diff --git a/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts b/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
index 3f1425d1e..077b3d2a7 100644
--- a/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
+++ b/src/client/ClientGameRunner.ts
@@ -213,17 +213,12 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
   private lastProcessedTick: number = 0;
   private backlogTurns: number = 0;
   private backlogGrowing: boolean = false;
+  private lastRenderedTick: number = 0;
 
   private pendingUpdates: GameUpdateViewData[] = [];
   private pendingStart = 0;
   private isProcessingUpdates = false;
 
-  // Adaptive rendering when frames are heavy: render at most once every N frames.
-  private renderEveryN: number = 1;
-  private renderSkipCounter: number = 0;
-  private lastFrameTime: number = 0;
-  private readonly MAX_RENDER_EVERY_N = 5;
-
   constructor(
     private lobby: LobbyConfig,
     private eventBus: EventBus,
@@ -309,39 +304,8 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
         return;
       }
       this.pendingUpdates.push(gu);
-      if (this.renderEveryN === 1) {
-        this.processPendingUpdates();
-      }
+      this.processPendingUpdates();
     });
-    const keepWorkerAlive = () => {
-      if (this.isActive) {
-        const now = performance.now();
-        let frameDuration = 0;
-        if (this.lastFrameTime !== 0) {
-          frameDuration = now - this.lastFrameTime;
-        }
-        this.lastFrameTime = now;
-
-        // Decide whether to render (and thus process pending updates) this frame.
-        let shouldRender = true;
-        if (
-          this.renderEveryN > 1 &&
-          this.renderSkipCounter < this.renderEveryN - 1
-        ) {
-          shouldRender = false;
-          this.renderSkipCounter++;
-        } else if (this.renderEveryN > 1) {
-          this.renderSkipCounter = 0;
-        }
-
-        if (shouldRender) {
-          this.processPendingUpdates();
-        }
-        this.adaptRenderFrequency(frameDuration);
-        requestAnimationFrame(keepWorkerAlive);
-      }
-    };
-    requestAnimationFrame(keepWorkerAlive);
 
     const onconnect = () => {
       console.log("Connected to game server!");
@@ -489,7 +453,7 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
       const MAX_SLICE_BUDGET_MS = 2000; // allow longer slices when backlog is large
       const BACKLOG_FREE_TURNS = 10; // scaling starts at this many turns
       const BACKLOG_MAX_TURNS = 500; // MAX_SLICE_BUDGET_MS is reached at this many turns
-      const MAX_PER_SLICE = 1000;
+      const MAX_TICKS_PER_SLICE = 1000;
 
       const backlogOverhead = Math.max(
         0,
@@ -532,7 +496,7 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
         lastTick = gu.tick;
 
         const elapsed = performance.now() - frameStart;
-        if (processedCount >= MAX_PER_SLICE || elapsed >= sliceBudgetMs) {
+        if (processedCount >= MAX_TICKS_PER_SLICE || elapsed >= sliceBudgetMs) {
           break;
         }
       }
@@ -553,18 +517,27 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
           this.gameView.update(combinedGu);
         }
 
-        this.renderer.tick();
-        this.eventBus.emit(
-          new TickMetricsEvent(
-            lastTickDuration,
-            this.currentTickDelay,
-            this.backlogTurns,
-            this.renderEveryN,
-          ),
-        );
+        // Only emit metrics when ALL processing is complete
+        if (this.pendingStart >= this.pendingUpdates.length) {
+          const ticksPerRender =
+            this.lastRenderedTick === 0
+              ? lastTick
+              : lastTick - this.lastRenderedTick;
+          this.lastRenderedTick = lastTick;
 
