Clocker

Clocker is a puzzle-platformer set in a frozen, time-manipulated world where players assume the role of a clockmaker wielding a magical stopwatch. The game blends action and puzzle elements in a 2D side-scrolling fantasy setting, allowing players to rewind or fast-forward time for objects and characters to solve challenges. Developed by Wild Kid Games, Clocker explores themes of estrangement and time as the protagonist navigates a surreal landscape to reunite with his daughter, using time manipulation as the core mechanic.

Clocker: A Time-Bending Puzzle of Love and Loss

Introduction: The Ticking Heart of a Forgotten Gem

In the vast, ever-expanding universe of indie games, Clocker (2019) emerges as a quiet, contemplative puzzle experience that weaves time manipulation into a poignant narrative about family, regret, and the fragile threads that bind us. Developed by the small but ambitious Chinese studio Wild Kid Games and published by indienova, Clocker is a game that defies easy categorization. It is part puzzle-platformer, part visual novel, and entirely an exploration of how time—both as a mechanic and a metaphor—shapes our lives.

At its core, Clocker is a game about a father and daughter separated by a temporal rift, each experiencing time in radically different ways. The father, a clockmaker, wields a mysterious pocket watch that freezes the world around him, allowing him to rewind and fast-forward the lives of others. His daughter, meanwhile, moves through a world where time flows normally, unaware of her father’s desperate attempts to reunite with her. The game’s dual-protagonist structure is more than a narrative gimmick; it is the foundation of its gameplay, its emotional resonance, and its philosophical underpinnings.

Yet, despite its innovative mechanics and heartfelt storytelling, Clocker remains a relatively obscure title, overshadowed by bigger indie darlings of its era. This review seeks to unpack why that is—exploring its strengths, its flaws, and its place in the broader landscape of puzzle games and interactive storytelling. Is Clocker a hidden masterpiece, or a flawed experiment that never quite fulfills its potential? Let’s wind back the clock and find out.

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Development History & Context: A Small Team’s Ambitious Vision

The Studio Behind the Watch: Wild Kid Games

Clocker is the brainchild of Wild Kid Games, a Chinese indie studio with a modest but passionate team. According to credits listed on MobyGames, the core development team consisted of just four individuals:
– Zhang Jun (Producer & Programmer)
– Gu Yu (2D & Concept Artist)
– Liu Yifan (Designer)
– Tian Cheng (Animator & 3D Artist)

This lean team structure is reflective of the indie development scene in China, where small studios often operate with limited resources but boundless creativity. Wild Kid Games’ ambition with Clocker was clear: to craft a game that merged intricate puzzle design with a deeply emotional narrative, all while experimenting with time manipulation in a way that felt fresh and meaningful.

The Gaming Landscape in 2019: A Crowded Puzzle Market

Clocker launched on February 14, 2019, a time when the indie puzzle genre was already saturated with critically acclaimed titles. Games like The Witness (2016), Return of the Obra Dinn (2018), and Baba Is You (2019) had set high bars for innovation and design. Meanwhile, time manipulation mechanics were not entirely new—Braid (2008) had popularized the concept a decade earlier, and Superhot (2016) had redefined it in the FPS space.

What Clocker brought to the table was a narrative-driven approach to time puzzles, where the mechanic wasn’t just a tool for gameplay but a metaphor for the characters’ emotional journeys. This was a risky proposition. Would players embrace a game that was as much about storytelling as it was about puzzle-solving? Or would it get lost in the shuffle of more action-oriented or mechanically complex titles?

Technological Constraints and Design Choices

Built in Unity, Clocker leveraged a mix of 2D and 3D techniques to create its distinctive visual style. The game’s art direction—hand-drawn, sketchy, and almost storybook-like—was a deliberate choice to evoke a sense of nostalgia and intimacy. However, the small team size and budget likely influenced some of the game’s technical limitations, particularly in animation fluidity and environmental interaction.

One of the most notable design challenges was balancing the dual-protagonist system. Players alternate between controlling the father (who manipulates time) and the daughter (who experiences the consequences of those manipulations). This required a complex logic framework where every NPC’s actions and reactions had to be meticulously scripted to respond to temporal changes. As we’ll explore later, this ambition sometimes led to inconsistencies in puzzle logic, a common critique in reviews.

Reception at Launch: A Mixed Bag

Clocker debuted to modest critical reception. On Metacritic, it holds no critic scores, and its user score sits at a 7.5/10 based on a handful of ratings. Steam reviews are “Mostly Positive” (79%), but the game struggled to gain widespread attention. Its Nintendo Switch port in 2021 fared similarly, with reviewers like eShopperReviews praising its premise but noting its tonal inconsistencies and occasional puzzle frustrations.

