diff --git a/src/game/game.c b/src/game/game.c
index 6541dbe..01c7760 100644
--- a/src/game/game.c
+++ b/src/game/game.c
@@ -43,10 +43,13 @@ void next_shape(gamedata* const dat) {
     dat->nxt[TETROMINO_COUNT - 1] = cache;
 }
 
-void game_init(gamedata* const dat, gametime* gt) {
+void game_init(gamedata* const dat) {
     // set a random seed using the system clock
     srand(time(NULL));
 
+    struct gametime gt = {{0}, 0};
+    gametime_get(&gt.ts);
+
     // initialize audio device
     audiodevice* ad = audio_device_init(32000, AUDIO_S16, 1, 4096);
 
@@ -83,15 +86,24 @@ void game_init(gamedata* const dat, gametime* gt) {
     shuffle(TETROMINO_COUNT, dat->nxt); // manually trigger a shuffle
 }
 
+// updates the gametime
+static inline void update_gametime(gamedata* dat) {
+    struct timespec ts;
+    gametime_get(&ts);
+    dat->time.ms = ts.tv_sec * 1000 + ts.tv_nsec / 1000000;
+    dat->time.ts = ts;
+}
+
 // called every time the game's state is updated
 void game_update(gamedata* const dat) {
+    update_gametime(dat);
     uint8_t const* keys = SDL_GetKeyboardState(NULL);
 
     if (keys[SDL_SCANCODE_ESCAPE])
         dat->run = false;
 
     input_data move = MOVE_NONE; // contains the move data
-    uint32_t ctime = SDL_GetTicks();
+    time_t ctime = dat->time.ms;
 
     if (ctime > dat->timer_update) {
         dat->timer_update = ctime + 500;
diff --git a/src/game/game.h b/src/game/game.h
index b0874d3..f6c0614 100644
--- a/src/game/game.h
+++ b/src/game/game.h
@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ typedef colour8* row;
 
 typedef struct {
     row rows[ROWS];
-    gametime* time;
+    struct gametime time;
     audiodevice* audio_device;
     audiodata music;
-    uint32_t timer_music;
-    uint32_t timer_update;
-    uint32_t timer_input;
+    time_t timer_music;
+    time_t timer_update;
+    time_t timer_input;
     uint16_t score;
     shape_id nxt[7];  // the order of the shape ids that they should appear in
     uint8_t curr_idx; // current shape index
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ typedef struct {
     bool run;
 } gamedata;
 
-void next_shape(gamedata*);           // initializes everything needed to start the game; outputs to gamedata
-void game_init(gamedata*, gametime*); // initializes the game
-void game_update(gamedata*);          // causes an update to occur within the game
-void game_free(gamedata*);            // frees the resources associated with the game
+void next_shape(gamedata*);  // initializes everything needed to start the game; outputs to gamedata
+void game_init(gamedata*);   // initializes the game
+void game_update(gamedata*); // causes an update to occur within the game
+void game_free(gamedata*);   // frees the resources associated with the game
diff --git a/src/game/gametime.h b/src/game/gametime.h
index 4605256..bffb31a 100644
--- a/src/game/gametime.h
+++ b/src/game/gametime.h
@@ -1,39 +1,24 @@
 #pragma once
-
 #include <time.h>
 
-#include "../util/attributes.h"
-
-typedef struct {
-    struct timespec ts; // stores the time at the current update
-    double sec;         // stores the current time in seconds
-    float scale;        // multiplier for the time calculation, default value is 1.0
-    float delta;        // the time that it took between updates
-} gametime;
-
-// initializes the gametime struct
-atrb_const static inline gametime gametime_new(void) {
+struct gametime {
     struct timespec ts;
-    timespec_get(&ts, TIME_UTC);
+    time_t ms;
+};
 
-    return (gametime){
-        ts,
-        0.0,
-        1.0F,
-        0.0F,
-    };
+#if _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 199309L
+static inline void gametime_get(struct timespec* ts) {
+    clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, ts);
 }
-
-// updates the internal variables
-static inline void gametime_update(gametime* gt) {
-    struct timespec ts;
-    timespec_get(&ts, TIME_UTC);
-    gt->sec = (double)ts.tv_nsec * 1e-9;                                    // calculate the current time in seconds
-    gt->delta = ((double)(ts.tv_nsec - gt->ts.tv_nsec) * 1e-9) * gt->scale; // calculate how much time has passed between this and last frame
-    gt->ts = ts;                                                            // update the game's timespec
-}
-
-// gets how many times the game updates per second
-atrb_const static inline float gametime_get_ups(gametime* gt) {
-    return 1.0F / gt->delta;
+#elif defined _WIN32
+# include <windows.h>
+static inline void gametime_get(struct timespec* ts) {
+    LARGE_INTEGER cnt, frq;
+    QueryPerformanceCounter(&cnt);
+    QueryPerformanceFrequency(&frq);
+    ts->tv_sec = (time_t)(cnt.QuadPart / frq.QuadPart);
+    ts->tv_nsec = (time_t)((cnt.QuadPart % frq.QuadPart) * 1000000000 / frq.QuadPart);
 }
+#else
+# error platform not supported
+#endif
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index e0f204c..ee58857 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -6,11 +6,9 @@
 
 #include "error.h"
 #include "game/game.h"
-#include "game/gametime.h"
 #include "window/renderer.h"
 
 // initialized in init(), reading beforehand is undefined behaviour
-static gametime gt;
 static gamedata gdat;
 static renderdata rdat;
 
@@ -23,8 +21,7 @@ static void init(void) {
         fatal(ERROR_SDL_FONT_INIT, __FILE_NAME__, __LINE__, "the TTF module of SDL could not initialize! TTF Error: %s", TTF_GetError());
 
     // initialize other game components
-    gt = gametime_new();
-    game_init(&gdat, &gt);
+    game_init(&gdat);
     render_init(&rdat, &gdat);
 }
 
@@ -43,7 +40,6 @@ static void update(void) {
     }
 
     // perform updates
-    gametime_update(&gt);
     game_update(&gdat);
     render_update(&rdat);
 }