diff --git a/bin/twn b/bin/twn
index 14a76e8..49dfaf7 100755
--- a/bin/twn
+++ b/bin/twn
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ case "$1" in
                ;;
 
     gdb      ) unset DEBUGINFOD_URLS
-               $0 build && gdb --se=libgame.so -ex run --args "$(basename $PWD)" "${@:2}"
+               $0 build && gdb --se=libgame.so -ex run --args "$(basename $PWD)" --no-sanity-timer "${@:2}"
                ;;
 
     init     ) cp -r "$TWNROOT/apps/templates/$2" "$3"
diff --git a/src/twn_engine_context_c.h b/src/twn_engine_context_c.h
index 1d27fb7..41358fe 100644
--- a/src/twn_engine_context_c.h
+++ b/src/twn_engine_context_c.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ typedef struct EngineContext {
     bool audio_initialized;
     bool push_audio_model;
     bool cull_faces;
+    bool no_sanity_timer;
 } EngineContext;
 
 /* TODO: does it need to be marked with TWN_API? */
diff --git a/src/twn_loop.c b/src/twn_loop.c
index 9465bd8..238aa8f 100644
--- a/src/twn_loop.c
+++ b/src/twn_loop.c
@@ -193,9 +193,9 @@ static void main_loop(void) {
         input_state_update(&ctx.input);
 
         profile_start("game tick");
-        start_sanity_timer(2000);
+        if (!ctx.no_sanity_timer) start_sanity_timer(2000);
         game_object_tick();
-        end_sanity_timer();
+        if (!ctx.no_sanity_timer) end_sanity_timer();
         profile_end("game tick");
 
         input_state_update_postframe(&ctx.input);
@@ -813,6 +813,12 @@ int enter_loop(int argc, char **argv) {
             force_release = true;
             continue;
         }
+
+        /* do not use sanity timer, useful with attached debugger */
+        if (SDL_strncmp(argv[i], "--no-sanity-timer", sizeof "--no-sanity-timer" - 1) == 0) {
+            ctx.no_sanity_timer = true;
+            continue;
+        }
     }
 
     /* data path not explicitly specified, look into convention defined places */