diff --git a/src/GameEngine.cpp b/src/GameEngine.cpp
index 4f02b21..dfc202a 100644
--- a/src/GameEngine.cpp
+++ b/src/GameEngine.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ GameEngine::GameEngine()
     IndexSprite::game = this;
 
     clock.restart();
+    runtime.restart();
 }
 
 Scene* GameEngine::currentScene() { return scenes[scene]; }
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ void GameEngine::run()
     while (running)
     {
         currentScene()->update();
+        testTimers();
         sUserInput();
         if (!paused)
         {
@@ -67,6 +69,36 @@ void GameEngine::run()
     }
 }
 
+void GameEngine::manageTimer(std::string name, PyObject* target, int interval)
+{
+    //std::cout << "Manage timer called. " << name << " " << interval << std::endl;
+    if (timers.find(name) != timers.end()) // overwrite existing
+    {
+        if (target == NULL || target == Py_None) // delete
+        {
+            Py_DECREF(target);
+            timers.erase(name);
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+    if (target == NULL || target == Py_None)
+    {
+        std::cout << "Refusing to initialize timer to None. It's not an error, it's just pointless." << std::endl;
+        return;
+    }
+    timers[name] = Timer(target, interval, runtime.getElapsedTime().asMilliseconds());
+    Py_INCREF(target);
+}
+
+void GameEngine::testTimers()
+{
+    int now = runtime.getElapsedTime().asMilliseconds();
+    for (auto& [name, timer]: timers)
+    {
+        timer.test(now);
+    }
+}
+
 void GameEngine::sUserInput()
 {
     sf::Event event;
diff --git a/src/GameEngine.h b/src/GameEngine.h
index 2448b6b..d24f231 100644
--- a/src/GameEngine.h
+++ b/src/GameEngine.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "Scene.h"
 #include "McRFPy_API.h"
 #include "IndexTexture.h"
+#include "Timer.h"
 
 class GameEngine
 {
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@ class GameEngine
     float frameTime;
     std::string window_title;
 
+    sf::Clock runtime;
+    std::map<std::string, Timer> timers;
+    void testTimers();
+
 public:
     std::string scene;
     GameEngine();
@@ -35,6 +40,7 @@ public:
     int getFrame() { return currentFrame; }
     float getFrameTime() { return frameTime; }
     sf::View getView() { return visible; }
+    void manageTimer(std::string, PyObject*, int);
 
     // global textures for scripts to access
     std::vector<IndexTexture> textures;
diff --git a/src/McRFPy_API.cpp b/src/McRFPy_API.cpp
index 0df0ce2..042f22e 100644
--- a/src/McRFPy_API.cpp
+++ b/src/McRFPy_API.cpp
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ static PyMethodDef mcrfpyMethods[] = {
     {"createScene", McRFPy_API::_createScene, METH_VARARGS, "createScene(scene) - create a new blank scene with given name"},
     {"keypressScene", McRFPy_API::_keypressScene, METH_VARARGS, "keypressScene(callable) - assign a callable object to the current scene receive keypress events"},
 
+    {"setTimer", McRFPy_API::_setTimer, METH_VARARGS, "setTimer(name:str, callable:object, interval:int) - callable will be called with args (runtime:float) every `interval` milliseconds"},
+    {"delTimer", McRFPy_API::_delTimer, METH_VARARGS, "delTimer(name:str) - stop calling the timer labelled with `name`"},
+
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
 };
 
@@ -450,3 +453,21 @@ PyObject* McRFPy_API::_keypressScene(PyObject* self, PyObject* args) {
     Py_INCREF(Py_None);
     return Py_None;		
 }
+
+PyObject* McRFPy_API::_setTimer(PyObject* self, PyObject* args) { // TODO - compare with UIDrawable mouse & Scene Keyboard methods - inconsistent responsibility for incref/decref around mcrogueface
+    const char* name;
+    PyObject* callable;
+    int interval;
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "sOi", &name, &callable, &interval)) return NULL;
+    game->manageTimer(name, callable, interval);
+    Py_INCREF(Py_None);
+    return Py_None;
+}
+
+PyObject* McRFPy_API::_delTimer(PyObject* self, PyObject* args) {
+	const char* name;
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s", &name)) return NULL;
+    game->manageTimer(name, NULL, 0);
+    Py_INCREF(Py_None);
+    return Py_None;
+}
diff --git a/src/McRFPy_API.h b/src/McRFPy_API.h
index 2935d33..52730c8 100644
--- a/src/McRFPy_API.h
+++ b/src/McRFPy_API.h
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ public:
     static PyObject* _currentScene(PyObject*, PyObject*);
     static PyObject* _createScene(PyObject*, PyObject*);
     static PyObject* _keypressScene(PyObject*, PyObject*); 
+
+    // timer control
+    static PyObject* _setTimer(PyObject*, PyObject*);
+    static PyObject* _delTimer(PyObject*, PyObject*);
+
     // accept keyboard input from scene
     static sf::Vector2i cursor_position;
     static void player_input(int, int);
diff --git a/src/Timer.cpp b/src/Timer.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c04ccf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Timer.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#include "Timer.h"
+
+Timer::Timer(PyObject* _target, int _interval, int now)
+: target(_target), interval(_interval), last_ran(now)
+{
+    //Py_INCREF(target);
+}
+
+Timer::Timer()
+: target(Py_None), interval(0), last_ran(0)
+{}
+
+Timer::Timer(Timer& other)
+: target(other.target), interval(other.interval), last_ran(other.last_ran)
+{
+    //Py_INCREF(target);
+}
+
+Timer::~Timer()
+{
+    //if (target && target != Py_None)
+    //    Py_DECREF(target);
+}
+
+bool Timer::test(int now)
+{
+    if (!target || target == Py_None) return false;
+    if (now > last_ran + interval)
+    {
+        last_ran = now;
+        PyObject* args = Py_BuildValue("(i)", now);
+        std::cout << PyUnicode_AsUTF8(PyObject_Repr(args)) << std::endl;
+        PyObject_Call(target, args, NULL);
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/Timer.h b/src/Timer.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e01344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Timer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#pragma once
+#include "Common.h"
+#include "Python.h"
+class GameEngine; // forward declare
+
+class Timer
+{
+public:
+    PyObject* target;
+    int interval;
+    int last_ran;
+    Timer(); // for map to build
+    Timer(Timer& other); // copy constructor
+    Timer(PyObject*, int, int);
+    ~Timer();
+    bool test(int);
+};