era. You can't do both, and the ending takes on the color of your path.
• An enigma, not a spreadsheet. No tutorial, no formulas. You learn the rules by playing.
• One typeface, brass and night, music generated live. No microtransactions.