Clockwork Beads

Puzzle gamePop glass beads before the clockwork chain hits the drain

Clockwork Beads

Pop glass beads before the clockwork chain hits the drain

Leaderboard

How to play

A marble shooter set inside a clockmaker’s dial: fire glass beads from a brass gear turret into a chain that rolls toward the drain, and match three to pop them. Gaps snap shut for chain reactions across 100 levels in 10 chapters, with time-stopping springs, charms and clockwork bosses.

Aim the gear turret and shoot: on a phone drag and let go (a quick tap shoots where you tap), with a mouse point and click.
Three or more beads of one colour pop. If the beads on both sides of the gap match, the chain snaps back together and pops again.
Clear every bead before one reaches the drain. A bead in the drain costs a life and you replay the level.
Swap the bead in the barrel with the one in the hub by tapping the turret, right-clicking or pressing ↓.
Pop beads with a charm inside for powers, and fill the mainspring ring around the turret to stop time.

Controls

Mouse: point to aim, click to shoot, right-click to swap
← → or A/D aim
Space, Enter or ↑ shoots
↓, S or Shift swaps
Q and E move the turret between sockets
P or Esc to pause

On a touchscreen: Drag to aim and let go to shoot (a quick tap shoots where you tap); tap the gear turret to swap beads; tap a brass socket to move the turret.

Like Clockwork Beads?

Our reviews of the best puzzle games.

All puzzle game reviews

More games from Rankeno Play

Free, no download. One account works across all 50.

All 50 games

About Clockwork Beads

Clockwork Beads is a marble shooter (also called a chain shooter or a match-3 bead shooter) built like the inside of a pocket watch. Glass beads roll out of a brass hopper along a copper track engraved into an enamel dial, heading for a spinning escapement drain. You stand at the centre as a gear turret and fire beads into the chain: three or more of one colour pop, and when the beads on both sides of the gap share a colour the front part is pulled back with a magnetic clack and pops again, so one good shot can set off a chain of pops. The 100 levels are split into 10 chapters (Brass Workshop, Copper Works, Escapement, Bridgeworks, Twin Springs, Ironworks, Porcelain Tumblers, Gearbox, Midnight Chimes and the Grand Orrery), and each one adds something new: turret sockets, ticking chains, tracks that loop under little bridges, two chains at once, caged beads, beads that flip colour, a toothed ring that turns around your turret, chiming surges and whole tracks that slowly orbit. Every fifth level is a Golden Hour with no lives at risk, every tenth a clockwork boss, and after level 100 the endless levels mix everything at full speed.

Clockwork Beads is a Rankeno Play original that first came out in 2026. You can play it for free in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer, nothing to install, and every finished run is ranked on the Rankeno Play leaderboards with the highest level you reached beside your score.

Game facts

Category: Puzzle
Scores: Points, highest wins
Works on: Desktop and phone browsers
Made by: Rankeno

Clockwork Beads tips and strategy

Chain reactions are where the points are. Each bead is worth 10 points times its chain link, so the first snap-back pays double per bead and the next one triple, plus a bonus of 50 points per link. Before you shoot, look at what will touch once the group pops.
Keep a streak going: every shot in a row that pops something adds 10% to its own pop, up to double after 11 pops in a row. A bead that lands without a match ends the streak and also makes the chain longer, which pushes the front bead closer to the drain.
The last 15% of the track before the drain is enamelled red. The chain slows to 85% speed there, and knocking the front bead back out of it scores a CLOSE! bonus of 250 points times the chapter multiplier.
The ring around your turret is the mainspring: every popped bead winds it (times its chain link), and a full ring stops every chain for 3.5 seconds while snap-backs still work. It takes 80 on the first level and up to about 200 late on, so big chains fill it fastest.
The longer you take on a level, the faster the chain crawls (up to 80% faster after 100 seconds), and a level cleared with lots of track to spare pays 10 points per bead width of empty track plus a Swift bonus. Clearing quickly is safer and worth more.
Powers arrive in charm beads: Rewind and Governor (40% speed for 8 seconds) act at once, Tesla, Steam Bomb and Prism load into your turret as the next shot, Echo fires a twin behind each of your next 3 shots, and Magnet pulls every gap shut at once. Save a Tesla for the colour that is closest to the drain.

Clockwork Beads FAQ

How many lives do you get in Clockwork Beads?

A run starts with 3 lives, and you can bank up to 5. Each bead that reaches the drain costs one life and replays the same level with a new order of beads. Breaking a clockwork boss on every tenth level gives a life back, and the run ends when the last life is gone.

What happens on boss levels?

A clockwork automaton such as the Cuckoo or the Pendulum sits on the hopper with a ring of hit points, and its chain never runs out. Every bead you pop damages it by its chain link, so a three-bead pop on the first snap-back does 6 damage. When the ring is empty the boss breaks, the rest of the chain shatters for points and you win a life.

Is Clockwork Beads free to play?

Yes. Clockwork Beads is free on Rankeno Play and runs in your web browser, so there is nothing to download or install. You can play straight away as a guest; a free account is only needed to save scores to the leaderboards.

Can I play Clockwork Beads on my phone or tablet?

Yes. It runs in mobile and desktop browsers, and the portrait stage scales to fit your screen. On a touchscreen: drag to aim and let go to shoot (a quick tap shoots where you tap); tap the gear turret to swap beads; tap a brass socket to move the turret. On a computer: Mouse: point to aim, click to shoot, right-click to swap; ← → or A/D aim; Space, Enter or ↑ shoots; ↓, S or Shift swaps; Q and E move the turret between sockets.

How do the Clockwork Beads leaderboards work?

When you are signed in, every finished run is submitted automatically; a run you leave part-way does not count. Played as a guest? Sign in within an hour in the same browser tab and your guest scores are posted too. Boards rank one best score per player (highest points first) for Today, This week and All time, globally or among your friends. Today and This week reset at midnight UTC, and the week starts on Monday.

Clockwork Beads is an original Rankeno game. © 2026 Rankeno. All rights reserved. The game, its code, artwork, sounds and name are protected by copyright; copying, re-hosting, embedding or redistributing them is not allowed. See our Terms.