Clockwiser

Title           Clockwiser
Game Type	Puzzler
Players		1
Compatibility	All Amigas
HD Installable  No
Company		Team Hoi
Submission      Seppo Typpö (groucho@pp.inet.fi) Profiled Reviewer

Review
Puzzle games. Brain benders. Love them or hate them, they offer a
refreshingly different challenge to Deathly Fighter XVIII. No need to
learn the gazillion joystick move combinations and secret moves, or be
able to dodge the streams of bullets while dealing out death from the
barrels of your minigun. Just sit down, engage your brain and think your
way through the levels.

Amiga has always had wonderful puzzle games like Lemmings, E-Motion,
Werner Flashbier, Tetris and others. Clockwiser offers an original approach
to the genre - each level consists of two screens and the player has to
modify one in order to make it a mirror image of the other. The objects in
each screen are manipulated by rotating them clockwise or
counter-clockwise - hence the game's name, Clockwiser. There are several
special blocks which can be used to accomplish the tasks on each level -
like bombs which explode and destroy other blocks, anti-gravity blocks
which allow objects to defy gravity and diamonds which, when falling to
the ground, multiply and change other blocks into diamonds.

The levels ranges from simple to devious ones - each one has a time limit
which adds tension to the proceedings. The time limit also acts as a hint
- if you have only few seconds to complete the level then you have to
think for a solution of one or two moves. If you have ten minutes for a
level, then the solution is usually something which requires several
phases to achieve.

The various puzzles require different techniques from the player - in some
levels you must destroy everything with limited resources and in some
levels you have to duplicate a certain pattern of objects while getting
rid of unnecessary parts. Learning to use the special blocks in various
ways is vital for success - for example bombs can be used for carrying
objects as well as the demolition.

Like in all puzzlers, the difficulty level in Clockwiser rises as the
player progresses through the 100 levels that the game possesses.
Cleverly, the designers of the game and its puzzles decided to put some
easier puzzles even in the higher difficulty levels - which act as a
relief between the real brain crackers. One of the finer features of the
game is the ability to investigate and plan the level strategy before the
first move (which triggers the countdown clock). Each level has a password
which means the player can always continue from the first uncompleted
level.

Playing Clockwiser is simple, there are only a few icons to learn (rotate
counter-clockwise, rotate clockwise, restart and quit). The amount of
variation this simple control method allows is amazing - after playing the
games for 98 levels I am still learning new tricks for manipulating the
blocks with just the two rotate commands. The "Easy to learn - difficult
to master" slogan certainly fits Clockwiser - making it one of the most
addictive games I have ever played. A quick game can easily change into a
marathon session, and I strongly advice against playing this game just
before bed-time since you could easily lose a few hours sleep while
trying to complete 'just one more level'.

I really cannot recommend Clockwiser strongly enough - it is one of the
true Amiga classic puzzlers - a combination of high quality presentation
and highly addictive gameplay. Another landmark game for Team Hoi, and a
must for any Amiga gamer with even the slightest interest in some brain
teasing action.

Alphabetical list.