The Bridge Project is yet another simulator from Excalibur Publishing’s long list. It is probably one of the simplest, when perhaps it shouldn’t be.
The front cover of the box states: Planning – Construction – Testing. To make the point clear these are not three different game modes. The planning will all be done in your head pretty much as you build your bridge. You have a variety of materials to use depending on the level you are playing, and while there is a limit on each of them, you will have enough to build more bridge than you need. There is a simple grid system to help you plan, along with toggles to enable mirror building, and auto road and auto cross beams, which all in all make it a very easy game to pick up and play.
There are forty eight levels split into four categories and each provides a different challenge. It’s up to you to decide between extravagant suspensions and trusty trestles. Before each level you are told what is going to pass over or under during the bridge. There are a few that require a boat to pass under and it’s up to you to utilise pistons, or attempt to hump your bridge high enough over the water. As for what goes over the bridge, you can expect a selection of cars, buses, trains and even tanks!
The testing phase is by far the most fun part of the game as you get to see whether your bridge is a success or a failure. If you are at all like me then you will probably enjoy the failures more than the successes, but there is the odd occasion when something small breaks on the bridge in one of the early tests and you are left with the suspense of seeing if it will get through the heavier final tests.
The only real challenge presented in the game comes in the form of the global leaderboards. There are some people out there that have either found exploits in the games, or should find themselves jobs in civil engineering. There are tables for cheapest, lightest and least pieces used. The best I managed in any level was 9th in the cheapest category, but even that was a bit of an exception as I was lucky to be in the top 100 otherwise.
However, that really is it for this game. If you are not interested in global leaderboard domination, you will be forgetting about this game in a hurry. The game plays as it says on the box, but for £18 it is very thin in terms of gameplay when there are several handheld apps that, while they won’t look as nice, are essentially doing the same thing. Pick it up in the bargain bucket if you like bridges, or global leaderboard domination.
5 snapped girders out of 10