After two years in Early Access it appears that Clockwork Empires, a colony management sim from the developers behind Dungeons of Dredmor, is just about ready to be officially released. Since this is Gaslamp Games we're talking about, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that Clockwork Empires isn't your standard management sim. Sure, you'll need to actually make certain that your tiny colony survives the harsh winters and scorching summers, but you'll also need to deal with cannibalistic cults, Lovecraftian horrors, and other such spawns of madness - because living in the middle of the wilderness just isn't exciting enough!
I can already imagine the confused looks on some of your faces, so allow me to show you one of the teaser trailers for Clockwork Empires. While it won't give you an amazing idea of what the gameplay is all about, it will help you understand the bizarre world of Clockwork Empires:
If you're worried the end of Early Access means the end for Clockwork Empires, worry not as the developers have clearly stated that there is more to come: "This will, of course, not be the last update for Clockwork Empires, but we have reached the point where we feel that the important elements are all here (or will be before The Time). We will of course continue to find and fix bugs as they appear, add content and adjust the balance of the game beyond version 1.0 – while the game won’t see support forever, just like our previous title Dungeons of Dredmor, the journey doesn’t end on release."
As for whether Clockwork Empires is worth your time and money, that I can't answer given that I haven't played it, but the Early Access reviews are somewhat mixed. Most of them are praising both the presentation and the gameplay, while the development pace and overabundance of bugs represent the majority of the criticism. Given the rather ambiguous situation I would recommend waiting for Clockwork Empires to finally release on October 26th, and then checking out what people have to say about it. It pays off to be a little bit patient when it comes to Early Access titles.
