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Active pause

Video game concept

Players can still issue commands even when the game is paused, allowing them to maintain control over the gameplay.

154
games
14
platforms

Alternate names: Pausable real-time, Real-time with pause

Icewind Dale (Macintosh OS Classic)
Icewind Dale
MAC 2002-03-27
Prime World: Defenders (Mac OS X)
Prime World: Defenders
OSX 2013-06-05
UFO: Aftermath (Windows)
UFO: Aftermath
WIN 2003-10-16
Prime World: Defenders (Windows)
Prime World: Defenders
WIN 2013-06-05
Knights of the Old Republic (Windows)
Knights of the Old Republic
WIN 2003-11-19
The Witcher (Windows)
The Witcher
WIN 2007-10-26
Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast (Windows)
Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast
WIN 2005-06-22
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (Windows)
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
WIN 2016-03-31
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (Windows)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
WIN 2000-09-22
Gunlok (Windows)
Gunlok
WIN 2000
Star Ruler 2 (Windows)
Star Ruler 2
WIN 2014-07-22
The Sims 3 (Windows)
The Sims 3
WIN 2009-06
Unlike regular pause, this is actually meant to be used as a gameplay mechanic instead of just something to pause the game so you can do something else unrelated to the game.

See autopause for game effectively pausing during certain actions, such as inventory access, dialogs, or in-game menus.
Related:
* Real-time combat
* Turn-based combat

Popular tags

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Parent groups

Pausing, Real-time, Time, Time-keeping systems

Games by year

8789919395979901030507091113151719 20510150

The first Active pause video game was released in 1987.

Atari, Beamdog and Paradox Interactive published most of these games.

Platforms

Windows 83
Linux 33
Mac OS X 22
Mac OS Classic 4
Xbox 2
MS-DOS 2
PS 1
X360 1
PS3 1
BeOS 1
iOS 1
Apple II E 1
Switch 1
Android 1

Most common companies

Atari10
Beamdog10
Paradox Interactive7
LucasArts5
Digital Extremes4
Endless Loop Studios4
Blind Mind Studios4
Whalenought Studios3
Flox Studios3
Fractal Softworks3
Shark Punch3
Interplay3
BioWare3
MacPlay3
Subset Games3