diff --git a/werewolves-proto/src/game/mod.rs b/werewolves-proto/src/game/mod.rs
index 84b7fb1..6cb3dd4 100644
--- a/werewolves-proto/src/game/mod.rs
+++ b/werewolves-proto/src/game/mod.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ use core::{
 
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use rand::{Rng, seq::SliceRandom};
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde::{
+    Deserialize, Serialize,
+    de::{Expected, Unexpected},
+};
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 use crate::{
@@ -482,12 +485,70 @@ pub enum Maybe {
     Maybe,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, Copy, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, Copy)]
 pub enum GameTime {
     Day { number: NonZeroU8 },
     Night { number: u8 },
 }
 
+impl Serialize for GameTime {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> std::result::Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: serde::Serializer,
+    {
+        match self {
+            GameTime::Day { number } => format!("day_{number}"),
+            GameTime::Night { number } => format!("night_{number}"),
+        }
+        .serialize(serializer)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for GameTime {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> std::result::Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        enum ExpectedGameTime {
+            Format,
+            NumberU8,
+            NonZeroU8,
+        }
+        impl Expected for ExpectedGameTime {
+            fn fmt(&self, formatter: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+                formatter.write_str(match self {
+					Self::Format => "expected day_{num_nz} or night_{num}, where {num_nz} is a nonzero u8, and {num} is a u8",
+					Self::NumberU8 => "expected a u8 after day_ or night_",
+					Self::NonZeroU8 => "expected a non-zero day number",
+				})
+            }
+        }
+        let s = crate::limited::ClampedString::<5, 9>::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        let (day_or_night, number) = s.split_once('_').ok_or(serde::de::Error::invalid_value(
+            Unexpected::Str(s.as_str()),
+            &ExpectedGameTime::Format,
+        ))?;
+        let parsed_number = number.parse::<u8>().map_err(|_| {
+            serde::de::Error::invalid_value(Unexpected::Str(number), &ExpectedGameTime::NumberU8)
+        })?;
+        match day_or_night {
+            "day" => NonZeroU8::new(parsed_number)
+                .map(|number| GameTime::Day { number })
+                .ok_or(serde::de::Error::invalid_value(
+                    Unexpected::Str(number),
+                    &ExpectedGameTime::NonZeroU8,
+                )),
+            "night" => Ok(GameTime::Night {
+                number: parsed_number,
+            }),
+            _ => Err(serde::de::Error::invalid_value(
+                Unexpected::Str(day_or_night),
+                &ExpectedGameTime::Format,
+            )),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl PartialOrd for GameTime {
     fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Option<Ordering> {
         Some(self.cmp(other))