diff --git a/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts b/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
index e0804b885..348e80d6d 100644
--- a/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
+++ b/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
@@ -216,7 +216,6 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
   private catchUpMode: boolean = false;
   private readonly CATCH_UP_ENTER_BACKLOG = 120; // turns behind to enter catch-up
   private readonly CATCH_UP_EXIT_BACKLOG = 20; // turns behind to exit catch-up
-  private readonly CATCH_UP_HEARTBEATS_PER_FRAME = 5; //upper bound on heartbeats per frame when in catch-up mode
 
   private pendingUpdates: GameUpdateViewData[] = [];
   private isProcessingUpdates = false;
@@ -225,8 +224,7 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
   private renderEveryN: number = 1;
   private renderSkipCounter: number = 0;
   private lastFrameTime: number = 0;
-  private readonly MAX_RENDER_EVERY_N = 60;
-  private lastBeatsPerFrame: number = 1;
+  private readonly MAX_RENDER_EVERY_N = 5;
 
   constructor(
     private lobby: LobbyConfig,
@@ -317,7 +315,6 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
         this.processPendingUpdates();
       }
     });
-    const worker = this.worker;
     const keepWorkerAlive = () => {
       if (this.isActive) {
         const now = performance.now();
@@ -327,14 +324,6 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
         }
         this.lastFrameTime = now;
 
-        const beatsPerFrame = this.catchUpMode
-          ? this.CATCH_UP_HEARTBEATS_PER_FRAME
-          : 1;
-        this.lastBeatsPerFrame = beatsPerFrame;
-        for (let i = 0; i < beatsPerFrame; i++) {
-          worker.sendHeartbeat();
-        }
-
         // Decide whether to render (and thus process pending updates) this frame.
         let shouldRender = true;
         if (this.catchUpMode && this.renderEveryN > 1) {
@@ -541,7 +530,6 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
           this.backlogTurns,
           this.catchUpMode,
           this.renderEveryN,
-          this.lastBeatsPerFrame,
         ),
       );
 
diff --git a/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts b/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
index 3cd688449..bd101f80d 100644
--- a/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
+++ b/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
   private renderEveryN: number = 1;
 
   @state()
-  private beatsPerFrame: number = 1;
+  private beatsPerFrame: number | null = null;
 
   updateTickMetrics(
     tickExecutionDuration?: number,
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
       this.renderEveryN = renderEveryN;
     }
     if (beatsPerFrame !== undefined) {
-      this.beatsPerFrame = beatsPerFrame;
+      this.beatsPerFrame = beatsPerFrame ?? null;
     }
 
     this.requestUpdate();
@@ -647,7 +647,8 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
         ${this.inCatchUpMode
           ? html`<div class="performance-line">
               Render every <span>${this.renderEveryN}</span> frame(s),
-              heartbeats per frame: <span>${this.beatsPerFrame}</span>
+              heartbeats per frame:
+              <span>${this.beatsPerFrame ?? "auto"}</span>
             </div>`
           : html``}
         ${this.layerBreakdown.length
diff --git a/src/core/GameRunner.ts b/src/core/GameRunner.ts
index 6a8a4042f..514ed2758 100644
--- a/src/core/GameRunner.ts
+++ b/src/core/GameRunner.ts
@@ -272,4 +272,8 @@ export class GameRunner {
     }
     return player.bestTransportShipSpawn(targetTile);
   }
+
+  public hasPendingTurns(): boolean {
+    return this.currTurn < this.turns.length;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/core/worker/Worker.worker.ts b/src/core/worker/Worker.worker.ts
index 1014968fb..a6bb92510 100644
--- a/src/core/worker/Worker.worker.ts
+++ b/src/core/worker/Worker.worker.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
 const ctx: Worker = self as any;
 let gameRunner: Promise<GameRunner> | null = null;
 const mapLoader = new FetchGameMapLoader(`/maps`, version);
+let isProcessingTurns = false;
 
 function gameUpdate(gu: GameUpdateViewData | ErrorUpdate) {
   // skip if ErrorUpdate
@@ -32,13 +33,33 @@ function sendMessage(message: WorkerMessage) {
   ctx.postMessage(message);
 }
 
+async function processPendingTurns() {
+  if (isProcessingTurns) {
+    return;
+  }
+  if (!gameRunner) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const gr = await gameRunner;
+  if (!gr || !gr.hasPendingTurns()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  isProcessingTurns = true;
+  try {
+    while (gr.hasPendingTurns()) {
+      gr.executeNextTick();
+    }
+  } finally {
+    isProcessingTurns = false;
+  }
+}
+
 ctx.addEventListener("message", async (e: MessageEvent<MainThreadMessage>) => {
   const message = e.data;
 
   switch (message.type) {
-    case "heartbeat":
-      (await gameRunner)?.executeNextTick();
-      break;
     case "init":
       try {
         gameRunner = createGameRunner(
@@ -51,6 +72,7 @@ ctx.addEventListener("message", async (e: MessageEvent<MainThreadMessage>) => {
             type: "initialized",
             id: message.id,
           } as InitializedMessage);
+          processPendingTurns();
           return gr;
         });
       } catch (error) {
@@ -67,6 +89,7 @@ ctx.addEventListener("message", async (e: MessageEvent<MainThreadMessage>) => {
       try {
         const gr = await gameRunner;
         await gr.addTurn(message.turn);
+        processPendingTurns();
       } catch (error) {
         console.error("Failed to process turn:", error);
         throw error;