Crank

Good
  • Crank and power mechanics utilise a mixture of clicking and holding down your mouse
  • Includes queue up quality of life mechanics and vast player choice of which next upgrade they pursue
Bad
  • Very slow to open up its deeper mechanics and idle elements
  • Some mechanics are unclear as to the benefits they provide which causes players to focus in the wrong progression areas
7

Crank is a simple active based game of progression which revolves around holding down a crank to generate power and slowly upgrade your own power systems and computer software for new mechanics and additional progress. In classic incremental style Crank starts of slowly and builds up over time allowing players to reach new levels of upgrades and unlock additional game features within their browser.

crank-gameplay-crank-power

Similar to games like A Dark Room Crank is all about discovery of mechanics after starting with a bare bones setup of a dark screen. By turning the crank by holding down the mouse button you’ll generate the all important power resource which is a staple of your adventure and progression.

Using this power efficiently by converting it into resources such as scrap metal and turning on the computer system that you find nearby in time. The Crank always needs to be managed though and while you can store a small amount of power at a time if you don’t constantly operate the crank the rest of your production will quickly fall to a complete halt.

crank-gameplay-fabrication

Beyond your Crank for power generation players can click their mouse rapidly to generate scrap metal that is invested into the computer system. This computer system can be further upgraded as you accumulate scrap metal which enhances the speed you can upgrade your other systems through this computer.

Provided you can power the computer system with crank power you’ll be able to obtain a number of useful upgrades across other mechanics. This includes the ability to automate your scrap metal process, improve your power generation from the crank and in time research different powerful resources such batteries and antimatter that multiply mechanics further.

crank-gameplay-computer

Mechanically Crank slowly evolves and requires a mixture of resource management, discovery and a drop of mystery as you encounter new actions that propel your technology and resource management into the next age. It’s also a game about your own time management as you quickly move between your systems to reset the passive progression elements, boost them with active involvement and all while keeping the crank moving.

As Crank lacks a truly idle element from the outset players will need to expend their time to progress rather than leaving the game idle for extended lengths of time at the beginning. Crank has clearly been designed for an incremental game fan that wants to constantly have some engagement with the game while balancing the quality of life systems of queuing upgrades. While the mechanics of Crank are simple it’s a uniquely designed experience that uses an untouched theme in the incremental genre.

Summary:

  • Discover the mechanics for yourself in this incremental title that slowly unlocks a new system to optimise and upgrade.
  • Turn the crank, generate power and upgrade your systems to generate resources for further advancement..
  • Use battery and antimatter to provide passive power sources to your system.
  • Queue up upgrades to save time and allow Crank to idle in time.
  • Free to play browser title.

Links:

Review Platform: Browser

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Written by
Samuel Franklin
Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms. He has worked in the gaming industry since 2008 amassing over 3 million views on YouTube and 10 million article views on HubPages.

Games Finder is a Steam Curator and featured in the aggregate review scores data of MobyGames and Neoseeker.
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