Despite this, Clocker found a niche audience—players who appreciated its emotional depth, unique art style, and innovative use of time mechanics. It was nominated for awards at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), a testament to its creative ambition, even if it didn’t achieve mainstream success.

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Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: A Story of Time, Loss, and Redemption

Plot Summary: The Fractured Timeline of a Family

Clocker opens with a tragedy: the death of the mother in a car accident, an event that shatters the relationship between the father, John, and his daughter, Alice. John, a clockmaker, buries himself in work to escape his grief, while Alice grows increasingly distant, feeling abandoned by her father’s emotional absence.

One day, John is given a mysterious pocket watch by a stranger. Later, as Alice is about to be struck by a car (echoing her mother’s fate), the watch freezes time for John, creating a temporal barrier between them. John can now manipulate time for others, rewinding and fast-forwarding their actions, while Alice moves through a world where time flows normally. The game’s central conflict revolves around John’s attempts to rewrite the past, alter the present, and reunite with his daughter before it’s too late.

Dual Protagonists: Two Sides of the Same Story

The game’s narrative is split between John and Alice, each offering a different perspective on the same events:
– John’s Sections: Played in a frozen world, where the player uses the pocket watch to manipulate NPCs and objects. These segments are puzzle-heavy, requiring the player to orchestrate chains of events to progress.
– Alice’s Sections: Played in real-time, where Alice explores the aftermath of her father’s temporal manipulations. These segments are more narrative-driven, revealing the emotional fallout of John’s actions.

This dual structure is Clocker’s greatest narrative strength. It forces players to see the consequences of their actions—not just as mechanical solutions to puzzles, but as emotional ripples that affect the characters’ lives. For example, rewinding a burglar’s timeline to unlock a door might seem like a clever puzzle solution, but it also means erasing the burglar’s redemption arc, leaving him trapped in a cycle of crime.

Themes: Time, Grief, and the Illusion of Control

Clocker is, at its heart, a meditation on grief and the human desire to undo the past. John’s ability to manipulate time is both a gift and a curse—it allows him to try to fix his mistakes, but it also highlights the futility of his efforts. No matter how much he tweaks the timeline, he cannot bring back his wife or erase the years of emotional neglect.

The game’s multiple endings further emphasize this theme. Depending on the player’s choices, John and Alice may or may not reconcile, but no ending is entirely happy. The most poignant conclusion suggests that some wounds cannot be healed by rewinding the clock—only by moving forward and accepting the past.

Characterization: Flawed but Human

John and Alice are deeply flawed characters, which makes their journey compelling:
– John is a tragic figure—a man so consumed by guilt and work that he fails to see the damage he’s causing until it’s too late. His obsession with the pocket watch mirrors his inability to let go of the past.
– Alice is resentful but hopeful, representing the younger generation’s struggle to break free from the mistakes of their parents. Her sections are quieter but no less powerful, as she pieces together her father’s actions and their consequences.

The supporting cast—townsfolk, strangers, and even animals—are more than just puzzle pieces. Each has their own mini-narrative, often tied to themes of regret, missed opportunities, and second chances. For example, one side character is a failed musician who, when rewound, can be given a chance to perform again—but only if the player chooses to intervene.

Dialogue and Writing: Poetic but Occasionally Clunky

The game’s writing is lyrical and melancholic, with a fairy-tale quality that suits its hand-drawn aesthetic. However, as noted in some reviews (and even acknowledged by the developers in itch.io comments), the English translation can be stiff at times, likely due to the team’s non-native proficiency. This occasionally pulls players out of the emotional moments, though it rarely undermines the overall impact of the story.

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Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: The Clockwork of Puzzle Design

Core Gameplay Loop: Rewinding the World

Clocker’s gameplay revolves around time manipulation puzzles, where the player (as John) must:
1. Freeze time for the entire world except one object or character.
2. Rewind or fast-forward that entity’s personal timeline to alter their actions.
3. Chain these manipulations to create a sequence of events that solves the puzzle (e.g., unlocking a door, moving an obstacle, or triggering a character’s dialogue).

The puzzles are logic-based, requiring players to think several steps ahead. For example:
– To retrieve a key from a locked room, you might need to:
1. Rewind a burglar to before he breaks in, so he opens the door for you.
2. Fast-forward a homeowner to after he’s been startled, so he doesn’t chase the burglar away.
3. Rewind a bird to fly into the open window, creating a platform to climb out.

