Repair cars as quickly as possible in this madcap multiplayer game.  Manic Mechanics takes a lot of inspiration from other games of this ilk, especially Overcooked.  But instead of being in a kitchen cooking food, you’re in a garage fixing vehicles.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

You control your character with the L stick as you move around the garages in top down fashion.  There are conveyor belts with broken parts in each stage, and you must pick up the right ones and take them to the repair stations.  There you must play a short mini-game where you time button presses to fix the part.  Then you take the pieces to the cars and when all the parts they need are on, you’ll get bonus points and start on a new car.  Be on the lookout for premium parts on the conveyor that are already repaired.  You’ll save time and earn bonus points by using those.  Use mops to clean up oil and paint spills so you don’t slip, and charge up batteries to use in electric parts.  Each stage has a new part, obstacle, or gimmick for you to deal with.  You can earn up to three gears in each level by reaching a certain score, and you can unlock new mechanics to play as by reaching certain milestones.  You can play solo, couch co-op, online, and there’s even a versus mode.

My only problem with this game is the same I have with other titles like this.  If you are playing in single player, at some point it gets nigh impossible to proceed because you’ll need high enough scores and gears to progress, and the only way to seemingly do that is to play multiplayer.  And when you are pretty far in the game, it’s hard to keep track of all the different parts you have to remember.  But if you like games such as Overcooked and have a lot of friends available to play with you, you might want to check this one out.

Kid Factor:

Manic Mechanics is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  Your cartoony characters can get zapped, squished, and fall into pits or water, but they’ll always reappear again good as new.  No worse than a Looney Tunes cartoon.  And kids love to pretend to fix cars.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may need help, too.

Tags: Game Reviews