Clock Out

About Clock Out

Clock Out turns an office day into solitaire. Each hour four cards come up, and you deal with three of them; the fourth carries over into the next hour, and choosing which one to leave is half the game. Colleagues and deadlines cost patience, shown as a bar at the top of the screen. Coffee gives it back, but only once an hour; a second cup that hour is wasted. An excuse can absorb a hit, but it wears out: once it has covered a 9, it only covers cards below 9. Two breaks a day push the current four cards back for later, never two hours in a row.

The deck is the clock, 44 cards from 9am to 5pm. Run out of patience and the game tells you what time it was and how many cards you were from the door. Every day has a par, the best finish that deck allows, solved exactly beforehand, so no one can beat it; matching it makes a perfect day. Your best run on each day shows as a ghost on the patience bar, and a rating rises for clean days on hard decks and falls when you walk out.

Today's day is the same deck for everyone, with a streak and a result you can copy in one click. Earlier days can be played by number. The game has no sound and no timer, saves after every card and fits in a narrow window or on a phone. Its itch.io page notes that AI assisted with code and graphics.

How to play Clock Out

1. Open Clock Out and start Today's day.
2. Each hour, look at the four cards and choose three to deal with; the fourth carries into the next hour.
3. Deal with colleagues and deadlines at a cost in patience, drink coffee to win some back, and take excuses to absorb hits.
4. Use your two breaks to push a bad hand back for later, never in consecutive hours.
5. Reach 5pm with patience left, and try to match the day's par.

Screenshots

Tips

• Save coffee for an hour with a big deadline; only one cup an hour counts.
• Keep an excuse for the high cards, since covering a 9 weakens it for good.
• Think about the card you leave behind: it will still be there next hour along with three new ones.

Questions