Clockwork Sword

About

Clockwork Sword is a single player action game. It was developed by Clockdrive Games and was released on April 22, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

In Clockwork Sword, you battle through a multi-tiered museum filled with corrupted automata using a highly customizable dual-sided weapon. Combining forms, elemental charges, and gear enhancements, you tailor your combat style with options ranging from flaming spears to life-stealing Gatling guns. Dynamic weapon switching lets you adapt fluidly to any challenge in this intense isometric hack and slash.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 57 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game offers a unique weapon customization system that allows players to tailor their playstyle and enjoy a variety of combat mechanics.
Despite its short length, the game provides a fun and engaging experience with smooth movement mechanics and a vibrant art style.
It's a free game that delivers enjoyable gameplay without microtransactions, making it a rare find in today's gaming landscape.

The game suffers from significant performance issues, especially during intense moments, leading to lag and unplayable frame rates.
Many players found the game to be quite basic, lacking depth in enemy variety and level design, which diminishes replayability.
Several bugs and glitches, such as broken mechanics and disappearing items, detract from the overall experience and enjoyment of the game.

gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The gameplay is characterized by smooth movement mechanics and a variety of enemy movements, though combat can feel simplistic and somewhat awkward due to a lack of necessity for close engagement. While the fast-paced, top-down action is engaging and visually appealing, some players find the aiming and weapon-switching mechanics challenging. Overall, the game offers a brief but enjoyable experience with potential for replay value, despite some stiffness in execution.
- “Smooth movement mechanics.”
- “The mechanics are simple enough to be enjoyable; it seems there's replay value as I only unlocked some of the weapons... or maybe there's more updates ahead?”
- “Awesome graphics, engaging, fast-paced, and has great gameplay.”
- “Therefore, the current gameplay can be summed up to: boot the game -> kill 3 enemies -> scratch your head -> uninstall.”
- “Clockwork Sword blends steampunk flair with fast-paced combat, but the gameplay feels a bit stiff.”
- “The biggest issue gameplay-wise is that nothing really forces you to get close to the enemies.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
Overall, the game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting poor performance even on systems that meet the recommended specifications. While some appreciate the artistic elements, they note that the game suffers from performance issues that detract from the experience, suggesting that further updates and optimizations, particularly regarding enemy mechanics, could enhance gameplay.
- “Excellent performance in art and creativity, but there is still room for improvement in content depth and game guidance.”
- “If the dev plans to keep working on the game and updating it, optimizing the enemies may be a place to start. If they can be optimized, I'd love to return to the game and beat it. From what little I got, it seemed like a fun game, and I enjoyed the modular weapon system.”
- “Good short experience; it could use some settings to lower visual clutter and solve performance issues.”
- “The performance is poor even though my PC meets the recommended specifications.”
- “Just the performance issues really ruin the game.”
- “Good short experience... could use some settings to lower both visual clutter and solve performance issues.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
43%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their unique steampunk art style and decent visuals, with beautiful scene design and smooth animations. However, some users note that the graphics can feel basic and lack customization options, and there are no graphic settings to optimize performance for lower-end PCs. Overall, while the visuals are engaging, there is room for improvement in optimization and variety.
- “The art style is very cool and consistent.”
- “Unique steampunk art style, beautiful scene design.”
- “Graphics and animations are done well and nothing feels especially out of place.”
- “It's quite basic - the store page made me think there was going to be loads of customizations, loads of options, but everything is somewhat basic. You end up falling back on whichever upgrade you have that has the most '+ damage' on it. Range is vastly superior to anything, and there are no graphic options, so if your PC is struggling, then tough luck.”
- “The graphics are underwhelming and lack detail, making the overall experience feel less immersive.”
- “The art style is inconsistent, and some textures look outdated, which detracts from the overall visual appeal.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The music in the game is highly praised for its thematic fit and quality, contributing to a rich overall experience alongside vibrant visuals and solid game design. However, some users noted issues with the music cutting out after battles, which detracted from the immersion. Overall, the soundtrack and sound design are considered well-executed.
- “Fantastic soundtrack + vibrant visuals + copious weapon upgrades + a decent amount of content already in early access makes for a very rich experience.”
- “The art is fantastic, as is the music, visual feedback, and game design.”
- “+ well-done soundtrack and sound design”
- “Other than that, I think the few things that bothered me were the way the bosses just disappear when they die, and the way that the music kept cutting out after I finished a fight.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's story is largely criticized for its absence, with many reviewers noting a lack of narrative depth, character development, and progression. While some appreciate the level design as a motivating factor for exploration, the overall consensus is that the game feels incomplete without a compelling story or engaging plot elements.
- “2010 called, they want their game design back. If it came out then, it would be an average game; there is no home base, no story, no progression.”
- “Cute Transistor clone without the plot or any voice acting.”
- “No story whatsoever; not much personality to the main character or world.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
Overall, opinions on replayability are mixed; while some players appreciate the potential for replay value due to unlockable weapons and simple mechanics, others feel that the game lacks sufficient content to encourage repeated playthroughs.
- “The mechanics are simple enough to be enjoyable; it seems there's replay value as I've only unlocked some of the weapons. Maybe there are more updates ahead?”
- “Not much replayability, even with all the modular weapon options.”
- “No replay value.”