-        // Reset tick delay for next measurement
-        this.currentTickDelay = undefined;
+          this.renderer.tick();
+          this.eventBus.emit(
+            new TickMetricsEvent(
+              lastTickDuration,
+              this.currentTickDelay,
+              this.backlogTurns,
+              ticksPerRender,
+            ),
+          );
+
+          // Reset tick delay for next measurement
+          this.currentTickDelay = undefined;
+        }
       }
 
       if (this.pendingStart < this.pendingUpdates.length) {
@@ -577,33 +550,6 @@ export class ClientGameRunner {
     requestAnimationFrame(processFrame);
   }
 
-  private adaptRenderFrequency(frameDuration: number) {
-    // Frameskip only matters while we have a backlog; otherwise stay at 1.
-    if (this.backlogTurns === 0) {
-      this.renderEveryN = 1;
-      this.renderSkipCounter = 0;
-      return;
-    }
-
-    const HIGH_FRAME_MS = 25;
-    const LOW_FRAME_MS = 18;
-
-    // Only throttle rendering if backlog is still growing; otherwise drift back toward 1.
-    if (this.backlogGrowing && frameDuration > HIGH_FRAME_MS) {
-      if (this.renderEveryN < this.MAX_RENDER_EVERY_N) {
-        this.renderEveryN++;
-      }
-    } else if (
-      !this.backlogGrowing &&
-      frameDuration > 0 &&
-      frameDuration < LOW_FRAME_MS
-    ) {
-      if (this.renderEveryN > 1) {
-        this.renderEveryN--;
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
   private mergeGameUpdates(
     batch: GameUpdateViewData[],
   ): GameUpdateViewData | null {
diff --git a/src/client/InputHandler.ts b/src/client/InputHandler.ts
index abe01cac3..bd95e7201 100644
--- a/src/client/InputHandler.ts
+++ b/src/client/InputHandler.ts
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ export class TickMetricsEvent implements GameEvent {
     public readonly tickDelay?: number,
     // Number of turns the client is behind the server (if known)
     public readonly backlogTurns?: number,
-    public readonly renderEveryN?: number,
+    // Number of ticks applied since last render
+    public readonly ticksPerRender?: number,
   ) {}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts b/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
index 183c4fa44..531f19f0b 100644
--- a/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
+++ b/src/client/graphics/layers/PerformanceOverlay.ts
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
         event.tickExecutionDuration,
         event.tickDelay,
         event.backlogTurns,
-        event.renderEveryN,
+        event.ticksPerRender,
       );
     });
   }
@@ -424,16 +424,16 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
   }
 
   @state()
-  private renderEveryN: number = 1;
+  private backlogTurns: number = 0;
 
   @state()
-  private backlogTurns: number = 0;
+  private ticksPerRender: number = 0;
 
   updateTickMetrics(
     tickExecutionDuration?: number,
     tickDelay?: number,
     backlogTurns?: number,
-    renderEveryN?: number,
+    ticksPerRender?: number,
   ) {
     if (!this.isVisible || !this.userSettings.performanceOverlay()) return;
 
@@ -474,8 +474,9 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
     if (backlogTurns !== undefined) {
       this.backlogTurns = backlogTurns;
     }
-    if (renderEveryN !== undefined) {
-      this.renderEveryN = renderEveryN;
+
+    if (ticksPerRender !== undefined) {
+      this.ticksPerRender = ticksPerRender;
     }
 
     this.requestUpdate();
@@ -623,15 +624,14 @@ export class PerformanceOverlay extends LitElement implements Layer {
           <span>${this.tickDelayAvg.toFixed(2)}ms</span>
           (max: <span>${this.tickDelayMax}ms</span>)
         </div>
+        <div class="performance-line">
+          Ticks per render:
+          <span>${this.ticksPerRender}</span>
+        </div>
         <div class="performance-line">
           Backlog turns:
           <span>${this.backlogTurns}</span>
         </div>
-        ${this.renderEveryN > 1
-          ? html`<div class="performance-line">
-              Render every <span>${this.renderEveryN}</span> frame(s)
-            </div>`
-          : html``}
         ${this.layerBreakdown.length
           ? html`<div class="layers-section">
               <div class="performance-line">