Back when old people were kids, they played these things called board games. And, if you're ready for a break from exploring haunted houses and finding butterflies and shovels, you might be ready for a cool little board game in video game form: Clockwork Crokinole. It will put your twitch reflexes to the test, and it could be a winner at parties because of its multiplayer capabilities.
Back when old people were kids, they played these things called board games. And, if you're ready for a break from exploring haunted houses and finding butterflies and shovels, you might be ready for a cool little board game in video game form: Clockwork Crokinole. It will put your twitch reflexes to the test, and it could be a winner at parties because of its multiplayer capabilities.
Crokinole has been around since olden times. If you've ever played shuffleboard (and who doesn't like heaving discs on the deck of a cruise ship), you probably already have a good grasp of how Crokinole works. Heck, if you've ever played marbles, you will get it. You shoot discs at the center of a circular board, trying to get your discs to stop near the center where zones are worth more points (like a dartboard). The very center is worth 20 points, and then it goes down as you go out further: 15, 10, 5, and 0 points.
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Your opponent, meanwhile, will try to slam her disc into your disc to knock yours into a zone with lower points. You sling 8 discs back and forth (that's some furious discing!) and you add up all the points according to where discs end up in order to determine the winner.
In the real world, you have cute little sticks to shoot your discs. In the video game world, you have a power meter: hold the mouse button longer for a more powerful shot. There's also an accuracy meter that will test your timing and reflexes. If your accuracy meter is off, your disc will fly to who-knows-where.
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Clockwork Crokinole excels in presentation and in multiplayer capability. No boring wooden board here. As you can see from the screenshot, it's got a nice steampunk vibe. The music is also of the mini-epic variety so you can feel like the fate of Earth is hanging in the balance as you sling your discs.
Also appreciated is the level of customization. You can switch to an "Easy Aim" mode, which disables the accuracy meter to simplify things. You can also change up the rules of the game or the number of discs per game.
But maybe the best feature is Classic mode, where up to four players (alone or 2 vs. 2) can battle it out. You don't see multiplayer options every day in the casual game world. I strongly suggest you use a game of Clockwork Crokinole with your significant other or roommate(s) to decide who takes out the trash, does the dishes, or picks up the check at dinner. We definitely need a Crokinole chore policy around here; I'm getting pretty good at this.
