As a kid, I played with my brothers’ hand-me-down Lego and Sticklebricks. My brother had a few more complicated kit-building action figures and I never tried to build them as I am just not very handy. I always appreciated the craft and this is where Mech Builder comes in. It provides the opportunity to build different mech figures using tactile controls and simple painting tools.
Each mech comes with an instruction manual showing you how to put the mech together. There will be various coloured plastic trays with pieces of mech inside them that need cutting out. This is phase one of the build – using a cutting tool to snip them out of the frame. It might be frames A and B build the head, C, D and E make the body and others make the arms and legs. You can build them in any order but you’ll do this by dragging and slotting them together. Once you’ve done that, you can add on decals by using tweezers to pick up and drop the decals onto the mech. Lastly, using a paint-by-piece brush you can paint the mech however you like. The game suggests themes but you can use an eyedropper tool to pick any shade you prefer.
The basic mechs may just be a giant head or connecting limbs and body parts together. As you progress the mechs have more intricate designs that require the designs to be slotted together and into the suits. It reminds me a little of building stained glass windows in Glass Masquerade but far more streamlined and anime-based. Once built, you can place mechs on your living room cabinet but then you can unlock two other modes. Time attack is a timed challenge mode which turns the game into a speedy puzzler. The times are sometimes quite tight and I must admit it was my least preferred mode. Mech Builder excels in letting you just build and enjoy things at your own pace. This is where Kit Bash mode comes in. Once you’ve built everything, you can then mix and match pieces to build your own mechs using whatever you like. This is freeing and creative and with no time limits holding you back, you can make all kinds of monstrosities.
Whilst narrow in scope, Mech Builder is successful because it feels so tactile. Cutting the plastic, slotting things together with satisfying clicks and really simple painting is fast, approachable and obvious. The instruction booklet for each mech is simple to understand too – Ikea take note! Occasionally you’ll need to fiddle about to connect pieces together because you might need to slot other things together first but those are few and far between. I really enjoyed the satisfying and approachable take on kit building and with over 50 to complete and style, it’ll give you plenty of hours of entertainment.
Review copy provided by the developer. Out now on Steam.
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