The clock that makes you forget the time
Planck'O'Clock is an idle/clicker game built around a vintage Nixie tube clock. The clock displays the current time, and whenever the digits form a remarkable mathematical pattern, indicator lights illuminate. Click them before they expire to earn Plancks — the game's score.
Items in the Shop are purchased with Bosons (B), a separate currency. You start with 150 B. The only way to earn more Bosons is the Legacy bonus (convert Plancks to Bosons at 50:1).
The interface mimics a piece of vintage laboratory equipment with screwed-on instrument panels, galvanometers, LED displays, and a complete power system.
| Plancks | Unlock |
|---|---|
| 15 | PlanckCounter (score display) — install from Bonus panel |
| 30 | Detection Buttons (pattern indicators) — install from Bonus panel |
| 50 | MultiPlanck unit — install from Bonus panel |
| 100 | DecaPulse unit — install from Bonus panel |
The clock reads the real time once at first power-on, then maintains it internally with a timer. Over time, the clock drifts — it gradually slows down:
The drift only progresses during inactivity. If you click anywhere in the game more than 3 times within 60 seconds, the drift level is frozen — it won't get worse.
The only way to reset the clock to the correct time is a PlanckTest. Click the START button — the test runs for 5 seconds. If the power holds for the full duration, the clock syncs to real time and drift resets to zero.
As the clock drifts, subtle anomalies start appearing on the instrument. At first they are barely noticeable — a digit flickering for a split second, a faint sound, a cryptic message in the console. The further the drift, the more frequent they become.
Beyond a certain threshold, brief spasms may occur: a single unit of the instrument glitches rapidly for a short moment before recovering.
If the VocaPlanck is installed, it announces drift milestones: drift detected, increasing, severe, and critical.
Since passive income (+1 Planck) is tied to game-clock seconds, a drifting clock means slower income. Pattern detections also shift in time. The MultiLock bonus disengages when drift exceeds 3 seconds, leaving your multiplier unprotected.
When the Detection Buttons panel is installed, the game checks every second for remarkable patterns in the time digits HH:MM:SS.
| Tier | Points | Patterns |
|---|---|---|
| Legendary | 50 | Sequence, Repdigit, Fibonacci, Pi, Euler, Phi, Root2, Root3, Tau |
| Rare | 20 | Split, Round Hour |
| Uncommon | 10 | Palindrome, Pairs, Repeat |
| Common | 5 | Diff |
| Frequent | 2-3 | Pair Seq, Same Units, Sum, All Prime (3) |
| Minimal | 1 | Prime |
Multiple patterns can trigger on the same second. Click each lit indicator before it expires (1 second, or 2 seconds with TTL Extender) to collect the points.
Catching all 15 pattern types unlocks the Legacy bonus.
Mathematical constants are detected at multiple offsets. For example:
The MultiPlanck is the primary engine for scaling your income. It multiplies all Planck gains (pattern clicks and passive income bonuses). It is driven by your streak — the count of consecutive successful clicks without a miss. The higher the streak, the higher the multiplier:
| Streak | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| 0-1 | 1x |
| 2 | 2x |
| 5 | 5x |
| 10 | 10x |
| 20 | 20x |
| 50 | 50x |
| 100 | 100x |
| 200 | 200x |
| 500 | 500x |
A miss resets the streak to the threshold of the current tier. A second miss drops you one tier (unless MultiLock is active).
When charged, the next 10 catches earn x10 bonus on top of any other multiplier. Recharge costs 10 B (automatic with DecaMatic).
When multiple indicators light up in the same second, each additional click in that round applies an increasing math-constant multiplier:
The Shop displays your Boson (B) balance at the top, with three columns: Items (visible but too expensive), Available (affordable), and Owned (purchased). All items are priced in Bosons. You start with 150 B. Owned items can be recycled for 30% of their purchase price in Bosons.
