The Watchmaker

This game delivers on what is advertises an action adventure steampunk puzzle paltformer. If you like challenging puzzles that you will struggle to solve than you'll like a lot of what this game has to offer. The platforming is more of a side feature than a main focus but is usually incorperated into the puzzles you complete. The fights don't feel especially great but they are creative and if you can figure out what to do quickly they are quite enjoyable. At times what you need to do or how you can do it does feel a bit unintuitive. The core mechanics of the game work well and the time based abilities are fairly fun to use. The age based life system also adds a welcomed change to the classic health forumla that makes gameplay feel more fun and like you need to progress. The story itself is enjoyable to experience although its not going to knock you out of the water.

6.5 / 10
While there is a lot to like about The Watchmaker, there is also a lot wrong with it. I'm giving it a positive review because the developers have clearly put a lot of work into it and it has some really, really good aspects. Unlike many other reviewers here, going by the total time played at least, I actually completed the game. It took me 14 hours* because it is probably the most frustrating game I've ever played, but I think the good outweighs the bad, just about.
*Probably at least an hour of that time the game was running and paused as I watched a Youtube walkthrough, because the guy on the video (DL GAMER) also took a long time figuring out what to do!
GOOD:
The level design is incredible. As you can see from the screenshots, each level has its own unique style and layout. Some are really linear but others aren't and you have to work out where to go and what to do to progress.
The puzzles are really varied. As with the level design, a lot of thought has been put into the puzzles, with the solutions to most not that obvious. One genius section in particular has an obvious-when-you-see-it clue but you will be stumped until you spot it.
Tied in with the puzzles is the ability to use Time and Force in different ways to accomplish things and solve many of the puzzles throughout the game.
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. The music was also really good, adding tension and atmosphere to the game.
There are collectibles tied to achievements which encourage exploration and add to replayability.
BAD:
Immediately on launching the game there is a black screen for a couple of minutes. This could easily make you think it has crashed. A simple LOADING... would help, but I think the game needs optimising overall.
I played with keyboard and mouse as I find it difficult to coordinate camera, movement and action on a controller. The single most frustrating thing I found was that, when trying to jump from one platform to the next, you fall more often than not and there seemed to be a lag in a time-rewind getting triggered, meaning you fall and die and have to restart at the last save. In many places, the fall distance is really short too meaning you just don't have time to rewind. They could easily have let you survive short falls with some damage.
This happened a LOT (same for the Youtube walkthrough guy - check it out, his reactions are really funny!).
Some of the puzzles are not intuitive and take a while to figure out. Even when you know the solution, sometimes they just don't behave as you expect or they are a bit buggy, resetting themselves to their default state, or you fall to your death unexpectedly.
Not much to complain about with the audio except sometimes it cut out for a short while.
There are a few boss fights throughout the game. Some of the early ones seemed frustrating until you come to the last two, which make the earlier ones seem easy. The final two boss battles can take far longer than expected/needed because you have to repeatedly run round trying to figure out what to do and there isn't a lot of visual feedback to let you know if what you're doing is right or not. Weirdly, you seem to be invinciblein the final battle as there's lots of spawning enemies that leave health pickups, and nothing kills you. The looping character audio doesn't help here either (same with many earlier puzzles too). Plus, you have to wait several minutes on a device to charge each time you want to use it.
By the way, that Youtuber got really close to completing the game but gave up in the end.
There are two endings but you have to replay the entire game to see whichever one you don't select first time round.
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.
VERDICT:
One of the most important aspects of game development is implementing feedback from players because, as devs tend to become too familiar with their own game and they way they play it, they often aren't aware of the issues until after release. It's a pity the devs haven't addressed the negatives and fixed these many issues. I'm sure if they did it would lead to better reviews and more sales.
Despite the frustrating gameplay, I enjoyed The Watchmaker.

