Its like if the good parts of FixFox were turned into a proper Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes game (and yes, there are opportuinties to explode.)
You play as Wilbur, a fox* (person), who fixes stuff, huh, go figure. Where this game diverges though is that instead of being a story based game with a consistant through line, this is a Roguelite. After you take your tutorial day, Uncle Chop gives you a rent goal to meet, and you get 3 days to do it. Once rent is due, if you’re not prepared for it, then well, game over, go straight to purgatory, start a new run.
But how do you fix ships? Easy, just refer to the manual you were given right at the start. Every module has a symbol that refers to a page in the manual that you can reference to figure out how to diagnose issues, and then resolve and fix them. Things start off very simple, refuel jobs, open the flaps, unscrew the fuel cans, fill them up, screw them back in, and off she goes. It’s a relatively quick job, but it also doesn’t pay very well. Eventually you’ll stop being given them once you’re more familiar with the game. That means your early days will be filled with more lucritive jobs, like fixing the aformentioned fuel modules. Seriously, what did they do to those ships to fuck up the fuel system that badly.
This game really has a sense of joviality that doesn’t really appear in KTANE, but it still manages to maintain a level of seriousness beyond FixFox’s repair minigames. Like, the modules you work with are silly, but they all have proper documentation and some pretty complex diagnostic and repair sequences. Some fun things to look forward to
- The Rebreather module, which has you maintaining a little planet inside the ship that needs well cared for snails and trees to make oxygen, as well as the mechanical bits and bobs to collect the oxygen.
- The AI module, where you have to care for a little Tamagochi type computer critter and make sure they have the right emotion for the ship.
- The Coolant module, where you literally just create spheres of ice to use as coolant.
- The Toilet, which when you are tasked to fix it for someone, the job sheet simply reads “Unfuck the shitter.”
- The Tomfoolery module, which requires sufficient tomfoolery to count as fixed.
Of course you’re also gonna need the equipment to fix the ships, a trusty lightbulb full of cleaning fluid to fix the oil filters; A pancake stacker to create new pancake fuses for modules that need them; An oil canister that invariably will service the oil of exactly one ship before being used to fix a rebreather; and so on and so forth, like I said, this game has a really charming sense of whimsy.
All the way up until you start encountering reactors. These bastards are a fucking nightmare, generally involve making sure 3 seperate modules are all in working order, kill you if you fuck up the job, and as a bonus, the buggers can land ready to blow. Better make sure to spend lots of time studying the reactor module and learning what to do to not die. Not like dying is that bad considering it just kicks you back to day one, but still. Make sure to have a motor and can of fuel ready to refuel with, crank the coolant ice maker, and if all else fails (or if it really gets angry and ticks down super fast,) get that core out of there ASAP. I hope you didn’t have an inventory full of junk 🙂
Oh and a random event can drop a broken reactor on your head without warning 🙂
Have fun 🙂
The game has two modes of play: A high speed high stress timed mode, where you have a limited amount of time to complete as many jobs as you can, with customer happiness being tied to speed, and lower penalties for missing stuff as long as it’s not critically fucked up still; and a more methodical untimed mode (except for reactors and security modules), where the days last as long as you need them to, and customer happiness is tied to accuracy of fixes, making sure to screw everything back together properly and catching every little issue. I’ve only been playing the untimed mode as I don’t handle the stress well, and fixing ships is more of a cathartic exercise for my neurodivergent ass.
I said at the top that this is a Roguelite not a Roguelike, and thats beacuse there is some overarching metaprogression, but only some. As you play, you’ll collect omens, a secondary currency (that can’t pay rent) but does stay with you between runs, and these can be spent in the jukebox under your caravan to unlock permanent upgrades, such as a storage compartment that repairs broken stuff overnight or maintains stuff between runs, more job choices, removing refuel jobs from the choices, and so on, broadly making the runs a little bit easier.
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1849790 £16.75
Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/uncle-chops-rocket-shop “Coming Soon” at time of posting.
Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Uncle-Chop-s-Rocket-Shop-2703610.html £16.75
*Nessie: I’d say fox asterisk because he’s got 4 eyes.
Lilla: He’s got the Peppa Pig mutation.
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