diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6bd143b..3d413ee 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ set(SOURCES
     src/render.c
     src/snake.c
     src/map.c
+    src/common.c
 )
 
 
diff --git a/include/common.h b/include/common.h
index 5774472..21273ad 100644
--- a/include/common.h
+++ b/include/common.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include "config.h"
 
 //===========================
@@ -41,3 +42,12 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #define DELAY(ms) usleep((ms) * 1000)
 #endif
+
+
+//===========================
+//======= GET_TIME_MS =======
+//===========================
+// macro to get time in milliseconds
+#define GET_TIME_MS() get_current_time()
+// defined in common.c due to differences with windows and other systems
+uint64_t get_current_time();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/common.c b/src/common.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..549b1a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common.c
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <Windows.h>
+#else
+#include <sys/time.h>
+#endif
+
+#include "common.h"
+
+//============================
+//==== get_current_time() ====
+//============================
+// Function that returns current time in milliseconds (can be used on windows and other systems)
+uint64_t get_current_time() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    FILETIME ft;
+    GetSystemTimeAsFileTime(&ft);
+    ULARGE_INTEGER uli;
+    uli.LowPart = ft.dwLowDateTime;
+    uli.HighPart = ft.dwHighDateTime;
+    return uli.QuadPart / 10000;  // convert 100-nanoseconds to milliseconds
+#else
+    struct timeval tv;
+    gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
+    return (uint64_t)tv.tv_sec * 1000 + tv.tv_usec / 1000;  // convert microseconds to milliseconds
+#endif
+}
\ No newline at end of file