Review: Assemble with Care is more than just repairing items, it’s a story about repairing people

When I saw Assemble with Care, I was pretty excited about the idea of taking things apart, fixing them, and putting them all back together. The game delivered but in an unexpected way. In some ways, it was better than I expected and, in others, it was a bit lacking.

I was surprised by the story aspect tied to the gameplay. This elevated the experience, turning it into something heartwarming. However, I wished we’d gotten more opportunity to fix things. 

Assemble with Care Gameplay and Controls

Assemble with Care is a feel-good game with an amazing story attached. You play as Maria, a repair woman who is traveling around and fixing things. Her travels take her to Bellariva where she meets two different families. 

In helping them, you’re treated to the background story of what’s going on inside these families. Fortunately, helping them repair items also helps them to repair things in their own lives. And, not unexpectedly, it’s helping you to repair something within yourself as well.

You first meet Izzy, a little girl who bids you to fix her cassette deck. That interaction will lead you to her father. Every item that you fix for them is connected to Izzy’s mother who passed away several years prior. Listening to their story and helping them repair things leaves you with a sense of leaving things better.

The second family is Carmen and Helena, a pair of sisters who have had their relationship damaged by distance. You help both sisters in two different ways; Carmen with her shop and Helena with certain sentimental items. Seeing how repairing objects of sentimental value can bring people together is a sweet notion that leaves you feeling gooey inside.

Your time in Bellariva is life-changing for everyone involved, yourself included.

The controls are a bit fiddly when it comes to the puzzles only because your mouse does two different functions and it’s hard to remember which is needed. For instance, when you want to spin an item, you click the item and spin it where you want, but you have to remember to click again to deselect it. Otherwise, it’ll spin wildly.

However, when you’re screwing in something, you click the screw and simply roll your mouse for it to screw or unscrew. If you click the screw after it’s in place like you would when you spin objects, you’ll just drop the screws entirely and need to pick them back up. 

Other than that tiny qualm, the controls work like a dream.

Art and Sound

Assemble with Care is a story given to us in a picturebook fashion. Literally. Each level is treated like a chapter where you’re given a picture and words down the side. There are even elements where you turn “pages” for the next bit.

I found the art style to be exceedingly charming and I appreciated that the storybook style of the characters was different to the art style used for repairing items.

Everything is fully voice-acted and while I enjoyed all the voices, I was particularly drawn to Maria’s. I can’t explain how comforting the narration was. I’m a big fan of Anne Hathaway and I just found something so familiar to Anne’s voice ala her Princess Bride and Ella Enchanted era.

At times, there was music that almost felt like 80’s elevator music. It wasn’t bad, but that combined with the older items that we repaired made me feel like we were playing a game pre-oughts.

Lastly, the sound design was spot on. Not only did the story-bits have atmospheric sounds to support the story, but when in puzzle mode, every little fiddly bit had a sound. It really helped to elevate the experience.  

Coziness and Cons

If you want cozy with a story, then this game is a lovely addition to your gaming library. But, if you want something where you can just zone out, then this isn’t the game for you. Easily 50% of it is being told a story and there’s no way to truly enjoy the game if you’re needing to zone out.

Most times, the puzzles are straightforward, so you don’t really get any feelings of frustration. 

I don’t have cons so much as quibbles and it’s only two. Firstly, I wish the game had been a bit longer, and secondly, I wish there had been more puzzles. So, I guess that ends up being the same thing, really. 

Verdict

Assemble with Care is a small game, I was able to finish it in about an hour and a half, so you may want to consider that when you decide to buy it. And if you’re not a fan of visual novels, you might find this pacing too slow.

Personally, I hadn’t expected it to be so much story, but by the second puzzle, I was invested.

If you need a smaller game, this is a perfect bite-sized option to relax with. If you want to play Assemble with Care, you can get it for $7.99 on their Steam page.