Note: At the time of this review, the game is in early access, so information provided here may be subject to change.



Kill The Clock is a murder mystery, supernatural visual novel developed and published by Happy Slugs. You take on the role of either Raymond or Raymona Solan, and your objective is to kill a particular man. However, once you arrive at his residence, you find that someone else has beaten you to the punch. Unfortunately, the victim's wife sees you and assumes that you're the killer, so you're in quite a sticky situation. Can you exonerate yourself while figuring out the identity of the true killer and their motivations?

As for the gameplay, it has the usual choices that determine how well the MC gets along with various characters and tries to figure out the truth. Also, there is character customization in the beginning from which you can choose the MC's gender and profession: detective, journalist, athlete, salesman, or artist. Depending on the profession, the MC will have certain attribute and skill values. In addition, there is a bit of room to allocate additional numbers to attributes and skills. Throughout the story, which consists of chapters one and two at the time of this review (although there are plans for chapters three and four), you'll encounter obstacles, and after choosing from among certain stats, you can roll two dice. The total number from that roll in addition to your stat value and any luck value and/or friendship value will determine whether you meet or exceed the difficulty number that the obstacle has.

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3496947226

As for the endings, each chapter has five different endings, which mainly depends on what stats you focus on and whether you succeed or fail in catching the culprit. Steam achievements are available, and I was able to obtain all of them.


Murder mystery is one of my all time favorite story genres, so Kill The Clock caught my attention right away, especially with the supernatural time loop twist. Thanks to the awesome people at Happy Slugs, I had the chance to play this game and give my thoughts. ^^

The story captured my interest right away. It's a refreshing take to play as a character who has intentions to kill their target, but someone else beats them to the punch. Of course, the MC ends up taking the blame since they're caught at the scene of the crime by the victim's wife, Linda Meyer. Fortunately, a seemingly good samaritan, Kenneth Taylor, comes to the rescue and even helps the MC with a disguise and the idea of coming up with an alias. With so many suspects, you have no idea who to trust, and sometimes, you'll only end up with more questions than answers. As expected, the MC does eventually figure out who the killer is, but then an unexpected twist happens afterwards, and the MC wakes up on the train that they were on at the beginning of the story, which then starts chapter two. The victim is the same again, but the location, circumstances, and culprit are different. The MC remembers everything that happened before although none of the others do. Thus, the MC has to solve this crime, and they do, but you might have guessed. Another unexpected twist happens, and they end up on the train all over again, reliving the same days. I like this concept of deja vu, and by the time I got to the end of chapter two, I had a good guess as to who might be causing the time loops. However, I have yet to figure out the reason. Also, I like how in chapter two, the MC's motivations for wanting the victim dead are revealed since you have no clue in chapter one, which makes sense since the MC is more focused on exonerating themselves. The story has its good share of twists and turns and cliffhangers along with a cast of characters varying in personalities and suspicions.

As for the gameplay, I like that it has this dice rolling aspect. There's definitely RNG involved, and you may not always get favorable results. After spending quite a bit of time playing this game, I learned that certain professions are better for getting favorable outcomes, and yes, I did try out all of them. XD With saving, it's not possible to save during narrative parts of the game. I found this a bit annoying, but the narrative parts aren't too long, so it's possible to save fairly often. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to obtain all Steam achievements. It helps that the developers are on top of things and frequently working hard to iron out any technical issues, so I'm grateful. ^^

With the art, it has this gorgeous anime style with the brilliant use of colors. The sprites and backgrounds are drawn and colored very well, and I especially enjoyed looking at the CGs. I would have taken CG screenshots, but most of them are ending ones, and they're very story spoiler heavy. (It's better to experience the endings firsthand. XD)

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3496947021

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3496947411

There are also pivotal event CGs, but unfortunately, you can't see them in the CG gallery. I would have loved to see that moment again when the culprit decides to go through with the crime and whatnot.

Regarding the music, the tracks are great to listen to, varying from the investigative mood to the more chill, relaxed beat while hanging out at the Daybreaker Pub, where Kenneth works. No voice acting is present, but I don't think it's necessary to fully enjoy the story and gameplay.


Would I recommend Kill The Clock? If you are a fan of murder mystery (like I am ^^), enjoy visual novels with some RNG gameplay and stats involved, and/or want Steam achievements, then I highly recommend checking out this game. Granted, it is in early access, so more content is planned as well as fixing bugs and whatnot. However, I believe that the developers will deliver a finished game that is very enjoyable and brilliant. For the asking price, it's certainly worth getting since it'll most likely increase after the game is out of early access.

Finally, I'd like to thank Happy Slugs for the review copy. I'm very excited to hearing more news about the game, and I can't wait to play the future chapters and see how the story will end. ^^

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

Beautiful art + intriguing plot. Really enjoyed this game.

I got sent to jail immediately, would recommend!

But really- this game was everything I was hoping it was going to be and more so far! The characters are interesting and compelling, the story and mysteries are exciting even without the time loop element, and then the time loop element has me wanting to see what happens even more!! Oh, and the character sheet/dice rolling mechanic is fun too! You get a lot of choices in this game which is leading me to start a second game already. If you love murder mysteries, nancy drew games, or visual novels, you'll love Kill the Clock. I can't wait for chapters 3 and 4!!!

Update: on my second playthrough, I decided to try the combat and it's so much fun!!