Find those items in a steampunk world.
Steampunk is a theme that has seemingly gained more attention over the years, and it’s getting bigger and bigger I think. Gaming wise, though, it’s only been hinted at with very few games fully catering to the idea of a steampunk world, which is a shame, as I’d love to see more. Now we have Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink releasing on the Xbox One after much praise on IOS and Android. Is it worth a trip on consoles?
Mysterious earthquakes rattle the land, and players are requested to investigate. Once arriving at the town of Hochwald, Dr Ink is suddenly taken away by a giant steampunk robot, and it’s up to Agent Glass to save the Dr, the town, and figure out the mystery behind it all. Since this is a combination of hidden object games and point/click, the interface and environments are the first thing that struck out at me. They are beautifully drawn and colorful. The interface is extremely easy to use with clear and big icons and items are usually easy to see in the environment, when players know what to look for.
MSRP: $9.99
Platforms: XB1, PC
Price I’d Pay: $4.99
Multiplayer: n/a
How long to beat: Four hours
Can you figure it out?
Puzzles range from being rather obscure at times to knowing just exactly what to pick up, with story beats being delivered via spoken dialog. The presentation and ideas behind this steampunk world are suitable enough, and give incentive for players to explore each location. While this isn’t a fully realized 3D game to explore, players are limited to screens that enable them to drag the icon across the environment to look at items, touch, examine, and pick up – simple yet suitable enough for the genre.
While some of the puzzles will have players pulling hair out, at least attempting to, the beauty part about this whole experience is that the developers have made a hint system to allow folks having a hard time to get visual clues and hints. Of course, doing this the entire game would absolutely defeat the purpose, but if stuck on a particular puzzle, this can make the difference between finishing the game and simply putting it down. This is an option I’d like all puzzle game to include as it gives the option to see a game to complication even if players are just simply stumped. Some puzzles are particularly harder than others, and they even allow those to be completely skipped. Just use at discretion and enjoy them as there is some really fun puzzles to be completed.
Charming and lighthearted
Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink will last players around 3 or 4 hours depending on how fast puzzles are figured out or how much abuse the hint system gets. It’s best to just get absorbed into the world they created and figure it out as best players can. It’s not the best looking game or the most elaborate of titles to keep you occupied for hours, but it’s charming and aside from the shorter length the only other issue I had with it was the silly animation for talking. Characters come off looking goofy the way they move, and I found myself laughing out loud when I shouldn’t have. That aside, if more hidden objects games are like Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink, I’d be more inclined to give them a try.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
