ClockmakersBench vs Deep Shaft
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
ClockmakersBench
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Deep Shaft
Read full descriptionHide full description
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, mythrilโฆ 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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. ClockmakersBench sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Deep Shaft asks for nothing beyond the download.
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.
| Parameter | ClockmakersBench | Deep Shaft |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days โ better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No โ better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Christian Pedersen | Luke Garbett |
In-app purchases
ClockmakersBench
- Clockmaker's Bench Lifetime$4.99
Deep Shaft
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ClockmakersBench free?
Is Deep Shaft free?
Do ClockmakersBench or Deep Shaft have ads?
Which is updated more often, ClockmakersBench or Deep Shaft?
Other comparisons















