Really interesting essay (https://www.indiegamereadingclub.com/indie-game-reading-club/smoke-and-mirrors-timer-systems-and-but-at-what-cost/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=smoke-and-mirrors-timer-systems-and-but-at-what-cost). I think the author likes these clock mechanisms but I still found this quote delightful
A recurring joke of the event, based on a plurality of entries, was "you will win... but at what cost?" So many of the entries were meant to evoke a sense of loss over fictional things your character, and ideally the player, care about. It's how lots of heroic fiction plays out, yeah? The hero always wins, and the audience appreciates their heroism more because of all they gave up along the way.
The desire to model this well-trod fictional arc has resulted in an entire generation of "you will win but at what cost?" games. New games where you don't know if you even can win are in short supply these days. And if "you will succeed" isn't baked right into the system (like Inevitable almost is), it shows up in lots of GMing. Because losing makes players sad, I guess? It's not "how fiction works?"