Crime O'Clock

Crime O'Clock is a combination of an adventure, puzzle and hidden object game. It was developed by an Italian indie studio Bad Seed and published by Just for Games.

Plot

Crime O'Clock puts us in the shoes of a time detective tasked with preventing crimes before they can occur. All the minor investigations we carry out turn out to be connected to a massive intrigue spanning centuries.

Mechanics

The gameplay of Crime O'Clocktakes place on large stages shown from the top-down perspective. In order to solve the forty-something available cases we must carefully examine the stages in search for anomalies to prevent crimes, ranging from burglaries and thefts to murders. The further we progress, the more we learn about the game's overarching intrigue.

The cases are set in five different eras - Steam (featuring automatons and steam-powered technology), Atlantean (dominated by a highly developed, peaceful civilization), Information (set in Milan), Lost (hiding staggering technological wonders) and Aeon (a futuristic sci-fi world). Curiously, our actions in one era affect the stages in different eras.

The work of a time detective is, as you can see, rather challenging and easy to get lost in. Fortunately the player can always count on EVE, an advanced AI providing them with clues and useful tools, helping them find clues and evidence. Progressing through the game slowly upgrades EVE with new abilities.

Technical aspects

The visuals of Crime O'Clock are simple and cartoonish. The stages are kept in a distinctive monochromatic color scheme, while the interface, highlighted objects and characters are brightly colored.