Stellar game!
Took me a little bit to get into it, but that was really fun. Getting everything to line up felt super satisfying. And the puzzles felt really good. I'd be stuck for a moment feeling like it was super complicated and then notice something and realize "That's what I was missing!"
At first, I really didn't like the move 1 tick at 5 on the counter. It felt awkward at first and kinda pushed me out of the experience, but after a few levels, it felt great!
My only complaint was that I don't think it was mentioned anywhere that the basic clock moves around in 6 (or that it moves 2 spots each turn). At some point I got it in my head it cycled in 8 and that caused me to get stuck for a bit.
But that was it.
Really solid game. Really enjoyed my time and I'll be throwing it at some of my other game dev friends in a minute.
(I also really liked that the last 'level' was just spam space. That was a nice little way to let the player celebrate!)
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OOF, what a review! Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that.
For the clocks, I intentionally wanted players to observe and figure out their patterns themselves—for example, noticing that the basic clock loops every 6 spaces, the angry one every 4, and the slow one every 12. I thought discovering those patterns would be part of the puzzle.
And yeah, the "move 1 tick at action 5" mechanic was definitely frustrating for a lot of people at first. But, just like you said, once it clicks, it feels really satisfying and you start building little algorithms in your head.
Thank you again, and thanks for recommending the game to your game dev friends! That really means a lot.