This cause-and-effect gameplay is Clocker’s standout feature. It’s Braid meets The Legend of Zelda’s item-based puzzles, with a dash of Hitman’s environmental storytelling.

Daughter’s Sections: The Aftermath

Alice’s segments play like a walking simulator, where she explores the world after her father’s manipulations. These sections serve two purposes:
1. Narrative Payoff: Players see the consequences of their puzzle-solving, often in unexpected ways.
2. Puzzle Hints: Alice’s path can reveal clues for future puzzles, encouraging players to pay attention to environmental details.

While these sections are less interactive, they are crucial for emotional engagement, reinforcing the game’s themes of cause and consequence.

UI and Controls: Functional but Unpolished

The game’s UI is minimalist, with a radial menu for selecting objects to manipulate. Controls are simple (mostly point-and-click with some platforming), but the precision required for some puzzles can be frustrating. For example:
– Rewinding an NPC to the exact right moment can be finicky, leading to trial-and-error gameplay.
– Navigation between objects isn’t always intuitive, especially in crowded scenes.

Some players (as seen in Steam discussions) reported bugs, such as progress not saving or puzzles soft-locking, though these appear to be rare.

Innovation vs. Flaw: The Double-Edged Sword of Time Logic

Clocker’s biggest strength—its time manipulation mechanics—is also its biggest weakness. The game’s logic framework is complex but inconsistent:
– Some objects retain their state after rewinding (e.g., an unlocked door stays open).
– Others reset completely (e.g., a character’s position reverts).
– The rules aren’t always clearly communicated, leading to confusion.

This inconsistency is the root of many player frustrations. As eShopperReviews noted:

“Sometimes when you rewind things, the changes they make are undone, and other times they aren’t. You sometimes have to fiddle with things to find the solution the game wants you to discover.”

This lack of predictable logic can make puzzles feel arbitrary rather than clever, undermining the game’s otherwise strong design.

Progression and Difficulty: A Short but Sweet Journey

Clocker is a short game, with most players completing it in 2-4 hours. The puzzles start simple but ramp up in complexity, though they rarely reach the brain-melting difficulty of games like The Witness or Baba Is You.

The game’s brevity is both a blessing and a curse:
– Pros: It’s tightly paced, with no filler content. Every puzzle feels meaningful to the story.
– Cons: Just as the mechanics start to feel fully realized, the game ends. Many players (including reviewers at Geeky Hobbies) wished for more content.

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World-Building, Art & Sound: A Hand-Drawn Dream

Setting: A Town Frozen in Time

Clocker takes place in a small, unnamed town, rendered in a storybook aesthetic that blends 2D characters with 3D environments. The world feels lived-in but surreal, as if it’s trapped in a memory.

Key locations include:
– John’s Workshop: A cluttered, warm space filled with clocks and half-finished projects.
– The Town Square: Where most puzzles unfold, populated by NPCs with their own mini-stories.
– The Grey Void: A liminal space representing the temporal rift, where time itself seems to unravel.

The game’s use of color is particularly striking:
– Warm tones (oranges, yellows) represent the past and nostalgia.
– Cool tones (blues, greys) represent the present and loss.
– The Grey Void is a monochromatic limbo, symbolizing the emotional and temporal stagnation of the characters.

Art Style: A Sketchy Masterpiece

Clocker’s visuals are its most immediately striking feature. The game employs a hand-drawn, “sketchy” style that looks like a living watercolor painting. Characters are expressive but simple, with exaggerated animations that emphasize their emotions.

However, the mix of 2D and 3D can sometimes feel jarring:
– Characters are flat and cartoonish, while backgrounds are more detailed and three-dimensional.
– Some animations (especially walking cycles) feel stiff, likely due to budget constraints.

Despite these minor flaws, the art direction perfectly complements the game’s themes, making the world feel dreamlike and melancholic.

Sound Design: A Symphony of Sadness

The soundtrack is a piano-heavy, minimalist score that underscores the game’s emotional weight. Tracks like “The Watchmaker’s Lament” and “Alice’s Theme” are hauntingly beautiful, evoking a sense of longing and regret.

Sound effects are subtle but effective:
– The ticking of clocks is ever-present, reinforcing the passage of time.
– The rewinding sound (a soft, echoing whoosh) is satisfying, making the mechanic feel tactile and immersive.

Voice acting is minimal (mostly grunts and murmurs), which works in the game’s favor—it lets the music and visuals carry the emotional weight.

Atmosphere: A Quiet, Reflective Experience

Clocker is not a high-octane game. It’s a slow, meditative experience, designed to make players pause and reflect. The combination of art, music, and narrative creates an atmosphere that is:
– Melancholic but not depressing.
– Whimsical but not silly.
– Thought-provoking but not pretentious.

