Overclocked
Build it. Wire it. Drive it.
- TypeFree strategy browser game
- ControlsDrag parts onto the bench, click a part for its sheet, wire motors in the Wire tab · Drive, hold Shift for a crawl · Reverse
- Session5–15 minute sessions
- PlatformDesktop and Mobile
- PriceFree, no download
Overclocked is a robot engineering game about building something that works and paying for what does not. You start in a garage with a co-founder, a budget and an investor who matches every credit you save into the next round. On the bench you drag parts into place anywhere along the frame: light or heavy frames, street wheels, lug tyres, balloon tyres and tread pods, four sizes of motor, three batteries, posts and beams you bolt together, outriggers, counterweights, planks and a hitch. Every motor gets its own circuit on graph paper: a fuse rating, a wire gauge and a gearbox, and the numbers are real, so a fuse rated under the motor blows on a hard climb and a wire rated under the fuse burns first. The robot is a rigid body on spring contacts, so it tips, wedges, slips and stalls on its own physics rather than a script. Round 1, The Incline, is the RoboCon qualifier: haul a crate on a rope up a gravel slope without snapping the rope. Round 2, The Chasm, is the semifinal: cross a gap with a plank you lay yourself, a drawbridge you pull, or a robot long enough to span it. The Finals in Reactor Hall carry a fragile Core through rubble, under a low tunnel and across a ditch against a clock. Anything that burns is paid from the same budget, and every delivery is graded on time, money left and the condition of the machine, from D to S.
How to play
- Pick a difficulty to open the campaign, then start a job from the board. Each job has a budget shown on the receipt printer.
- Drag a frame onto the bench, then wheels, motors and a battery. Parts snap anywhere along the frame.
- Open the Wire tab and give each motor a fuse and a wire. The schematic shows which part fails first under load.
- Test in the Yard for free, then take it to the Course. The QC tags under the bench come only from runs you have actually driven.
- Drive with W and S. Burnt fuses, wires, motors and gearboxes stay on the bench, smoking, until you swap them, and the replacement is paid from the budget.
- Stop on the pad to deliver. The report card grades time against par, the budget left and every sign of stress the robot showed.
| Mouse | Drag parts onto the bench, click a part for its sheet, wire motors in the Wire tab |
|---|---|
| W / Up | Drive, hold Shift for a crawl |
| S / Down | Reverse |
| Space | Lay a plank at the edge of the Chasm |
| R | Reset the attempt |
Scoring
Each delivery is rated out of 100: time against par 35%, budget left 35%, and condition 30%, with points off for a fuse or winding that ran hot, gears near their limit, wheelspin, battery sag and parts lost. The rating is a grade from D to S and a score scaled by the difficulty and the round. Savings are matched 150% into the next round's budget.
Tips
- A fuse rated just under the motor's continuous current blows on a long climb. A fuse over its stall current never blows and the motor cooks instead.
- More gearing is more force at the wheel and less speed. If the wheels spin, the problem is grip, not power.
- The Yard is free. Burnt parts are not.
- A tall robot reaches the gold power cells hung over the course; three of them is a few seconds of OVERDRIVE with no heat.
- On the Chasm, stop at the edge before you lay the plank, and check its rated load against the robot's weight.
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About Void Arcade
Overclocked is one of the original games on Void Arcade, the world's first self-evolving online arcade, games here keep changing after release. Read how that works, or browse every free browser game.