Once upon a time, I saw achievements as something I most certainly had to do in any video game I played. As someone who has long chased that feeling of truly completing 100% of a game’s content, earning every achievement just felt like icing on the cake. However, achievements eventually became little more than bonus content once I got married and had kids, primarily because I have to be more selective with what I spend my time on now. Even so, I still get that rush when the trill of a Steam achievement greets my ears, and one of my latest in Arc Raiders, I previously thought was impossible. Still, I earned it (mostly by accident), and it’s safe to say it’s the most stress I’ve ever felt in a game.

There are 50 achievements in Arc Raiders, and some of them are easy to acquire simply by playing the game. Reaching a certain level, defeating a specified number of enemies, or completing quests for traders can all earn players achievements, regardless of platform. But one achievement, I’d say, stands out as its toughest, as the conditions for it have to be perfect. And since Arc Raiders can be a tough game to gain control of, completing its “In the Nick of Time” achievement almost feels like a fever dream.

Completing Arc Raiders’ ‘In the Nick of Time’ Achievement Had My Adrenaline Through the Roof

When I first saw the conditions for the “In the Nick of Time” achievement, I almost scoffed at it. In order to earn it, players need to return to Speranza with less than 5 seconds left in the round, which, on paper, sounds impossible. At the time of writing, only 17% of players have completed the achievement on Steam alone, and when compared to the rest of the achievements in the game, fewer players have earned it than any other. Needless to say, when I saw what was required to earn it, I essentially dismissed it and thought, “If I complete that one, it’ll need to be sheer luck or by accident.”

As it turns out, it pretty much was by accident. Every day, my son goes down for a nap around noon and my daughter has an hour of quiet time in her room. On this particular day, I decided to spend my own quiet time playing a couple rounds of Arc Raiders. Well, occasionally, my son just doesn’t want to sleep, and this turned out to be one of those occasions. My wife was trying to have some quiet time as well, and since she’s already with the kids so much as a (mostly) stay-at-home mom, I took it upon myself to help get my son to sleep so she could continue to relax.

The only problem is that I was in the middle of a round on Arc Raiders, and I had already picked up some loot that I desperately needed to get back to Speranza.

I didn’t want to just quit the game, so I crouched in a big bush and thought I would be back in time to at least grab a little more loot and head for an extraction point. After spending around 20 minutes getting my son to sleep, I returned to my PC to find that although I was safe, I now only had around 6 minutes left in the round — and the only extraction point left was on the other end of Arc Raiders‘ Dam Battlegrounds map.

I took off, full speed, toward the extraction point, but when I was around halfway there, I got myself into a situation where I felt trapped. I was on a structure that was too high off the ground to safely jump down, and far too many Wasps and Hornets were patrolling the area in front of me. I didn’t have enough ammo to take them all on, nor did I have enough time. So, I ran from the left to the right, looking for a safe way forward, but there were now only just under 3 minutes left in the round. The only way forward, then, would be to jump down and hope I survived the fall.

I jumped and lost the majority of my health, but I sprinted with all that I had toward the only remaining extraction point. Luckily, I managed to get away from the Wasps and Hornets that initially spotted me, but another roadblock awaited me at the elevator. One of Arc Raiders‘ deadly Leapers was patrolling the area around the elevator, and I now had only around 2 minutes left in the round. I waited for a moment for the Leaper to walk away a bit before calling the elevator, but it wasn’t enough. Calling the elevator alerted the Leaper, as well as every nearby Wasp and Hornet, and they began targeting me and firing at me as I looked desperately for some cover while I waited for the elevator to arrive.

The gunfire continued, and I was clearly alone. Every other solo player in the round had already either extracted or died, making me the machines’ only target. I sprinted around, I dodged, I rolled, I fled for the shadows. Until, at last, I heard the elevator arrive. Now, with only 10 seconds left on the clock, the doors were finally opening, and I booked it. As I began the “Return to Speranza” sequence at one of the terminals, I heard the Leaper charging up a shot, but it was too late. The doors were closing, and after all that stress, I heard one of the most satisfying sounds — the proc of an Arc Raiders Steam achievement called “In the Nick of Time.” And it was all because my son was having a difficult time napping that day.

Released

October 30, 2025

ESRB

Teen / Violence, Blood