| Item | Cost (B) | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| DecaPulse x10 | 10 B | Next 10 catches get x10 bonus (consumable) |
| UnitOrder | 20 B | Drag & drop to reorganize panels — place detection buttons closer for faster clicks |
| TTL Extender | 30 B | Doubles indicator lit duration to 2s — more time to click. Magic eye tube as visual countdown |
| Manual Fan | 40 B | Hand-pumped cooling for Lepton Units — prevents thermal trips and cascades. No power draw |
| VocaPlanck | 60 B | Voice alerts (battery, thermal, overload, drift) — no need to watch the screen constantly (3W) |
| Lepton Unit +20W | 80 B | Automatic 20W power — frees you from cranking the RotaLepton |
| Prime Detection | 80 B | Toggle detection of prime numbers |
| PlanckTest | 80 B | 5-second lamp test (~107W max draw) — recalibrates clock if power holds. Essential to fix drift |
| Photon Farm +10W | 100 B | Solar panel — free daytime energy, reduces load on other producers |
| RotaLepton +100W | 150 B | Extra manual generator with battery (pre-charged) |
| Planckoscope | 150 B | Oscilloscope timeline — predicts upcoming pattern gains to help you prepare |
| One Miss Joker | 200 B | Survive one miss without losing streak (consumable) |
| Click All Joker | 200 B | One click captures all lit indicators (consumable) |
| DecaMatic | 200 B | Auto-recharge DecaPulse when empty |
| Code 39 / QR / Binary / Amharic / Roman | 250 B | Alternative clock display modes |
Bonuses are special abilities that appear in the Bonus column (left of the Shop). All are visible from the start in "Locked" state. A chime sounds when a bonus unlocks.
| Bonus | How to Unlock | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| PlanckCounter | Reach 15 Plancks | Click to install the score display |
| Detection Buttons | Reach 30 Plancks | Click to install pattern indicators |
| MultiPlanck | Reach 50 Plancks | Click to install the multiplier unit |
| DecaPulse | Reach 100 Plancks | Click to install the DecaPulse unit |
| DecaMatic | Play manually + reach max multiplier | Auto-recharges DecaPulse (costs 10 B) |
| MultiLock | Keep clock drift under 3 seconds | Prevents multiplier from dropping on miss. Disengages automatically if drift exceeds 3s (voice alert) |
| ConstantBooster | Click 3 indicators in one round | Math-constant multiplier chain (√2, φ, e, π) |
| Legacy | Catch every detection type at least once | Converts all Plancks to Bosons at 50:1 (1 Boson/second). Reusable — catch all types again to re-unlock |
Every panel in the instrument consumes electricity. Power is supplied by three types of generators:
Solar power is consumed first; remaining load is distributed equally across all other producers.
The rocker switch controls power to the entire instrument. It trips automatically if consumption exceeds available capacity. Click to re-arm after a trip.
| Unit | Base (W) | Max (W) |
|---|---|---|
| Clock | 8 | 8 |
| Indicators | 2 | 23 |
| Jokers | 1 | 3 |
| MultiPlanck | 3 | 8 |
| DecaPulse | 2 | 10 |
| Score LED | 5 | 5 |
| TTL Extender | 1 | 5 |
| Planckoscope | 5 | 12 |
| PlanckTest | 0 | 25 |
| UnitOrder | 1 | 1 |
| Main Switch | 1 | 1 |
| VocaPlanck | 1 | 3 |
| Alt. display mode | 3 | 3 |
| Full stack max | ~107 |
Unlock alternative clock display modes from the Shop (250 B each). Activate them in Settings. Only one can be active at a time.
| Icon | Action |
|---|---|
| 🤖 | AI Strategy Advisor — generates a complete prompt with game rules and your current state, to paste into an AI assistant for personalized strategy advice |
| ? | User Manual — this page |
| ▶▶ | Autoplay — auto-clicks lit indicators every 200ms |
| ⏸ | Pause — freezes the game. Penalty: -1 Planck/s |
| ⚙ | Settings — toggle tick/chime sounds, display modes, solar city |
| 💾 | Backup/Restore — export or import game state as JSON |
| ↻ | Restart — full reset (confirmation required) |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Toggle pause |
| A | Toggle autoplay |
The right-side console logs all game events with color coding:
| Color | Event Type |
|---|---|
| Green | Planck gains |
| Cyan | MultiPlanck / streak changes |
| Violet | Shop purchases / recycling |
| Red | Joker consumed (One Miss) |
| Blue | Joker consumed (Click All) |
| Orange | General events / VocaPlanck messages |
| Dark red | Missed patterns |
The game adapts automatically to mobile screens (phones and tablets, portrait and landscape):