Duskless: The Clockwork Army

I have a soft spot for the kind of small, unhurried game that knows exactly what it is and never pretends otherwise. Duskless: The Clockwork Army lands squarely in that category. It is a story-framed match-three built around a steampunk city under siege, and from the first board it makes a quiet promise: nothing here will stress you out, but there is enough warmth in the presentation to keep you company for the duration. The narrative backbone follows Hiro, chief inventor of Etherpoint City, who goes up against Professor Bazel and the mechanical army Bazel has unleashed in revenge for old slights. It is a thin premise, and the writing does not push deep into character. What the story does well is give every puzzle a reason to exist. Clearing a board feels like defending a district, not filling a quota, and that small distinction matters for the overall mood. Five chapters carry the campaign from introduction to resolution at a pace that fits the relaxed side of the genre. Mechanically, this is the familiar swap-adjacent-tiles-for-matches system, with objectives rotating between tile clears, obstacle breaks, and score thresholds to keep individual levels from blurring together. Two modes sit at the heart of the experience: Timed, which adds urgency and a faster decision rhythm, and Relaxed, which strips the clock entirely and lets you sit with the patterns. I appreciate that both exist and that neither feels like an afterthought. Power-ups, including a Hammer and a Lightning Gun that can be upgraded between stages, add a small layer of tactical choice to what would otherwise be a purely reactive loop. Earning energy through play to unlock those bonuses gives the progression a gentle heartbeat. The honest reservation is difficulty. Experienced match-three players will cruise through without hitting resistance. The challenge curve is shallow by design, targeting an audience that wants the genre's satisfying rhythm without the teeth of something like Puzzle Quest or a mobile puzzler that locks you behind a damage meter. If you are hunting for a brain-bender, this will feel too polite. One additional note for Mac users: the game is not compatible with macOS Catalina or later, which narrows the playable audience more than it should in 2025. What lingers, though, is the visual craft. The steampunk-inspired boards carry cogs, pipes, and amber light in a way that makes the grid feel like a place rather than an abstraction. The art direction is the work of a small team that cared about coherence. For a game sitting at a low price point, the polish-to-cost ratio is quietly respectable. Pick it up expecting a few calm evenings in a clockwork city, and it will deliver exactly that.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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