The Clock Has Stricken Three (OK Sherlock) // Review

The Clock Has Stricken Three is a murder mystery game set in Victorian London. OK Sherlock offers premium detective experiences, packed with authentic ephemera and immersive storytelling. Get your magnifying glass ready, this is going to be a tough case to crack…

Players: 1-4 // Age: 16+ // Playtime: 2-3+ hours // Resettable: Yes

What you need: A pencil/pen and paper. The final reveal requires an internet-connected device.

Synopsis

“London’s East End. Three o’clock. A ‘gentleman’ is a rare sight in these parts, especially one who lies dead in the street, strangely dressed in women’s clothes over his own. In the days that follow, it’s discovered that he was being blackmailed. However, the letters from his blackmailer are written in code. Can you find the blackmailer and solve the case?”

First impressions

I hadn’t heard of OK Sherlock before a random online search for detective games. The company, based in Sweden, creates premium Sherlock Holmes mysteries with bespoke components and a good level of challenge. The fact that they are a small company also piqued my interest, as I find that some of the most interesting games come from independent creators.

It isn’t too often that a detective game arrives in something other than a basic envelope. The Clock Has Stricken Three is packaged in a beautiful box that gives it a premium feel. Its depiction of Victorian London shrouded in smoke managed to be both inviting and ominous. From a shipping point of view, there is nothing in this box that wouldn’t fit into an A4 envelope. This likely means additional shipping costs, but you do have the option to display the box somewhere or regift the game once you’ve finished.

Gameplay

Getting started

The introduction letter makes it clear that the game will require a whole range of reasoning skills. Deduction is often referenced for detective games, but you’ll also need to employ inductive and abductive reasoning as well. In other words, prepare to work out your brain.

I’d recommend starting with the contents list to ensure that all items are present in the box. Nothing was missing for me, but there is an email address to contact if you can’t find items from the list. Once you’ve checked the contents, you can start the case by opening the Detective’s Compendium (pictured above).

The Detective’s Compendium

Everything you need to help you solve the case is contained within the box. The Detective’s Compendium, a colour booklet, contains the premise, a character gallery, illustrations and hints. Its main purpose is to help set the tone and guide you through the case. One really helpful section is the dictionary, which demystifies some of the historical terminology used throughout the game.

The compendium also outlines your main objective, which is to investigate a murder and obtain the answer to a series of questions. Once you have correctly compiled these, you can turn to the back of the book and read the case conclusion. You’ll need to be very certain you have the right answer, as you can only accuse one suspect.

A section titled ‘Dr. Watson’s Narration’ is an optional read, but includes some key details highlighted in bold. He also indicates which order you should tackle some of the documents in to get you started. I appreciated that players are guided a little at first, before the game opens up. This allows you to get your bearings without struggling to determine where to start.

Presentation

Components in the box are entirely paper-based, and I was pleased to find that they were printed on different paper stock. Great care has been taken to make documents look as authentic as possible, which goes a long way in aiding players’ immersion in the Victorian setting. Historical accuracy is particularly key with the use of language, currency, documents, and maps. You’ll find inquest reports, a torn note, witness interviews, newspaper clippings and plenty more. One of my favourite items is the big Whitechapel map, which comes in very handy for tracking suspect movements!

A small amount of AI-generated artwork is used within the game; this is primarily in the gallery section of the Detective’s Compendium. Some of the more significant pieces, for example, scenes included in the illustrations section, feature work by a real artist.

I’d also love to see the inclusion of some non-paper elements in future games, which would easily have fit inside the box. This would also help justify the box itself and add to the premium nature of the game. As mentioned above, the box is lovely and could easily be used for other purposes once you’ve finished with the game.

Puzzles & Deduction

This experience was clearly put together by someone with a real love of mysteries, history and Sherlock Holmes. It is well-written and engaging throughout, peppered with plenty of twists and red herrings to keep you on your toes. There is only one ‘traditional’ puzzle, which takes the form of a cipher. If you love playing detective and using a range of reasoning skills, then you’ll find a lot to love here. If you purely want to solve puzzles, then this may not be for you.

Difficulty & Hints

This game is mostly analogue, with the hints found at the back of the Detective’s Compendium. These are written in the form of dialogue between characters, which reads like a ‘scene’. It is a nice way of utilising ‘in character’ exposition to convey clues, but some may prefer a more traditional tiered hint system.

I did find the game pretty challenging and didn’t manage to solve absolutely everything, which ultimately led me to accuse the wrong suspect! The thing with deduction is that it can be easy to miss minor details that could change the whole line of thinking. Reading through the final solution made me feel a little happier, as I realised that I had identified most of the clues correctly. Make sure you are really confident before you turn to the solution, as once you know the answer, you can’t unknow it and try again.

Verdict