Poly Bridge Review (eCoLL77)
So what's it about?
A chill physics puzzle game where your task is to build bridges. Each level offers certain constraints (budget, materials, type of vehicles or objectives) to give you a challenge. The better you complete your task using less material (less cost), less tension on the bridge etc the higher your score. It's cool that there is an online functionality that shows your score compared to others however it's been bugged / broken for quite some time and support seems to have ended for the game.
The good
The visuals are simple but effective. I like that you have different views: one for example shows the tension on parts of your bridge so you can see where you need to make reinforcements.
The music is great - it adds so much to the chill factor.
There is a lot of freedom in achieving your goal - this means you can think out of the box and solve levels in a way the designers probably didn't intend but that's part of the fun.
The not so good
Sometimes it's not clear how to achieve the solution - it would be good to have a hint function in case you get stuck.
After level 20 or so solutions become much harder to figure out and it can be frustrating and tedious to find the right spot that allows you to complete the level. The most important thing for games is to have fun and at this point it felt more like becoming working and a drag and that's where I decided to move on.
The controls aren't really explained so I guess you have to find it out for yourself? One of the most important ones are holding shift + LMB to allow you to move the pivot points.
Bugs and glitches
I didn't experience any glitches or bugs.
The DLCs
There are no DLCs.
Summary
Polybridge is a chill physics game. At the start the challenges are pretty basic but as you progress they become harder and you need to be more precise and at times think out of the box. Sometimes this means you can solve a puzzle with a fraction of the cost and materials, other times it's really challenging to meet the objectives. It's fun though and the music is great. The game is a bit rough around the edges as in that the controls aren't explained and there is no hint function. In later levels the solutions are far fetched and I wasn't having fun anymore.
Should you buy it?
If you enjoy puzzle games then I can definitely recommend Poly Bridge. It's also a good way to learn more about physics and structures. Just be aware that the difficulty scales up rapidly to the point that you may not want to continue the game anymore.