Bridge Constructor Review
PROS
- Unique and challenging engineering scenarios.
- Unlocking a material does not mean it's always available; players limited to what they're given.
- 'Easy' and 'Hard' completions for those who like to fine-tune their designs.
- Able to save multiple designs for prototyping.
CONS
- Fiddly controls; too easy to slip past an anchor point - an odd design flaw considering you can't 'join' at mid-points.
- Needlessly frustrating UI; unable to drag anchors to mass reposition / can't tell what material you have until you build with or open the menu / pinch controls fail to register at times (obv. why the buttons to zoom have been added).
VERDICT
The frustration generated by Bridge Constructor is equal parts poor interface design and clever puzzle design; the two may fight against each other, but if you like your puzzles keeping within spitting distance of 'reality', this will satisfy.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
When approaching a genre that is already quite niche and well represented by a few shining titles, it behooves a new entry to bring something new to the table. Bridge Constructor by Headup Games makes its mark by challenging players to make bridges that occasionally feel less than intuitive despite the generally realistic physics applied to them.
The first major challenge you'll have to overcome is in the actual construction of the bridges themselves, with anchor points being the only place at which a new material can be joined to a structure. Along with strict length restrictions and cost limits, many creative truss solutions are off the table.
With that said, your ultimate aim is to help a pair of cars (or for those going for more points, a pair of trucks) to pass over your bridge intact in one direction. As such the player is afforded the luxury of unrealistic asymmetrical designs that almost cheat their way past the physics which are rendered clearly by each beam and cable straining through green to red before failing catastrophically.
Over the course of 30 levels you'll use wood, steel, cable and concrete in an effort to cross the many crazy spans of the island's five distinct regions. Unrealistic or not, the player is challenged to think outside the box on many occasions, so prepare to be either stumped or willing to try outlandish ideas to continue playing.
Bridge Constructor is an odd puzzler, pairing distinctly different ideologies together to create something that remains relatively fair in its challenge.
Screenshots
$0.99
