// timerGame.js
'use strict';

function timerGame(callback) {
  console.log('Ready....go!');
  setTimeout(() => {
    console.log("Time's up -- stop!");
    callback && callback();
  }, 1000);
}

module.exports = timerGame;

// __tests__/timerGame-test.js
'use strict';

jest.useFakeTimers();

test('waits 1 second before ending the game', () => {
  const timerGame = require('../timerGame');
  timerGame();

  expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
  expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(expect.any(Function), 1000);
});

While you can call jest.useFakeTimers() or jest.useRealTimers() from anywhere (top level, inside an it block, etc.), it is a global operation and will affect other tests within the same file. Additionally, you need to call jest.useFakeTimers() to reset internal counters before each test. If you plan to not use fake timers in all your tests, you will want to clean up manually, as otherwise the faked timers will leak across tests:

afterEach(() => {
  jest.useRealTimers();
});

test('do something with fake timers', () => {
  jest.useFakeTimers();
  // ...
});

test('do something with real timers', () => {
  // ...
});

Run All Timers

test('calls the callback after 1 second', () => {
  const timerGame = require('../timerGame');
  const callback = jest.fn();

  timerGame(callback);

  // At this point in time, the callback should not have been called yet
  expect(callback).not.toBeCalled();

  // Fast-forward until all timers have been executed
  jest.runAllTimers();

  // Now our callback should have been called!
  expect(callback).toBeCalled();
  expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
});

Run Pending Timers

// infiniteTimerGame.js
'use strict';

function infiniteTimerGame(callback) {
  console.log('Ready....go!');

  setTimeout(() => {
    console.log("Time's up! 10 seconds before the next game starts...");
    callback && callback();

    // Schedule the next game in 10 seconds
    setTimeout(() => {
      infiniteTimerGame(callback);
    }, 10000);
  }, 1000);
}

module.exports = infiniteTimerGame;

// __tests__/infiniteTimerGame-test.js
'use strict';

jest.useFakeTimers();

describe('infiniteTimerGame', () => {
  test('schedules a 10-second timer after 1 second', () => {
    const infiniteTimerGame = require('../infiniteTimerGame');
    const callback = jest.fn();

    infiniteTimerGame(callback);

    // At this point in time, there should have been a single call to
    // setTimeout to schedule the end of the game in 1 second.
    expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
    expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(expect.any(Function), 1000);

    // Fast forward and exhaust only currently pending timers
    // (but not any new timers that get created during that process)
    jest.runOnlyPendingTimers();

    // At this point, our 1-second timer should have fired it's callback
    expect(callback).toBeCalled();

    // And it should have created a new timer to start the game over in
    // 10 seconds
    expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
    expect(setTimeout).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(expect.any(Function), 10000);
  });
});

Advance Timers by Time

// timerGame.js
'use strict';

function timerGame(callback) {
  console.log('Ready....go!');
  setTimeout(() => {
    console.log("Time's up -- stop!");
    callback && callback();
  }, 1000);
}

module.exports = timerGame;

it('calls the callback after 1 second via advanceTimersByTime', () => {
  const timerGame = require('../timerGame');
  const callback = jest.fn();

  timerGame(callback);

  // At this point in time, the callback should not have been called yet
  expect(callback).not.toBeCalled();

  // Fast-forward until all timers have been executed
  jest.advanceTimersByTime(1000);

  // Now our callback should have been called!
  expect(callback).toBeCalled();
  expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
});