Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop Review

thesixthaxis.com:

I can refuel a spaceship. That’s right, a ship that can go into space. Can you? Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is a game about being a mechanic and, weird flex aside, it’s actually capable of teaching you important and useful skills. Admittedly, these are more about being able to follow instructions and retain information rather than actually refuelling spaceships. Still, NASA know where you are if they need you, right?

You play Wilbur, a four-eyed space fox with more than a little Wes Anderson film about him, who somehow falls into mechanical-based servitude to Uncle Chop. You rent a space above the café, and each morning, you clock in for work and attempt to repair and maintain a steady stream of extraterrestrial craft. The better job you do and the faster you perform, the more money you earn, which in turn lets you pay your R.E.N.T. and continue to survive for another day or two. Phew, I’m glad the real world isn’t quite like that.

This isn’t the only brush with the real world that Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop has, as you have to research and remember the correct way to maintain all these spaceships. That means opening your Grimoire and finding the correct section on whatever part or subsection needs looking at. At first, that’s just figuring out how to refuel the ship, but as you progress the tasks become longer, tougher and more complicated.

What makes Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop so special is how tactile these tasks are. You have to physically complete them, with Kasedo Games translating each of these to the physical controls on your controller. So, analogue sticks operate as levers or socket wrenches and screwdrivers, all of which need to be selected, grabbed and physically moved. Even clocking in requires you to pick up your card, stamp it in the machine with an oh-so-satisfying pull of the lever, and then slot it into the waiting slot on the other side. It’s clever and utterly unique.

As you leaf through your Grimoire, you really have to learn the different methods and