‘Starstruck: Hands of Time’ – Music & Destruction in Stunning Lands

Starstruck: Hands of Time fights battles by playing guitar and overcomes obstacles by making giant hands flatten towns.

An unpleasant fate is heading towards Dawn and Edwin’s town. Bad things tend to happen when artists feel unappreciated in this world, and this destructive force is a doozy. To turn the tide, you’ll need to battle some comical, yet sinister, forces in the world. But since you’re musicians, the easiest way to do that is to play some good guitar tunes for everyone. So, bust out your old Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars (or just use a regular keyboard or controller – the game isn’t picky) and get ready to save the world with your art.

While your musical talents can get you out of a lot of trouble, sometimes the world just puts too many obstacles in your way. This is when it’s also helpful to have help from a giant hand that can flatten buildings. I feel like people become more respectful of your musical talents when they’re afraid of being bashed by a hammer the size of a house, don’t you? During certain moments in the game when the gang gets stuck, they get help from a huge hand that just needs to cause as much damage as possible in a brief period. While I enjoyed the musical action, THIS is what I loved about the game.

Starstruck: Hands of Time sticks you in these home-made landscapes when it’s time to trash things with the hand, and they remind me of all of the little craft projects I did as a kid. As the aftermath when me and my brother would wreck them while playing. It captures this kind of chaotic, childish destructive energy that feels both charming and extremely calming as you just tear things up and watch them fall into broken popsicle sticks and cardboard.

Starstruck: Hands of Time takes you in all manner of directions with musical and destrctive gameplay while continually impressing with its vibrant handcrafted world. It feels like it’s endlessly surprising me with its tone, feel, looks, and play, and is therefore something well worth picking up just to experience everything it throws at you.

Starstruck: Hands of Time is available now on Steam.

About The Author

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.