Looking up the information for this article was the first time that I realised Assemble With Care is by developer ustwo games, the same people who made Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2. These are charming mobile puzzle games, that you need to solve through twisting geometry, which I love very much, and very similar in vibe to Assemble with Care.
You play as a new arrival to a small town, ready to repair all their broken electronics, machines and odds-and-ends. The repairs are interspersed with a narrative story as you get to know the people you are helping. You can speed through this if you want to get straight top the repairs, but the narration is pleasant, the art that goes with it charming, and the other audio such as the original soundtrack is also enjoyable.
The puzzle mechanics are intuitive, and quick to pick up – mainly combinations of point, click, hold and scroll. The only difficulties I’ve had is sometimes the area you can select to rotate something is a little hard to find and only appears when your mouse is over just the right part of the image. That’s not been bad enough to be frustrating though, and if you are playing this in a relaxed way – instead of trying to speed run the puzzles – it won’t matter much.
After an hour of gameplay I’ve completed seven puzzles. Each is a little more complex than the last, and some have a couple of stages, so I think there is probably an hour or so more to go. This is the sort of length I would expect from this style of game, and for this price range.
Assemble with Care is available on Steam and iOS, and for a short while it’s also available as part of the Whimsy and Wonder Cosy Games Collection bundle from Humble.