It’s a game that lingers in the mind, like a half-remembered dream.

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Reception & Legacy: A Cult Classic in the Making?

Critical Reception: Praise with Reservations

Clocker received modest but generally positive reviews upon release:
– Steam: 79% Positive (188 reviews).
– Metacritic: 7.5/10 (user score, no critic reviews).
– Geeky Hobbies: Called it “an innovative time manipulation puzzle game that should delight fans of the genre.”
– eShopperReviews: Praised its premise but criticized its inconsistent logic and tonal whiplash.

Common praises:
✅ Innovative time mechanics that feel fresh and meaningful.
✅ Emotional storytelling with strong themes.
✅ Gorgeous art style and evocative soundtrack.

Common criticisms:
❌ Puzzle logic can be inconsistent, leading to frustration.
❌ Too short—many wanted more content.
❌ Tonal disconnect between silly puzzles (e.g., walking on birds) and heavy themes (grief, neglect).

Commercial Performance: A Niche Success

Clocker was not a commercial blockbuster, but it found a dedicated audience:
– Steam sales were steady but not explosive.
– The Nintendo Switch port helped it reach a wider audience, though it remained overshadowed by bigger indie hits.
– It was bundled in several indie collections, helping it gain long-tail sales.

Legacy: Influencing Future Time Puzzlers?

While Clocker didn’t revolutionize the puzzle genre, it contributed to the evolution of time manipulation mechanics in indie games. Its dual-protagonist structure and narrative-driven puzzles can be seen as precursors to later games like:
– The Forgotten City (2021) – A time-loop narrative with consequence-driven puzzles.
– A Little to the Left (2022) – A puzzle game with emotional undertones.
– Immortality (2022) – A non-linear narrative where player choices reshape the story.

Clocker also proved that small teams could tackle complex themes without massive budgets, paving the way for more ambitious indie narratives.

Community & Modding: A Quiet Following

The Clocker community is small but passionate:
– Steam forums have discussions about puzzle solutions and hidden lore.
– Speedrunners have found glitches and sequence breaks (e.g., skipping puzzles via precise rewinds).
– Fan art and theories about the true ending circulate on Reddit and Discord.

While not a modding hotspot, the game’s open-ended puzzles have inspired fan-made challenge runs.

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Conclusion: A Flawed but Unforgettable Experience

Clocker is a game of contradictions:
– It is innovative but inconsistent.
– It is emotionally profound but tonally uneven.
– It is short but dense with meaning.

Yet, despite its flaws, Clocker sticks with you. It’s the kind of game that haunts your thoughts long after the credits roll, making you question your own relationship with time, regret, and family.

Final Verdict: 7.5/10 – A Hidden Gem Worth Discovering

Pros:
✔ Unique time manipulation puzzles that feel fresh and engaging.
✔ A heartfelt, melancholic story about grief and redemption.
✔ Stunning hand-drawn art and a beautiful soundtrack.
✔ Short but meaningful—no filler, just pure emotional impact.

Cons:
✖ Puzzle logic can be inconsistent, leading to frustration.
✖ Too short—leaves you wanting more.
✖ Tonal whiplash between silly mechanics and heavy themes.
✖ Occasional bugs and clunky controls.

Who Should Play It?

• Fans of puzzle games who want something narrative-driven.
• Lovers of indie storytelling who appreciate emotional depth.
• Players who enjoy time manipulation mechanics (e.g., Braid, Superhot).
• Anyone who’s ever wished they could rewind time to fix a mistake.

Who Should Skip It?

• Players who dislike slow, reflective games.
• Those who prefer action or fast-paced gameplay.
• Puzzle purists who want airtight logic (this game is more emotional than mechanical).

Final Thoughts: A Game That Deserves a Second Look

Clocker may not be a perfect game, but it is a special one. In an era where indie games often chase virality or mechanical complexity, Clocker dares to be quiet, personal, and deeply human. It’s a love letter to anyone who’s ever wanted to turn back the clock—and a reminder that some things can’t be undone.

If you’re willing to embrace its flaws, Clocker offers an experience unlike any other—a puzzle game with a heart, and a story that ticks with emotional resonance.

Final Score: 7.5/10 – “A Beautiful, Flawed Masterpiece.”

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Where to Buy:
– Steam ($4.99, often on sale)
– Nintendo Switch eShop ($4.99)
– itch.io (DRM-free)

Play It If: You want a puzzle game that feels like a poem.