diff --git a/gradle/common/dependencies.gradle b/gradle/common/dependencies.gradle
index e190ad310..d95069773 100644
--- a/gradle/common/dependencies.gradle
+++ b/gradle/common/dependencies.gradle
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ allprojects {
 
                 add(mainConfigurationName, 'org.mockito:mockito-core:2.23.4')
                 add(mainConfigurationName, 'org.mockito:mockito-inline:2.23.4')
+                add(mainConfigurationName, 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core-common:1.1.1')
+                add(mainConfigurationName, 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core:1.1.1')
+                add(mainConfigurationName, 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-native:1.1.1')
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/integration-test/src/commonTest/kotlin/DefaultPackageTest.kt b/integration-test/src/commonTest/kotlin/DefaultPackageTest.kt
index ff6aea826..727196664 100644
--- a/integration-test/src/commonTest/kotlin/DefaultPackageTest.kt
+++ b/integration-test/src/commonTest/kotlin/DefaultPackageTest.kt
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ import org.spekframework.spek2.Spek
 
 object DefaultPackageTest: Spek({
     test("test in a default package") {}
-})
\ No newline at end of file
+})
diff --git a/integration-test/src/jvmTest/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/integration/TimeoutTest.kt b/integration-test/src/jvmTest/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/integration/TimeoutTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7adfb520b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-test/src/jvmTest/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/integration/TimeoutTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package org.spekframework.spek2.integration
+
+import org.spekframework.spek2.Spek
+import org.spekframework.spek2.meta.Ignore
+
+// remove @Ignore to test if timeouts are working.
+@Ignore
+object TimeoutTest: Spek({
+    test("default timeout") {
+        while (true) {}
+    }
+
+    test("custom timeout", timeout = 2000) {
+        while (true) {}
+    }
+})
diff --git a/integration-test/src/nativeTest/kotlin/Test.kt b/integration-test/src/nativeTest/kotlin/Test.kt
index b4952f9a5..f73cb2aaa 100644
--- a/integration-test/src/nativeTest/kotlin/Test.kt
+++ b/integration-test/src/nativeTest/kotlin/Test.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.discovery.DiscoveryContext
 
 fun main(args: Array<String>) {
     val discoveryContext = DiscoveryContext.builder()
+        .addTest { DefaultPackageTest }
         .addTest { CalculatorSpecs }
         .addTest { EmptyGroupTest }
         .addTest { CalculatorSpecs }
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index e66add0f0..9dc45abf9 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ pluginManagement {
 }
 
 enableFeaturePreview('STABLE_PUBLISHING')
+enableFeaturePreview('GRADLE_METADATA')
 
 rootProject.name = 'spek'
 
@@ -29,4 +30,4 @@ if (!hasProperty("excludeIdePlugins")) {
     include 'spek-ide-plugin:intellij-base-jvm'
     include 'spek-ide-plugin:intellij-idea'
     include 'spek-ide-plugin:android-studio'
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/dsl/dsl.kt b/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/dsl/dsl.kt
index ec59d88aa..ec24249c5 100644
--- a/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/dsl/dsl.kt
+++ b/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/dsl/dsl.kt
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ interface ScopeBody {
 
 @SpekDsl
 interface TestContainer {
+    val defaultTimeout: Long
+
     @Synonym(type = SynonymType.TEST)
     @Descriptions(Description(DescriptionLocation.VALUE_PARAMETER, 0))
-    fun test(description: String, skip: Skip = Skip.No, body: TestBody.() -> Unit)
+    fun test(description: String, skip: Skip = Skip.No, timeout: Long = defaultTimeout, body: TestBody.() -> Unit)
 }
 
 @SpekDsl
diff --git a/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/style/specification/specificationStyle.kt b/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/style/specification/specificationStyle.kt
index 1f9187d81..5422eb546 100644
--- a/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/style/specification/specificationStyle.kt
+++ b/spek-dsl/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/style/specification/specificationStyle.kt
@@ -36,14 +36,14 @@ class Suite(val delegate: GroupBody) : LifecycleAware by delegate {
 
