(An entry in the {unranked} Hugo “Open House” Competition. A short, eerie puzzler to save the world from… things…
Wasn’t reviewed on IFDB yet: The Hugo Clock - Details (ifdb.org))
[Edit: Also: 100th review on IFDB. Woohoow!]
What are those things outside?
Hopefully, you will never know. Instead, you run indoors and slam the door behind you.
So, you made your way into Dr.Hugo’s (yes, doctor hugo in a hugo game called “the hugo clock”…) research facility. Now for the final part of your assignment. Close the portal.
The way The Hugo Clock drops you in the middle of the story adds a meta-puzzle to the conventional puzzles of the game. Why are you here, who is Dr. Hugo, what were you running from at the start of the game?
Frequent intermezzos with two men, one calm and composed, one frantically pacing, enhance the mystery. The men are talking about your progress, doubting if you will be able to finish the task. (These intermezzos are printed in dark red, adding to the sinister mood of these little exchanges.)
The research facility of Dr. Hugo is small but well described, with a definite creepy atmosphere. There is an exhibition of bizarre artefacts and a room full of contorted skeletons of unknown animals. The main puzzle consists of finding out how to operate a strange machine in the lab. Most of the steps needed are traditional adventure fare, finding and deciphering clues and operating the machine accordingly. There is one delightful (and sad) puzzle which requires you to manipulate a cleaner-automaton into handling part of the preparations for you.
How you execute the machine-operating sequence will determine your fate, and perhaps that of the world…
Short. Not too hard, not too easy. Great fun!