Doctor Who: Worlds in Time

One thing everyone knows about me is that I am a sucker for all things Doctor Who. So when I saw Doctor Who: Worlds in Time advertised on the side of my Facebook, one of the very few ads actually relevant to my life, I immediately clicked the link and began my journey with the Doctor.

The game is cute. You get to choose the kind of character you are, including some facial features, though you do not get a say in your starting outfit, since everyone begins in their pyjamas. It stars a cartoon version of Matt Smith as the Doctor and is littered with little touches bound to make Whovians giggle. The basic premise is that you solve puzzles throughout the universe and collect “shards” to help save the world. You get your own sonic screwdriver, which you can kit out with fancy upgrades to help solve those puzzles, and your own room aboard the TARDIS to decorate however you like.

For the most part the puzzles are not difficult. There is a brief explanation of each type the first time you meet it, and again as the game layers on harder features. If you are like me and get impatient reading instructions, you may lose a few rounds before you get the hang of a new one. My one real negative is that the puzzles get genuinely repetitive, and because of that this is not a game I can sit with for a long stretch. I almost gave up when I finally hit a level where they got harder, so if Tetris-style puzzles come easily to you, you may find yourself bored well before then.

What rescues it is the company. I very much enjoy the multiplayer side: you can form guilds with friends, or flip your settings to public and play with strangers. Working through the puzzles is far more fun when there are other people around to make Whovian jokes and freak out about the Autons with. It turns a fairly simple puzzle grind into something social, and that social layer is where a lot of the charm lives. Also, you get to fight Daleks. And wear a fez. For a fan, those small thrills carry a surprising amount of weight, and the steady drip of recognisable references, the screwdriver upgrades, the TARDIS decorating, kept me clicking back in long after the puzzles themselves had stopped surprising me.

For someone who is, frankly, bad at games, Worlds in Time is a great way to get some practice. The missions are simple and straightforward, you do not need much skill to keep levelling up, and money for new clothes comes easily. If you are not a Doctor Who fan there probably is not much point here, the puzzle design alone will not hold you. But for me, even with all the repetition, I cannot help wanting to go back and hang out with the Doctor.