I’m sure you’ve heard about Bushnell’s Law or Nolan’s Law before. You know, the one about how the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. And Mech Engineer falls into that category. Sure, it’s still in Steam Early Access and lacks the polish or the extensive tutorial that can teach you how to become successful in the game. But the Base Manual that’s included in the current build of Mech Engineer should be enough to help you build your first Mech and launch your first mission.
Become a engineer
When you start a new game in Mech Engineer you’ll find yourself in the Engineering tab looking at the Mech view. It might seem daunting at first but is anything but. You have four main panes. The top pane is populated with your resources, the left pane is populated with your modifiable items, the middle pane is your workspace, and the right pane is populated with your add-ons. And when you want to modify or add something you just drag it in or out of the workspace. Easy, right? But you have to be mindful of your limited resources as each action comes at a cost!
A shoestring budget
Yes, you guessed it, modifications aren’t the only thing that depletes your resources in Mech Engineer. The Research and Components tab will be frequently used throughout your session. And aside from the automated missions, this is where the actual difficulty of the game lies. You see. It didn’t take long for me to lose a Mech or have something else break on me. So I ended up researching better things and always having something on order. And as you can imagine it wasn’t cheap.
Now. I won’t blame the game for my spending habits entirely as we all know I’d manage to spend it all even if I had infinite resources. But even so, there’s a small crack visible between the automated missions and what you have to spend to survive them. And based on what I’ve experienced so far I’m convinced that it’s the automated missions that need a slight correction in balance before any individual price tag gets changed.
Search for fortune
Even if the mission balance is slightly off and you’re more often than not left to the ill will of the RNG, Mech Engineer is a playable but more importantly an enjoyable game. Yeah, I’m as surprised as you. I never thought I’d see the day when I told someone I enjoy automatic battles I can’t control the outcome of. But it’s actually quite fun to sit there and watch how your Mech builds perform and if they will reach the end and ultimately bring home the much-needed loot. But make no mistake. Mech Engineer is a tough game, and it won’t let you forget it.
End is nigh
You’ll end up questioning each of your Mech builds before you send them out to battle. And if you’re anything like me you’ll go back more than once to try and beat the Mech build meta. Because that’s the only part of the game you have some sort of control over. Well, there’s one more thing you have control over, and that’s to buy the game!
Game details
Name: Mech Engineer
Genre: Management, Strategy
Developer: KiberKreker
Publisher: KiberKreker
Release: December 16, 2020
Platform: Steam
Price: $14.99, €12.49, £11.39
