The Watchmaker

Initially I was put off by the idea of having a puzzle game built around a ticking clock, but the timer itself seems to be forgotten near instantly. The timer in question ticks at an incredibly slow rate and with so many ways of turning back the clock, I stopped noticing the number halfway through the first level. And I want to make it clear that this is no humble brag about how good I am at the game. The game throws so many checkpoints, usable items, and floating orbs at you (all of which run back the counter) that even if you play with your feet, I would be shocked if you didn’t have to walk passed them at least once. The real issue with the game is the lack of context and feedback. Each time you press a button you have to figure out what it activates and if you have to hold it or press it. Each time you see a magnet symbol you have to figure out if it is there to push, pull, or move on top of figuring out its part to play in the given puzzle. The enemies especially confuse me, using gas attacks that cause you to take damage and cough… Except when you cough without damage or get damaged with coughing or cough without getting hit and… You get the idea. The boss at the end of the first level was particularly confusing. Before the fight you are given a tutorial prompt on how to throw objects. The fight then starts and there are no objects to throw. There is an enemy (Who doesn’t take damage from the attack you’ve been using to exclusively deal with enemies up until this point) and there are three identical, magnetic clamps on the ground that cannot be interacted with at this time… not that you would know that as they glow to indicate that you should be able to use them. Meanwhile as you try to figure out why they won’t move, the boss routinely pushes you away and makes you cough, leading (at least myself) to the conclusion that he was interrupting the animation and I needed to try again. As it turns out, you are supposed to beat him by doing the following: [spoiler]1. Avoid going near him (where the only interactable objects are) 2. Run out the clock (as your health ticks away) while avoiding damage until he launches an explosive. 3. Pick up that explosive and launch it at him. (There may be multiple explosives, but you only need one) 4. While the boss is stunned, the magnetic clamps from before can now be interacted with. Pull them back and the platform the boss is on raises… Killing him for some reason. [/spoiler] The mechanics themselves are fairly standard. Avoid attacks until the weakness reveals itself, throw item back at boss, damage time, repeat two more times, victory. You have seen it before a thousand times. The issue the game not only fails to properly contextualize the actions required of you, but also, accidentally, trains you to do the exact opposite. Here are a few things the devs could do to properly fix this issue. 1. Before the fight begins, have the door to the fight be opened by launching a nearby item at it. Forcing the player to prove they understand the skill. 2. Have pronounced and plainly visible powerlines running along the floor to the enemy. They start off unpowered, but glow once the boss is activated. These will replace the clamps (as the clamps themselves, other than being interactable, do not suggest any negative effects toward the boss.) 3. In the cutscene, have the protagonist try attacking the boss and fail to show that normal attacks will not work. (Or alternatively now a unique animation and/or a voice line for when the player attempts to attack the boss to clearly define the bosses invulnerability) 4. Have a bomb immediately launched by the boss so the protagonist can throw it back and stun them. Then immediately have protagonist use his magnetic powers to unhook one of the power lines, the line going dead and the boss reacting negatively, slapping away the protagonist with the exact move he will use should you get too close. There, with just a small tweak to the level geometry and a few extra seconds of alternative scenes, the player now has all the information they need to fight the boss and can focus on learning and avoiding the attack patterns without having to throw life away in a bout of trial and error. Of course, this is only one solution and there are many others. With all this stated, the game has a clear direction and obviously has talent behind it. The start is rough, but I am looking forward to future titles that might avoid this one's mistakes.

Llenito...de bugs.

Watchmaker，又名爷的青春回来了，简称爷春回。

Karışık bir oyun zaman geçirmek için oynanabilir.

Ist auf Zeit. Nicht zu empfehlen.

I can't recommend the game. I wanted to play it on a WIndows 10 Pc, unfortunately I can't get full screen and in the game itself there is no way to change the resolution in the settings. The game went out of full screen on every state and only took up 50% of my screen

I liked the steampunk style and the concept of aging and de-aging your character, but I don't think this game is well made. The level layouts are confusing, the controls seem finicky, and enemy behavior is not well-designed. I made it to level 2 and had to give up. I've tried to play this multiple times since I bought it, and I think I get stuck at the same spot every time and don't have to motivation to figure it out or even look up the solution.