At times, video games find creative ways to transform what seems to be a boring, tiresome, and uninteresting activity into something funny, entertaining, and worthwhile. There is, in fact, a whole subgenre dedicated to this kind of transposition, as you can pretty much find a Simulator game for every activity you can think of. From mechanics to firefighters, video games allow you to pretend to work on unique professions, with different levels of realism all around. Although not labelled as a Simulator like others, Bridge Constructor follows a similar premise, with the difference that you’re now in charge of planning and constructing bridges.
After being released on pretty much every modern platform (including mobile devices), Bridge Constructor comes to the Nintendo Switch as the Ultimate Edition. This complete package comes with all DLCs available on previous versions (Slopemania and Trains) and presents around 40 different levels in which you’ll have to build bridges of many different formats. Due to the limitations and specificities found on every single level, the process of constructing each one of these bridges will unfold almost as if they are a big puzzle to be solved.
Constructing these bridges isn’t so simple, though. On each level, you’ll have certain materials at your disposition, between wood, steel, cables, and concrete pillars. They have unique properties and applications. So, for instance, a metal bridge will be more sturdy as one made of wood. However, you can’t build as you please. You’ll have a certain limit of funds to use on each level. In order to progress through the game’s campaign, then, you’ll need to learn how to be efficient with the materials and format of your bridges. Something that the game doesn’t do a good job of showing how.
One of the biggest problems of Bridge Constructor is how the progress is entirely tailored by the player’s skill (and patience). Different than other good puzzle games, which manage to explain its rules in short steps with an ever-increasing difficult, Bridge Constructor doesn’t take much time explaining the rules behind the whole building process. Most levels start as a completely blank template for you to build your bridge in any format you want. You can create a structure based on triangular shapes. You can use a long pillar and cables. You can even ‘cheat’ in the game, creating a kind of ramp. It is up to the player to test each one of the options and learn via trial and error which one is more viable. This can become a really frustrating process, because you don’t really have much feedback on why your bridges are failing.
Once you finally start to learn the ins and outs of the bridge building, Bridge Constructor can become an interesting experience, as you can really experiment and play with its crazy physics and wonky possibilities. There are tons of replayability here, as each level can be completed with cars and trucks, if you’re up for the increased challenge. Also, this Ultimate Edition does provide plenty of additional content for your money, especially when you consider how different the Slopemania levels are (you need to connect different heights). If you’re up for a challenging puzzler that can be played in short burst, then it may be a good option. But, once again, be aware: it is entirely up to you to discover how to become a Bridge Constructor.
Bridge Constructor - Ultimate Edition £11.99
Summary
With its unusual premise, Bridge Constructor – Ultimate Edition tasks you with the ultimate challenge of creating bridges of different formats and sizes. This takes place as an obtuse and hard puzzler. One which involves more trial-and-error that you may want to deal with.