Hourglass
- October 21, 2021
- hourglass
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Hourglass" is a single-player historical platformer game with good graphics that transports you to an alternate ancient Egypt filled with advanced technologies. Your unique ability to record and replay your actions allows you to solve creative puzzles as you explore a remote temple and discover foreign worlds. The game offers a captivating adventure that challenges your problem-solving skills.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Steam Deck
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a beautiful art style and calming atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience.
- Puzzles are well-designed, providing a good balance of challenge without being overly difficult, and they encourage creative thinking.
- The time-recording mechanic is unique and adds an interesting layer to puzzle-solving, making for engaging gameplay.
- Many puzzles require precise timing, which can be frustrating and lead to repetitive gameplay loops.
- The game suffers from a lack of polish, with issues such as unskippable cutscenes and poor level design that can lead to getting stuck.
- The story is minimal and not engaging, leaving players wanting more depth and context to the gameplay.
- gameplay130 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is centered around a core time manipulation mechanic that allows players to queue actions and rewind time, creating engaging puzzles that progressively increase in difficulty. While the game is relatively short and some mechanics may feel repetitive or poorly explained, many players appreciate the clever design and visual appeal, with a mix of familiar and unique puzzle elements. Overall, it offers a solid puzzle experience, though it may not reach the heights of its genre's best titles.
“It's not that long, took me around 6 hours to complete, but the time mechanic presented is very intriguing and the thought-up puzzles are nice and test your wits in a lot of different ways!”
“Great puzzles using a fun mechanic that keeps you on your toes all the way to the end.”
“The time-clone mechanic starts off simple, gets even better as you play, then gets tricky at the end.”
“This game made me sad, sad because I didn't want to use my brain to solve the puzzles, sad because I found the puzzles frustrating and hate time mechanics, sad because I won't get those 4 hours of my life back.”
“Makes for a painful gameplay loop.”
“The game is rather short, and the levels and puzzle mechanics are quite monotonous.”
- graphics68 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising its appealing art style and aesthetics reminiscent of titles like *The Witness* and *The Talos Principle*, while others criticize the visuals as bland or janky, particularly in character animations. Many players appreciate the simplicity and cuteness of the graphics, though some note issues with brightness and contrast that hinder gameplay. Overall, the visuals are described as middle-of-the-road, with a few standout elements but lacking the depth and polish of its inspirations.
“Great indie puzzle game with great visuals and most of the time great puzzles.”
“Hourglass in general is a great game - neat puzzles that aren't too hard but also not extremely easy, beautiful art style, and a level of subtlety throughout a majority of it that really sits well with me.”
“The graphics are very appealing and the story is very engaging.”
“Bland puzzle game with janky level design, boring visuals, and comedically bad character animation/voice acting of the father.”
“But the graphics with its extreme brightness and not being able to tone down the contrast makes this one unplayable for me on both of my PCs.”
“Poor graphics and repetitive puzzles.”
- story60 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered minimal and lacking depth, often described as serviceable but not engaging, with many reviewers noting its simplicity and lack of significant twists. While some appreciate the story's role in providing context for the puzzles, others feel it detracts from the overall experience, with criticisms of plot holes and a disjointed narrative. Overall, the consensus is that the game functions well without a strong story, focusing more on puzzle mechanics than narrative depth.
“The story was very interesting and intriguing; the ambiguity of it all made it just as good.”
“The graphics are very appealing and the story is very engaging.”
“The story doesn't get in the way of the puzzles and adds a bit of flavor to the scenery with the murals and a few cutscenes.”
“The story isn’t really worth mentioning as there are only a couple of short cutscenes.”
“There is not much story, and moreover the plot is very sloppy with at least one plothole.”
“The only negative thing is the weak story; it's there but also not really, and the amount of IQ and brain cells needed further in were too much.”
- music28 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the occasional ambient tracks and thematic Egyptian music, while others criticize the overall lack of a consistent soundtrack, noting it can feel repetitive or absent during gameplay. Many players feel that the game would benefit from more background music to enhance the atmosphere, as it often relies on ambient sounds instead. Overall, while there are moments of standout music, the soundtrack is generally seen as underwhelming and sporadic.
“The atmosphere in this game is amazingly well done, with the great ambient sound/music, the lush footsteps in the sand, and the absolutely gorgeous colors and textures.”
“As a fan of ancient Egyptian mythology, I really enjoyed the puzzles, but what really sold it for me was the Egyptian music.”
“The soundtrack for this game was the best part for me; it sounded amazing.”
“You get ambient music occasionally for a few moments, but most of the time there is no music, and you just get ambient sounds from the environment.”
“There's only music during brief cut scenes which is a bit of a shame as I think it would benefit greatly from some throughout.”
“My only critique is that it can feel a bit quiet due to a lack of background music and noises while doing some puzzles.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its calm and mysterious atmosphere, which enhances the overall experience without creating a sense of urgency. The Egyptian setting complements the aesthetic, contributing to a visually appealing and immersive environment that players find enjoyable.
“The calm atmosphere is one of its strong points, and you never have the feeling of being rushed.”
“The calm atmosphere is one of its strong points, and you never really have the feeling of being rushed.”
“The atmosphere and the art style are so pretty.”
“The Egyptian setting fits well into the overall atmosphere.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is well-optimized, delivering smooth performance, though it is capped at 60 frames per second. Overall, players appreciate the solid optimization alongside an engaging storyline.
“So a very good performance there too!”
“Runs smoothly and has a great storyline.”
“Good optimization, but the game is locked at 60 frames per second.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and unengaging, as the puzzles are perceived as overly simplified and lacking in genuine challenge. Many feel that the repetitive nature of the tasks undermines their sense of accomplishment and fails to respect their time, leading to a frustrating experience.
“These puzzles are dumbed down and boring; the point seems to be to give you a false sense of accomplishment because the solutions are just tedious, not challenging.”
“Your time is not respected, since most of the solutions require tedious steps that are neither challenging nor fun to complete.”
“Makes it tedious.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been criticized for featuring puzzles that often feel more like glitches than legitimate challenges, leading to frustration when players must repeatedly execute actions despite having solved them. Additionally, the presence of graphical glitches detracts from the overall experience, suggesting a lack of polish in the game's design.
“A few later puzzles felt more like glitches than solutions – maybe indeed they were glitches and I’d solved them 'wrong' – while others required a bit of timing, which in and of itself isn’t bad, but becomes quite galling when you have to repeat your actions despite having figured it out.”
“All this puzzle design gets basically tossed in favor of creating weird graphical glitches.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users indicate that the game possesses some replay value, suggesting that it may be worth trying, particularly if available at a discounted price.
“I'd give it a shot if it's on sale; it does have some replay value.”
