Clockwork Empires gets a major update in Midnight Defence At SkullSwamp Arsenal

The intensely weird Clockwork Empires, a strategy game about building and managing a steampunk colonial outpost in a strange land infested with Cthulhu-esque monsters, has received another substantial update.The changelog is so big it actually won't fit in the official Steam announcement, but highlights include a new building module placement system, control over which workcrew works in a workshop, an ammunition system, and the ability to cook stew without having to watch the pot.

I'm not really sure how that last point fits the "major gameplay changes" list, but there it is nonetheless. The bulk of the Midnight Defence at Skulllswamp Arsenal update is actually in fixes and tweaks, and on that front there's an awful lot to look at. I really enjoy how some many of them provide insight into the bizarre nature of Clockwork Empires: "Buried corpses will no longer upset people" is one fix, as is, "Colonists will no longer have conversations with cultist murderers." In the "tweaks" department, meanwhile, there's "Spruced up death descriptions," and what may well be my favorite, "Made upsetting things in general slightly more maddening."

"This month we've focused less on big showy things and more on the player experience," developer Gaslamp Games wrote in the October update notes. "We've made existing gameplay smoother, fixed as many little broken things as possible, and have otherwise started putting together the infrastructure for really getting the game economy working." The update will allow "much stronger economic gameplay" to be implemented next month, it added.

Clockwork Empires is available now through Steam Early Access. Gaslamp also revealed that Mac and Linux-compatible versions of the game will be released by the end of October.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.