     @Synonym(SynonymType.TEST)
     @Descriptions(Description(DescriptionLocation.VALUE_PARAMETER, 0))
-    fun it(description: String, skip: Skip = Skip.No, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
-        delegate.createTest(description, skip, body)
+    fun it(description: String, skip: Skip = Skip.No, timeout: Long = delegate.defaultTimeout, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
+        delegate.createTest(description, skip, timeout, body)
     }
 
     @Synonym(SynonymType.TEST, excluded = true)
     @Descriptions(Description(DescriptionLocation.VALUE_PARAMETER, 0))
-    fun xit(description: String, reason: String = "", body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
-        delegate.createTest(description, Skip.Yes(reason), body)
+    fun xit(description: String, reason: String = "", timeout: Long = delegate.defaultTimeout, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
+        delegate.createTest(description, Skip.Yes(reason), timeout, body)
     }
 
     fun before(cb: () -> Unit) {
@@ -81,6 +81,6 @@ private fun GroupBody.createSuite(description: String, skip: Skip, body: Suite.(
     }
 }
 
-private fun GroupBody.createTest(description: String, skip: Skip, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
-    test(description, skip, body)
+private fun GroupBody.createTest(description: String, skip: Skip, timeout: Long, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
+    test(description, skip, timeout, body)
 }
diff --git a/spek-runtime/build.gradle b/spek-runtime/build.gradle
index 01f227eeb..80de179ae 100644
--- a/spek-runtime/build.gradle
+++ b/spek-runtime/build.gradle
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ kotlin {
     sourceSets {
         commonMain {
             dependencies {
-                implementation kotlin('stdlib')
                 api project(':spek-dsl')
+                implementation kotlin('stdlib')
+                implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core-common'
             }
         }
 
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ kotlin {
                 implementation kotlin('stdlib-jdk8')
                 implementation kotlin('reflect')
                 implementation 'io.github.classgraph:classgraph'
+                implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core'
             }
         }
 
@@ -49,14 +51,23 @@ kotlin {
 
         linuxMain {
             dependsOn nativeMain
+            dependencies {
+                implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core-native:1.1.1'
+            }
         }
 
         macOSMain {
             dependsOn nativeMain
+            dependencies {
+                implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core-native:1.1.1'
+            }
         }
 
         windowsMain {
             dependsOn nativeMain
+            dependencies {
+                implementation 'org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core-native:1.1.1'
+            }
         }
 
         nativeTest {
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Collectors.kt b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Collectors.kt
index 15a755b24..05e348685 100644
--- a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Collectors.kt
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Collectors.kt
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ class Collector(
     val root: GroupScopeImpl,
     private val lifecycleManager: LifecycleManager,
     private val fixtures: FixturesAdapter,
-    override val defaultCachingMode: CachingMode
+    override val defaultCachingMode: CachingMode,
+    override val defaultTimeout: Long
 ) : Root {
 
     private val ids = linkedMapOf<String, Int>()
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ class Collector(
         } else {
             defaultCachingMode
         }
-        val collector = Collector(group, lifecycleManager, fixtures, cachingMode)
+        val collector = Collector(group, lifecycleManager, fixtures, cachingMode, defaultTimeout)
         try {
             body.invoke(collector)
         } catch (e: Throwable) {
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ class Collector(
                     idFor("Group Failure"),
                     root.path.resolve("Group Failure"),
                     root,
+                    defaultTimeout,
                     {},
                     skip,
                     lifecycleManager
@@ -71,11 +73,12 @@ class Collector(
 
     }
 
-    override fun test(description: String, skip: Skip, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
+    override fun test(description: String, skip: Skip, timeout: Long, body: TestBody.() -> Unit) {
         val test = TestScopeImpl(
             idFor(description),
             root.path.resolve(description),
             root,
+            defaultTimeout,
             body,
             skip,
             lifecycleManager
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Executor.kt b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Executor.kt
index 2da04ecc3..a47c72f6b 100644
--- a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Executor.kt
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/Executor.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.spekframework.spek2.runtime
 
