Poly Bridge (PC) Review

The idea behind this title? Help vehicles on the left pass over to the other side with the aid of a bridge; a bridge that must not collapse that is. The user interface? Nice and all, but, while it's no AutoCAD or something, it could be much more user friendly with a little more effort. There is a tutorial for newcomers, of course, but it just teaches the basics, leaving the rest to personal experimentation or a little bit of scholarship on the extensive in-game manual.

It's not that the tools of the trade are hard to get the hang of, which means that most will be able to build steady bridges in no time. Unless a physics genius, though, the retry button will surely be pushed quite a lot here, since this is basically a trial-and-error sort of experience: the bridge collapsed? Some more wooden planks here, a steady metal column over there, and a few ropes, there - not to mention that the very good, minimalist, low-poly visuals, and relaxing tunes make mistakes less painful.

While labelled as a simulator, though, this is more like a puzzle game, something that becomes pretty obvious in the campaign mode, where one doesn't just have to create a functional bridge, since most levels (especially after the first chapter) offer some wackier concepts, like, for instance, the creation of ramps for the vehicles to "jump" from… and that's the simplest of examples.

That's a good thing, though. The campaign mode consists of a whopping 100+ levels, so having to only create some bridges can get very boring. The problem? This does get pretty boring way too soon - first, because there's not much variety of tools and materials to play with, and, second, because the actual process of creating the bridge is nothing else but a chore.

Despite being an - occasionally - challenging physics puzzler, however, the whole vibe that Poly Bridge gives is that of a very, very casual game; one that it's fun in tiny bursts, and no more. In fact, the best way to enjoy these short breaks from better titles, is to avoid the boring campaign altogether, design levels in the Sandbox mode, or even try out what the community has made.