Blinking

Blinking is a mechanic currently used to make SCP-173 more challenging. Blinking activates when the player makes visual contact with SCP-173, causing the blink bar to appear in the lower center of the screen, counting down to the blink. Blinking can also be done manually during this time, by pressing spacebar, however even the shortest manual blink will be considerably longer than a natural blink.

Trivia

 * In the future, other things such as gas may trigger the blink meter.
 * The reasoning for contextual blinking is for the system to simulate real life, as you would not notice your blinking when it is not needed in real life.
 * Additional reasoning is that always blinking got in the way of events and was generally annoying.