My second worst nightmare when gaming is having to cooperate with another player. My worst nightmare is having to cooperate with another player who has no idea what they’re doing. The game “Tick Tock: A Tale for Two” combines my two worst gaming nightmares with a value gratis of realizing how intellectually incompetent I am.
“Tick Tock” is an eerie, adventure game where two players have to miserably (unless you’re the type that enjoys working with others) cooperate and solve puzzles to escape from a mystical world. The game is controlled through any two separate devices (PC, phone, tablet, and soon Nintendo Switch) but requires no Internet connection. The two players could either play in the same room or communicate through phone. All you need is a device, $5.99 to buy the game, some hours to kill, and a friend or an acquaintance to play with (that’s the hardest part).
The game is set in the 1920s and begins with you learning about a missing person from an old newspaper. As you become confused and randomly click on the screen hoping for some progress, you will hopefully solve the first puzzle and get sucked into a sinister world created by a (possibly insane and obnoxiously demanding) clockmaker. From there you will begin your depressing, hours-long torture of experiencing a mixture of bewilderment, misery, and regret.
The game consists of several different types of puzzles including graphic, textual, rhythmic, and audio cues. There are no hints or instructions throughout the game, so if you get stuck during any stage of the game, you’re on your own.
Even if you’ve figured out your side of the puzzle, you might still get stuck if your friend doesn’t understand what they’re supposed to do, which is why you should choose wisely who to invite to game — something I did not do. 15 minutes into the game, I began questioning my year-old decision to befriend this person (we met in class, but I should never have talked to her). 30 minutes into the game, I began to wonder if we were speaking the same language. 45 minutes into the game, I became clueless about what I was supposed to do, and started questioning my own existence while refusing to believe my incompetencies. An hour in, I accepted the fact that I’m a clueless potato and searched for clues online. When we finally unraveled the entire story, I was on the edge of unfriending my partner player and smashing my device.
Long story short, if you know you are competitive in games and might ruin your relationship with the other player, forget about this game. But if you want to feel like a potato or unfriend someone, go ahead and get this game. I personally think the name of this game is quite misleading because it isn’t just a tale for just any two people (or friends). If I could rename this game, I would call it: “Tick Tock: A Tale for Two Intellectuals Who Won’t Feel Inferior If They Can’t Solve the Puzzle and Won’t Fight Over a Game.”
