Medieval Mechanical Engineer

Buildings something from scratch is not an easy thing to do, and it never was, regardless of how simple technology used to be back in the day. However, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction you feel when you finally manage to make something work. Whether it’s a simple device or a complex machine, every triumph is worth the effort, not to mention the fact that you always learn something new.

Medieval Mechanical Engineer is a sandbox physics game in which the goal is to use a variety of parts and put together a machine that allows you to overcome the obstacles in each level. Whether you use wheels, balloons or gravity itself, the only thing that matters is getting to the end of each level, although there are a few special obstacles to overcome as well.

To begin with, the whole thing is severely lacking explanations or a tutorial, except for the written help section in the main menu. The grammar used in is atrocious, on the other hand, so it hardly helps you understand anything. Instead, trial & error is the way to go, although even that is difficult to do when you have to take the bugs into account.

The whole building phase takes place on a grid, and each cell in the grid can hold a component, although certain parts are big enough to occupy a lot more space. Springs, wheels, balloons and cannons are all at your disposal, so it’s important to find some kind of balance. On the other hand, there’s no clear guideline when it comes to how many parts you can use, so that’s one more problem on your hands.

The physics are supposed to drive the gameplay, but the simulation is actually quite disappointing, which makes the whole thing feel meaningless. Your vehicle can break apart for no reason, and some of the parts do not appear to function as intended. Lastly, the graphics are very basic too, but they don’t matter as much in this case anyway.

Even if Medieval Mechanical Engineer looks like a very tantalizing concept, the truth is that it has too many flaws to be enjoyable. The lack of a proper tutorial, the bugs and the faulty physics engine are the biggest culprits, but none of the other components shine too brightly either.