The digital age of video games has meant the demise of the printed game manual, replaced with hand-holding in-game tutorials or, frankly, general confusion. As someone who loves flipping through a good manual filled with gameplay instructions, illustrations, some tips and the odd easter egg or three, it’s a real shame.
If you, like me, miss the days of looking through a dog-eared manual until you know it like the back of your hand, then Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop might be for you. Well, as long as you can also stomach the sometimes vague instructions, scribbled warnings and occasional scorch marks from a spaceship’s nuclear reactor that wasn’t diffused in time.
Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is one of the most unusual and unique games that I’ve played in a long time. In it, you play as a spaceship mechanic stuck in a cosmic time loop where the inevitable death — whether it be from the aforementioned nuclear reactor, space pirates or a missed bill payment — sends you back to Day One a little bit wiser.
You’ll be tasked with fixing everything from star maps and fuel tanks to oxygen generators and clogged toilets. Each device is presented as a minigame where you’ll need to diagnose the problem, get the necessary replacement parts from the store and set about fixing the problem with a screwdriver and socket wrench. It’s all very satisfying and tactile, especially as you start to get the hang of certain devices — like knowing just when to switch off the pump to get a perfect fill on the fuel canisters.
And to diagnose each problem, you’ll have a handy binder packed full of each machine’s manual — or at least one that’s pretty close to the right model. The manuals all have a lot of character, with each varying in style between the manufacturers. Like everyday manuals, some are well-written and crystal clear about what you need to do, while others can take a little bit of logic to puzzle out what they’re trying to say. Some even have notes scribbled in the margins from previous ill-fated mechanics, which is a nice touch.
You can play it in either a pretty punishing timed mode, where each day and each customer has a time limit for you to get the job done, or an untimed mode, where you can just see a fixed number of customers each day and go at your own pace. I recommend playing in untimed mode for at least a few cycles before committing to panicky timed mode, but once you get the hang of things, that timed mode really is very satisfying.
There’s something really unique — I’m not entirely sure I’d say fun — about frantically flipping through a manual to puzzle out which wire to cut as a clock ticks down from 60 seconds.
Outside of the loop of fixing ships, Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop also has some rogue-lite features that throw unique challenges and unexpected events your way on each cycle. I’ve been gunned down after refusing to turn over my day’s earnings. I’ve successfully diffused a ship covered in pipe bombs (after having two or three runs end in a crater to that one). I’ve even been recruited into the hapless space defense force, spending my days managing the coffee pot and loading ammunition until everything inevitably goes wrong.
Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is certainly not for everyone, but for those who like troubleshooting and fixing things, especially on a time crunch, there’s nothing quite like it. And, remember, the customer is always right ... even when they’re demanding you hand over the money in the till.
Matt Buxton is a freelance writer and gamer. He can be reached at matt.a.buxton@gmail.com.
