From what I've played, the latest Dan and Ben adventure is all about the pleasures of conversation Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. From what I've played, the latest Dan and Ben adventure is all about the pleasures of conversation Chatterbots. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 6 Feb 2020 5 comments I've spent the week with preview code for Dan Marshall's latest, Lair of the Clockwork God. It's the new instalment in his series of Dan and Ben games, which up until now have been fairly classical adventure games. Clockwork God is different, however, because Dan has decided that indie games are the future and adventure games are history. So this means that while Ben is still playing an adventure game - collecting objects, combining them, solving puzzles - Dan is jumping around, leaping from ledge to ledge, and having indie platformer epiphanies all over the place. Cue lots of jokes and set-pieces and a great deal of cleverness. All of this is to be expected. What's really hit me, though, is how Clockwork God has such an ideal means of delivering its story and its puzzles and its action and absolutely all that jazz. Like the other Dan and Ben games, the spine of the thing is an ongoing chat between the two main characters. In other words, for the couple of hours I've played of Clockwork God, I've been pulled along by the easy pleasures of conversation. There is something to this, I reckon. Functionally it's very smart. Puzzly adventure games always need a means of giving clues out to the stupider players, such as me, and the bickering between the two leads means there's plenty of opportunity to sneak this stuff in. Then there's the fact that Ben and Dan can just generally remind the player of objectives, of things they might have forgotten, of things they might not have spotted in the environment. Watch on YouTube But there's more, I think. Clockwork God is about two characters that you switch between who are both playing very different games, so the dialogue is the perfect means to explore the differences and similarities between two design approaches. Dan can jump! Ben will never jump - but he will combine objects in his inventories. Like crafting in an indie game? Nothing like crafting! Well, kind of like crafting. And finally there's the fact that the designer Dan Marshall delights in the kinds of games that are very aware of their gameiness. With Ben and Dan firing lines back and forth there's a real sense that they're commenting on the game even as you work through it. It's like having a few friends clustered around the monitor, throwing out ideas, getting annoyed at anything that seems stupid or abstruse or too convenient. In other words, it's a bit like how I remember playing adventure games back in the day. Lots of puzzles. Lots of getting stuck. Lots of conversation. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 12 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store