I recently had the chance to play A Clockmaker’s Tale as part of the Handheld Heritage bundle and I am still a bit hesitant to write this review.
In this game, it’s up to you to save the world from grave danger by repairing the grand city clock. You explore a fairly large map, traveling between different clock towers. Luckily, there are plenty of signs pointing you in the right direction, but the world feels like it has missed opportunities for hidden secrets or puzzles.
Inside the clock towers, the main mechanic of the game revolves around fixing clockwork by dragging components into place. Unfortunately, it’s immediately obvious where each piece should go, so there’s little to no puzzle element. On top of that, dragging components feels slow and clunky, especially since you can’t hold the button to move them more smoothly.
After repairing all the clocks in about 10 minutes, I had already finished the game. I’m still somewhat hesitant to say this, but in its current state I can’t recommend it as a paid experience. That said, it’s genuinely impressive what has been accomplished in such a short time and the game shows so much potential. I really hope you will revisit the game to expand on this great foundation.