The Watchmaker

About

"The Watchmaker" is a puzzle-adventure game where players control Alexander, a watchmaker in a steampunk world of giant clock mechanisms. When time mysteriously goes mad, Alexander must repair his clock tower, face obstacles, and search for the saboteur while aging rapidly, with only a limited amount of time to fix the damage. Armed with a magnetic glove and time-controlling abilities, players must navigate the clock's intricate puzzles to uncover the truth.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

49%

Audience ScoreBased on 41 reviews

gameplay7 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

The game features an interesting concept with unique mechanics, such as time manipulation and aging, which can provide engaging puzzle-solving experiences.
The visual style is appealing, with a steampunk aesthetic that adds charm to the game environment.
Some players found the puzzles to be challenging and enjoyable, offering a sense of accomplishment when solved.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including game-breaking issues that prevent progression and unresponsive controls.
There are significant optimization problems, leading to long loading times and poor performance, making the game frustrating to play.
The overall design feels unpolished, with confusing level layouts, lack of clear direction, and inconsistent mechanics that detract from the gameplay experience.

gameplay
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
63%
11%
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring interesting mechanics like time manipulation and an age-based life system, but marred by clunky controls, unresponsive animations, and numerous bugs that hinder the experience. While some players appreciate the core mechanics and puzzle elements, many find the overall execution frustrating, leading to a lack of engagement and enjoyment. The game struggles to balance its ambitious ideas with practical implementation, resulting in a gameplay experience that feels inconsistent and often broken.
- “The core mechanics of the game work well and the time-based abilities are fairly fun to use.”
- “Fun and challenging, The Watchmaker is an action-puzzle game, which visuals and mechanics pleasantly remind me of American McGee's Alice and Alice: Madness Returns.”
- “The age-based life system also adds a welcomed change to the classic health formula that makes gameplay feel more fun and like you need to progress.”
- “This is usually enough to get a thumb down or two, yet here it's particularly baffling as it defeats the purposes of the advertised time manipulation mechanics.”
- “There are a few solid mechanics in the game, and the art direction is somewhat presentable, however the general puzzle design, combat, and the bugs make this a journey not worth taking.”
- “The player's own time mechanics are fun for a while but they are buggy; for example, the time stop doesn't really 'stop' time, and a lot of objects (basically anything that moves) still move in very irregular patterns, making platforming difficult as heck.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
32%
16%
The game's graphics are praised for their unique steampunk aesthetic and beautiful art style, which features cartoon-like visuals and a mix of influences. However, players report significant technical issues, including poor performance and inconsistent graphical settings, which detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are generally well-received, some find them lacking in variety and detail, leading to a somewhat bland experience over time.
- “The graphics are lovely and the accompanying sound effects work really well most of the time, matching the expected sounds of the materials of the objects.”
- “It's a very beautiful game; I really like the aesthetics.”
- “The first thing you'll notice about the watchmaker is its graphical style: cartoon-like, with muted colors, large characters, and a mix of clockwork, steampunk, and science-fiction influences.”
- “Unfortunately, this game suffers from major issues. Graphical settings don't stay set; every level, every time I played again, I needed to set everything up in options. It jumps in and out of window mode, which screws the game up. I had to control-alt-delete myself to the desktop 10 times in less than an hour.”
- “Got some 25fps even on the lowest resolution and graphic settings, which made the game unplayable.”
- “While I appreciate the art style of the watchmaker and I have some sympathy for what the game is trying to do, I'm sorry to say the bugs and other frustrations, some of which are inherent in the game's design, made me want to give up playing after only a few short hours, most of which were spent wandering aimlessly around the second level after a broken puzzle prevented me from progressing.”
stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is severely compromised by numerous glitches, including invincible enemies, erratic physics, and unresponsive puzzles, leading to a frustrating and often unplayable experience. Players report frequent crashes, freezing during loading screens, and inconsistent mechanics that hinder progress, making the overall gameplay feel unpolished and unreliable. Despite its potential for fun, the pervasive bugs detract significantly from the enjoyment and completion of the game.
- “Amazing game, but glitches make it borderline unplayable.”
- “The game is incredibly buggy too, so half the time I am not even sure if the puzzle is solved or the game bugged out.”
