Please Fix the Road is a relatively simple puzzle game in which you're presented with a grid-based road layout where one or more travellers are in some way obstructed from reaching their destinations. As the name suggests, your task is to fix this. To do so, you have a limited number of "moves", each of which is one of a number of operations - delete a tile, place a tile, move a tile, swap tiles, rotate tiles, etc. These different operations are introduced gradually as the levels progress, but you encounter all of them by around the 25% mark. The operations also have footprints, meaning a "clone tile" operation might specifically take, say, a 2x2 area of tiles, adding another dimension to consider.
There isn't a whole lot to say about Please Fix the Road other than the fact it's a pretty great puzzle game. The puzzles are engaging and feel satisfying to complete. It's definitely a game that relies on your ability to visualise moves ahead of time - late in the game, there are very lengthy sequences of move that can be tricky to process and reverse-engineer the solution from (at times I found these to be a little obtuse but never overbearingly so, and there's a hint system available at any time which you're never punished for using in any way). The game isn't afraid to play with its own mechanics - things that feel like they might be side effects and not necessarily "fitting" with the game world will start factoring into levels around the midgame - which was an enjoyable case of being rewarded for lateral thinking. The game also handles the introduction of mechanics well; you're never expected to know how to do something without it first being taught to you. All in all, I have very few complaints about the puzzles themselves. If you like this sort of spatial reasoning/visualisation puzzle, you'll like Please Fix the Road.
I only have a few nitpicks about the game:
- The artstyle can be a bit visual-clutter-y at times, leading to it being difficult to see who you're supposed to be helping and where their goal is. Cleaner environments or some kind of "basics-only" settings toggle would have gone a long way for me.
- As mentioned above, some of the lategame puzzles rely on being able to process lengthy sequences of moves. It's probably a preference thing, but I found this to be a less engaging version of difficulty than the midgame puzzles that relied on lateral thinking around the mechanics. Maybe my brain just isn't wired for it, but I found thinking 4 or 5 operations ahead was a bit too much of an abstraction.
- No hints on the last 10 levels. It's probably in the name of difficulty, but I don't think there's any real reason not to have the option there.
Minor gripes aside though, this is a solid puzzle game, and 160 levels for the sorts of prices this game hits in sales (I picked it up in the Winter Sale for less than £3) is fantastic value. If the puzzle design I've described sounds up your street, you'll almost certainly have a good time with this game.
7.5/10 - Despite a cluttered artstyle and some obtuse lategame levels, Please Fix the Road is an excellent puzzler that will put your spatial reasoning and visualisation abilities to the test.
