Comparison

ClockmakersBench vs Deep Shaft

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ClockmakersBench

Features
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Pull up a stool at the Clockmaker's Bench. This is a calm, hands-on idle game about the slow craft of horology โ€” winding escapements, seating gears into half-built pocket watches, and listening to a whole shelf of finished mechanisms tick away. Start with a bare bench. Tap to wind the mainspring; each turn seats another gear into the movement on your workbench. Finish a watch and place it on the ticking shelf, where it runs on its own and earns coin tick after tick โ€” even while the app is closed. As coin flows in, master finer movements. Unlock the moonphase, then the chronograph, the gravity-defying tourbillon, and finally the perpetual calendar โ€” each grade more intricate, more valuable, and more beautiful on the shelf than the last. Patrons come calling, too. Accept a commission and one of your finished watches auto-ships to its owner overnight, paying coin plus patina โ€” a prestige currency you spend on permanent polish that lifts your whole workshop. What you'll do: - Tap to wind and watch gears click into place - Fill a ticking shelf that earns coin passively, even offline - Unlock five complication grades, from time-only to perpetual calendar - Fulfil patron commissions for coin and patina - Upgrade your winding power, automatic winder, shelf, and commission slots - Polish your workshop with patina for a permanent yield bonus Clockmaker's Bench is free to play and supported by occasional ads. You can watch an optional short video for a 30-minute taste of doubled yield, or unlock Master Horologist once to remove ads, double all coin and patina forever, and add two extra commission slots. No subscription โ€” a single purchase, restorable on any device. No timers nagging you, no fail states, no rush. Just the quiet satisfaction of a well-built mechanism and a shelf that keeps on ticking. Pull up a stool and start winding.

About

Deep Shaft

Features
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Sink the shaft. Strike it rich. Deep Shaft is a satisfying idle mining tycoon. Work the rock face by hand, then hire Foremen to automate every level while you dig deeper and deeper โ€” from the dirt at 100m, down past the Core, into endless procedurally-generated depths. DIG, AUTOMATE, GET RICH - Tap to mine by hand, or buy a Foreman to run each level automatically - The elevator rides the shaft, collecting full ore carts and hauling them up to the Refinery to cash in - Level up each seam for faster mining, richer ore, and bigger loads GO DEEPER โ€” FOREVER - Breach sealed bulkheads to open the next 100m: dirt, stone, iron, silver, gold, gems, diamond, mythrilโ€ฆ and keep going past the Core DEEP RESET & THE FOUNDRY - Deep Reset to mint prestige Bedrock Cores, then spend them in The Foundry on permanent upgrades that boost every run - Boost the Hoist to carry more and the Refinery to sell for more - Crack open crates for permanent gear, and keep earning with offline income COMPETE EACH WEEK - Climb the weekly Game Center leaderboard โ€” the week's Top Earners win Geodes CLEAN, HANDCRAFTED PIXELS - Cohesive 16-bit pixel art, from the headframe to the deepest void rock - New to mining? A short guided first dig shows you the ropes (replay it anytime) - Cloud backup: reinstall on the same iPhone and your mine comes back automatically - Plays fully offline โ€” no account, no sign-up How deep can you dig?

Screenshots

ClockmakersBench4 screens
Deep Shaft4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Deep Shaft at none against ClockmakersBench's 1. Deep Shaft also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). ClockmakersBench's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. ClockmakersBench sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Deep Shaft asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ClockmakersBench ships an update every 5 days, Deep Shaft every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
ClockmakersBench versus Deep Shaft: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClockmakersBenchDeep Shaft
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days โ€” betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.015.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size4 MB53 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperChristian PedersenLuke Garbett

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ClockmakersBench

One-time1
  • Clockmaker's Bench Lifetime$4.99
None

Deep Shaft

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ClockmakersBench free?
ClockmakersBench is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Deep Shaft free?
Deep Shaft is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ClockmakersBench or Deep Shaft have ads?
Both ClockmakersBench and Deep Shaft show ads.
Which is updated more often, ClockmakersBench or Deep Shaft?
ClockmakersBench ships an update every 5 days, and Deep Shaft every 2 weeks. Most recently, ClockmakersBench was updated on October 28, 2026 and Deep Shaft on October 29, 2026.

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