Crushed In Time is the elastic, laugh-out-loud point-and-click adventure you didn’t know you needed — sending Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson hurtling through the behind-the-scenes chaos of game development itself. From the indie studio behind the million-selling There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, this PC debut on Steam is already earning Very Positive reviews for its meta humour, inventive puzzles, and stretchy, physics-driven gameplay.
At a Glance
- Release Date: Released
- Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure / Puzzle / Indie
- Platform: PC (Steam) — iOS, Android & Nintendo Switch coming later in 2026
- Cost: $19.99 USD
- Developer/Publisher: Draw Me A Pixel
- Store Link: Get Crushed In Time on Steam →
The Story / Concept
Panic has broken out at the fictional development studio inside the game. A Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson video game has just launched — but one of its key characters has mysteriously vanished. Armed with nothing but their legendary (self-proclaimed) intellect and your helping hand, the iconic detective duo must travel across the very stages of game production itself to track down the missing NPC before the whole game falls apart. It’s a time-travel mystery set inside a game that’s fully aware it’s a game, and it revels in every meta layer of that premise.
Core Gameplay Features
1. Elastic Point-and-Click Mechanics
Forget clicking on objects — here you grab, pull, and release them like a cosmic elastic band. The stretchy physics-driven interaction model is unlike anything in traditional point-and-click games, turning every puzzle into a satisfying tactile experiment and giving the whole experience a wonderfully stress-relieving quality.
- Grab and stretch scenery, characters, and objects
- Release to trigger chain reactions and solve puzzles
- Physics feel unique and responsive throughout
2. Meta Time-Travel Storyline
The game’s central conceit — travelling through the development pipeline of the very game you’re playing — means no two chapters feel the same. You’ll move through early concept art stages, buggy pre-alpha builds, polished final assets, and everything in between, each with its own visual identity and puzzle logic.
- Explore distinct “eras” of game production as actual game levels
- Story is deeply self-referential without becoming inaccessible
- Fully voiced cast recorded by real humans (non-GMO, additive-free, as the devs put it)
3. Humour-First Design
Draw Me A Pixel treat comedy as a core mechanic, not just flavour. Sherlock’s unshakeable (and largely unfounded) confidence clashes brilliantly with Watson’s perpetual uncertainty, and the writing leans hard into absurdist meta humour. Expect surprises, fourth-wall breaks, and more than a few deliberate “bugs.”
- Dialogue packed with wit and wordplay
- Meta references that reward fans of There Is No Game
- Humour that never punches down or outstays its welcome
Who Is This For?
Crushed In Time is ideal for players who love narrative-driven adventure games with genuinely creative puzzles — especially those who appreciated There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension or titles like the Monkey Island series and Untitled Goose Game. The puzzles are accessible enough for casual players (the studio jokes they require “up to three neurons”) but the layered meta storytelling will delight seasoned adventure fans. If you enjoy games that gleefully break the fourth wall and make you feel like a co-conspirator rather than just a player, this is your next obsession.
Pro Tip
Take your time fiddling with the scenery between puzzles — not everything that stretches is part of a puzzle, but the devs built in plenty of satisfying moments just for the joy of it. If you’re stuck on a stretch-based puzzle, try going bigger: the solution usually involves pulling further than feels reasonable.
