In games that are as massive as Baldur’s Gate 3, you will often find yourself immersed for hours, making your day fly by. At some point, you will need to get up to use the bathroom or grab a bite to eat. No matter your reasons, you will likely want to pause Baldur’s Gate 3 at some point. While Larian Studios does not have a hard pause button in its fantasy RPG, there are ways you can do it. These creative methods should give you some relief if you feel you need a break.
In most cases, you will not need to freeze the game when you get up. Nothing will pop up and kill you while you are away. Still, we have some ways for you to “pause” when you have to peel yourself away from your screen.
One method to pause Baldur’s Gate 3 is to select the “Turn-Based Mode” button or press the spacebar. Instead of real-time, you go into turn-based to let you select and move each party member one at a time. It gives you a slow, deliberate approach to certain areas, especially with traps. This is a great way to stop the game when your DoorDash arrives with a tasty meal to fuel you for more hours of gameplay. Any environmental effects can still be in play, so make sure you are safe when stepping away.
The other method also goes in line with the “Turn-Based Mode” button. Instead of activating this mode, you can always get up during combat when it is your turn. Let the game idle while it awaits your move as you deal with whatever you need to do in real life before stepping back into this fantastical world filled with otherworldly races and magic.
