Co-operative gaming has been getting a renaissance of late, but Tick Tock: A Tale for Two takes local co-operative and applies it to the puzzle genre in a fantastic way.
Same screen gaming has been making a massive comeback over the last few years, for PC and mobile gamers at least. Where there were historically lots of complaints about a lack of couch co-op and couch multiplayer games there are now none — so, it’s time to evolve something new. Tick Tock: A Tale for Two is something fun and something new. Each player’s world is different in a hundred tiny ways — and passing clues between each other is the only way to advance.
November’s AdventureX event wasn’t the first time that I’ve run into Other Tales Interactive’s Tick Tock: A Tale for Two. I’ve seen it at other events, although I’ve not seen people as engaged with it as I did while at the adventure-game specific event back in November. I watched as the two players efficiently pored over their respective screens, looking for clues about travel times and puzzle solutions.
They calmly passed details from one board to another — occasionally celebrating as one confirmed a solution to the other. Despite it being a co-operative, co-dependent experience, neither player was stressed. It was about as opposite to the closest games to this experience (Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and We Were Here) as could be — We Were Here‘s moody halls evoke anxiety and worry and the frantic bomb-defusal of Keep Talking and… I don’t really need to finish that sentence, do I?
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two isn’t simple, but it is calm. Almost zen-like. There is a calmness about the writing, and that same calmness persists through the game’s world due to the way the story is delivered in bitesize pieces. Even though it sends you diving into wells, spiralling through forests, creeping through abandoned shops and homes there’s never any sense of danger, just a sense of mystery.
Purchase Tick Tock: A Tale for Two on Humble Bundle!
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two is available now for PC, Nintendo Switch and select mobile devices.