+import kotlinx.coroutines.*
 import org.spekframework.spek2.dsl.Skip
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.execution.ExecutionListener
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.execution.ExecutionRequest
@@ -7,13 +8,18 @@ import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.execution.ExecutionResult
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.scope.GroupScopeImpl
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.scope.ScopeImpl
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.scope.TestScopeImpl
+import kotlin.coroutines.CoroutineContext
 
-class Executor {
+class Executor: CoroutineScope {
+    private val job = Job()
+    override val coroutineContext: CoroutineContext
+        get() = Dispatchers.Default + job
 
     fun execute(request: ExecutionRequest) {
         request.executionListener.executionStart()
         request.roots.forEach { execute(it, request.executionListener) }
         request.executionListener.executionFinish()
+        job.cancel()
     }
 
     private fun execute(scope: ScopeImpl, listener: ExecutionListener) {
@@ -24,11 +30,26 @@ class Executor {
 
             val result = executeSafely {
                 try {
-                    scope.before()
-                    scope.execute()
+                    when (scope) {
+                        is GroupScopeImpl -> {
+                            scope.before()
+                            scope.getChildren().forEach { execute(it, listener) }
+                        }
+                        is TestScopeImpl -> {
+                            doRunBlocking {
+                                // this needs to be here, in K/N the event loop
+                                // is started during a runBlocking call. Calling
+                                // any builders outside that will throw an exception.
+                                val job = this@Executor.launch {
+                                    scope.before()
+                                    scope.execute()
+                                }
 
-                    if (scope is GroupScopeImpl) {
-                        scope.getChildren().forEach { execute(it, listener) }
+                                withTimeout(scope.timeout) {
+                                    job.join()
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
                     }
                 } finally {
                     scope.after()
@@ -64,3 +85,5 @@ class Executor {
             is TestScopeImpl -> listener.testIgnored(scope, reason)
         }
 }
+
+expect fun doRunBlocking(block: suspend CoroutineScope.() -> Unit)
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/SpekRuntime.kt b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/SpekRuntime.kt
index 9f982124f..6ca57967d 100644
--- a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/SpekRuntime.kt
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/SpekRuntime.kt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.lifecycle.LifecycleManager
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.scope.*
 import org.spekframework.spek2.runtime.util.ClassUtil
 
+private const val DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 10000L
 class SpekRuntime {
     fun discover(discoveryRequest: DiscoveryRequest): DiscoveryResult {
         val scopes = discoveryRequest.context.getTests()
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ class SpekRuntime {
             className
         }
         val classScope = GroupScopeImpl(ScopeId(ScopeType.Class, qualifiedName), path, null, Skip.No, lifecycleManager, false)
-        val collector = Collector(classScope, lifecycleManager, fixtures, CachingMode.TEST)
+        val collector = Collector(classScope, lifecycleManager, fixtures, CachingMode.TEST, DEFAULT_TIMEOUT)
 
         try {
             instance.root.invoke(collector)
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ class SpekRuntime {
                 ScopeId(ScopeType.Scope, "Discovery failure"),
                 path.resolve("Discovery failure"),
                 classScope,
+                DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
                 {},
                 Skip.No,
                 lifecycleManager
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/scope/Scopes.kt b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/scope/Scopes.kt
index e0bf7f759..69fa2a022 100644
--- a/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/scope/Scopes.kt
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/scope/Scopes.kt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ class TestScopeImpl(
     id: ScopeId,
     path: Path,
     override val parent: GroupScope,
+    val timeout: Long,
     private val body: TestBody.() -> Unit,
     skip: Skip,
     lifecycleManager: LifecycleManager
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/jvmMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt b/spek-runtime/src/jvmMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16d989f4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/jvmMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package org.spekframework.spek2.runtime
+
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+
+actual fun doRunBlocking(block: suspend CoroutineScope.() -> Unit) {
+    runBlocking {
+        block()
+    }
+}
diff --git a/spek-runtime/src/nativeMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt b/spek-runtime/src/nativeMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16d989f4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spek-runtime/src/nativeMain/kotlin/org/spekframework/spek2/runtime/executors.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package org.spekframework.spek2.runtime
+
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+
+actual fun doRunBlocking(block: suspend CoroutineScope.() -> Unit) {
+    runBlocking {
+        block()
+    }
+}