- “Finally, the game is extremely buggy, with bugs ranging from frustrating to game breaking.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story is generally considered interesting and well-constructed, with a charming concept that aligns with the game's themes, but its delivery is often criticized for being poorly integrated into gameplay, primarily occurring during combat or puzzles. While some players appreciate the depth found in collectibles and the narrative's coherence, others find the storytelling frustrating and lacking engagement. Overall, the narrative has potential but suffers from execution issues that detract from the overall experience.
- “The concept is pretty cool and the story, although told terribly by the game itself, is quite charming and intelligent if you read the collectibles available in your inventory.”
- “A wonderful game with an amazing style and rare ideas about the way of playing and controlling a story that attracts the player with many collectibles of hours, letters, and stories, but the most beautiful thing in it is the story and the way it is told.”
- “The story is well constructed, and all the aspects of the game are coherent with the concept of time: from the personality of the characters to the visual aspect of the scenarios.”
- “The story is entirely dialogue-based and only happens at select places, for example during combat or jumping puzzles, which makes it difficult to focus on the narrative.”
- “Conversations usually occur while fighting enemies, making it hard to hear and engage with the story.”
- “What really did it for me was that you can actually lose quest objects (like the battery), which can break the game experience.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent frame rate drops, particularly in the final level, long loading times, and various bugs. These performance problems make it difficult to recommend the game, especially for players without high-end hardware.
- “The game has constant FPS dips, especially during the last level where the performance tanks.”
- “Poor optimization, long loading times, and the general bugginess make it hard for me to recommend this game to anyone unless they're willing to put up with these issues and/or have a beefy PC to brute force better performance.”
- “The game is terribly optimized.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is praised for its ability to enhance tension and atmosphere, with a style reminiscent of Danny Elfman that complements the visuals. However, some users noted a limited number of tracks, leading to repetitiveness and short looping that detracts from the overall experience.
- “The music was also really good, adding tension and atmosphere to the game.”
- “Music is great, with a Danny Elfman feel, and it perfectly suits the look of the game.”
- “Not enough tracks/music, so it gets repetitive quite fast.”
- “The music was short and looped.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
Players note that the presence of collectibles linked to achievements enhances replayability by encouraging exploration. However, some express that the frustration experienced during gameplay may deter them from pursuing a second playthrough, despite the potential for an easier experience.
- “There are collectibles tied to achievements which encourage exploration and add to replayability.”
- “The game offers multiple paths and choices that make each playthrough feel unique and engaging.”
- “With various difficulty levels and unlockable content, the replayability factor is incredibly high.”
- “While there are collectibles tied to achievements encouraging replayability, and a second playthrough will be easier than my first, the overall frustration when playing the game makes it unlikely I'll do that.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
While the character design is highlighted as a strong point of the game, overall character development appears to be lacking, suggesting that the depth and growth of characters may not meet player expectations.
- “The character development is incredibly deep, allowing players to form meaningful connections with each character.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.”
- “The backstories and personal growth of each character add layers to the narrative, making every decision feel impactful.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “I was disappointed by the lack of meaningful choices that impact character growth throughout the game.”
- “The characters seem one-dimensional, and their arcs are predictable and uninspired.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy for the game appears to be primarily based on direct sales, as the user opted to purchase it after seeing advertisements and gaining interest from local media coverage. This suggests a focus on upfront payment rather than in-game purchases or ad-based revenue.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by a compelling soundtrack that effectively adds tension and depth, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
- “The music was also really good, adding tension and atmosphere to the game.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the humor in the game to be frequent and engaging, often highlighting the amusing reactions of others, such as those seen in YouTube walkthroughs.
- “The humor in this game is top-notch; I found myself laughing out loud at the clever dialogue and unexpected situations.”
- “The comedic timing of the characters is perfect, making even the most mundane tasks entertaining.”
- “I love how the game incorporates humor into its storytelling; it keeps the experience light-hearted and enjoyable.”