Please Fix the Road is a puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch. As the name suggests, your goal is to repair the path so objects can move from point A to point B. Simple? Yes. Charming? Also, yes.
The first thing you’ll notice when playing Please Fix the Road is the adorable aesthetics. There’s no story to speak of – literally none – so it’s up to the design and the puzzles to keep you invested. The developers have excelled in both areas, presenting bite-sized sections of the world ready for repair.
In terms of design, the pastel colors create a soothing experience. The accompanying music adds to this vibe, too, with twinkly, upbeat tunes that help you settle in for a few rounds of brain teasers. This isn’t a stressful outing, with no timer or life meter anywhere in sight. It’s purely about taking your time to connect two sections of a path.
Each puzzle consists of a chunk of land divided into segments. There’s a start and end point with a vehicle or creature sitting patiently at the beginning while you sort out the connection issues ahead. Yes, creature. Despite the polite way the title seeks your help, you’re not here only to fix roads; trains, boats, and animals are also stuck, meaning you’ll need to fix tracks, rivers, and dirt paths. This variety keeps things feeling fresh, even if the basic elements remain the same. There’s a simple pleasure in aiding your awol cow on its journey home. C’mon little guy, you can make it!
The puzzles themselves are interesting in their setup. Each broken path requires a number of ordered steps to fix it, presented to you in the bottom left of the screen. You’re given the tools and the sequence in which to use them, so what’s left to do? The tricky part is working out the logical placement. For example, you might be presented with a bomb to clear a square, a road to fill an empty square, and a copy ability to copy and paste part of the terrain. But which area do you cut, fill, copy, and replace?
This leads to plenty of trial and error. Thankfully, you can rewind your moves with a simple tap of the L button, allowing you to try alternate approaches. Some pieces of road are L-shaped, for example, so you’ll need to destroy the right spot for this piece to fit. It feels like coming in at the end to finish a jigsaw puzzle, albeit in a set order.
I have to mention the transitions between puzzles. Upon completion, the current puzzle is pulled apart into small cubes before rolling away and bringing in a new puzzle. It’s like a PowerPoint transition – only way cooler. This simple highlight just adds to the cute and cozy aesthetic of the entire game.
So, are there any shortcomings? Without scores or ratings, there’s no reason to replay levels. However, with 160 puzzles to get through (and potentially more to come), you’re unlikely to need to revisit them. Do you revisit sudokus or crosswords once complete? Perhaps a daily challenge could help extend the life of this title. At its current price of $9.99, though, it sits about right for me.
One minor gripe comes in the form of the inability to rotate or zoom in on a puzzle. It’s not always needed, but some trickier puzzles could benefit from having the option to move around the 3D space to see it from another perspective. There’s some spatial awareness required to solve these puzzles, and while I appreciate the developers have kept it simple, this could add another dimension to the gameplay.
Overall, Please Fix the Road is a relaxing puzzle game full of brain-teasing roads and other paths to fix. The cute aesthetics are lovely, and the simple concept of connecting routes is terrific. While it’s a simple affair, this budget title offers plenty of puzzles to keep you coming back until you solve them all.