The Watchmaker:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexander lives in a small town in England called Clock Town. He is formally known by the community as The Watchmaker because he is the creator of a massive mechanical clock tower located on the outskirts of the town. The maintenance of such a structure is an exhausting task in itself, needing constant attention. Everyone needs to rest once in a while . . . but that might be a problem for Alexander. He is woken by a voice announcing/warning him that his beloved structure had been sabotaged and that time had gone totally bonkers! The only person who can repair the time and the clock tower is of course . . . the watchmaker!
The Watchmaker is Steampunk puzzle-adventure / third person platformer game where you take control of the great Alexander, better known as the Watchmaker.
As the story starts, a sparkle appears in a mechanical world accompanied by a voice in search of the main protagonist. As soon as it finds Alexander, the camera swings and you see your character in the third person perspective. Then the watchmaker will need to find a way out by using his magnetic glove, which has several properties: the first is the ability to hold and move an element (pipes, generators, etc) from one place to another, and the second is that he can blast enemies away with a pulse, or simply use his glove as a light to help him navigate through darker environments. The other thing you need to know is that the watchmaker will carry a strange device on his back. This device has an antenna on the left hand side (to represent his stamina), a number in the middle (representing his age), some sort of a light globe on the top (his health) and six blue squares on the right hand side (pulse attacks).
Then you’ll have to make your way through very beautiful worlds, of which there are five. At the time of writing this review, I am about to finish the third world, and I must say it has been a great experience so far! Alexander will fight interesting enemies, such as mechanical spiders, ancient Greeks blocks, toy figurines, stone golems and more. One aspect I particularly like is that if you manage to clear a section of a stage and reach one of the save points (which regenerates your stamina, health and pulse attacks), you won’t need to do it again, including the bosses fights.
In terms of puzzles, they are pretty interesting and well done, as far as I am concerned.
Graphically, the games looks great and are really fun to play. The big issue I have here is that the savings don’t work properly. The problem occurred for me in the second world where two Greek statues were engaged in some sort of wrestling move that joined them together, and created a bridge that allowed Alexander to access a temple. I saved it here. The first time I reloaded this specific level, both of the statues were apart, despite the fact that I had saved them joined. The second and third attempts were the same until the fourth reload, which finally replicated the original save. Personally, I found this frustrating and the issue really needs to be looked at as soon as possible. As for the controls, I personally prefer to play with the mouse and keyboard, but the gamepad is pretty good too.
Positives:
~~~~~~~

+ Great graphics
+ Good puzzles
+ Five sensational environments
+ Interesting puzzles
+ Achievements
Negatives:
~~~~~~~~
- No trading cards as yet
- Saving issues
The Watchmaker is a fun, imaginative third person / steampunk puzzle adventure game. Worth playing for sure!
6/10
Key provided by developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!
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This is game was fun. It an 8-15h game top. A lot of glitch, glitch that you will have to quit the game and cone back because just to die won’t do it. They should add an option restart from last checkpoint it mind be easier to fix some of those glitch.
Kid friendly but some puzzle may be hard for kid.
wait for a discount.

very unpolished experience a lot of things just don't have sounds, platforming feels odd, and lots of buggy behavior. too bad cause the concept is interesting, and the story seems okay its just mostly a meh meh title buy it if it goes up for a dollar or something, or if you hate yourself.

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 a story and the way it is told. There may be some points that are annoying in playing such as a terrible platform, but this does not reduce the beauty of the game

Initially I was put off by the idea of having a puzzle game built around a ticking clock, but the timer itself seems to be forgotten near instantly. The timer in question ticks at an incredibly slow rate and with so many ways of turning back the clock, I stopped noticing the number halfway through the first level. And I want to make it clear that this is no humble brag about how good I am at the game. The game throws so many checkpoints, usable items, and floating orbs at you (all of which run back the counter) that even if you play with your feet, I would be shocked if you didn’t have to walk passed them at least once.
The real issue with the game is the lack of context and feedback. Each time you press a button you have to figure out what it activates and if you have to hold it or press it. Each time you see a magnet symbol you have to figure out if it is there to push, pull, or move on top of figuring out its part to play in the given puzzle. The enemies especially confuse me, using gas attacks that cause you to take damage and cough… Except when you cough without damage or get damaged with coughing or cough without getting hit and… You get the idea.
The boss at the end of the first level was particularly confusing. Before the fight you are given a tutorial prompt on how to throw objects. The fight then starts and there are no objects to throw. There is an enemy (Who doesn’t take damage from the attack you’ve been using to exclusively deal with enemies up until this point) and there are three identical, magnetic clamps on the ground that cannot be interacted with at this time… not that you would know that as they glow to indicate that you should be able to use them. Meanwhile as you try to figure out why they won’t move, the boss routinely pushes you away and makes you cough, leading (at least myself) to the conclusion that he was interrupting the animation and I needed to try again.
As it turns out, you are supposed to beat him by doing the following:
1. Avoid going near him (where the only interactable objects are)
2. Run out the clock (as your health ticks away) while avoiding damage until he launches an explosive.
3. Pick up that explosive and launch it at him. (There may be multiple explosives, but you only need one)
4. While the boss is stunned, the magnetic clamps from before can now be interacted with. Pull them back and the platform the boss is on raises… Killing him for some reason.
The mechanics themselves are fairly standard. Avoid attacks until the weakness reveals itself, throw item back at boss, damage time, repeat two more times, victory. You have seen it before a thousand times. The issue the game not only fails to properly contextualize the actions required of you, but also, accidentally, trains you to do the exact opposite.
Here are a few things the devs could do to properly fix this issue.
1. Before the fight begins, have the door to the fight be opened by launching a nearby item at it. Forcing the player to prove they understand the skill.
2. Have pronounced and plainly visible powerlines running along the floor to the enemy. They start off unpowered, but glow once the boss is activated. These will replace the clamps (as the clamps themselves, other than being interactable, do not suggest any negative effects toward the boss.)
3. In the cutscene, have the protagonist try attacking the boss and fail to show that normal attacks will not work. (Or alternatively now a unique animation and/or a voice line for when the player attempts to attack the boss to clearly define the bosses invulnerability)
4. Have a bomb immediately launched by the boss so the protagonist can throw it back and stun them. Then immediately have protagonist use his magnetic powers to unhook one of the power lines, the line going dead and the boss reacting negatively, slapping away the protagonist with the exact move he will use should you get too close.
There, with just a small tweak to the level geometry and a few extra seconds of alternative scenes, the player now has all the information they need to fight the boss and can focus on learning and avoiding the attack patterns without having to throw life away in a bout of trial and error. Of course, this is only one solution and there are many others.
With all this stated, the game has a clear direction and obviously has talent behind it. The start is rough, but I am looking forward to future titles that might avoid this one's mistakes.