With no limits besides the creativity of its players, Main Assembly, from developer Bad Yolk Games and publisher Team17, is an exciting early-access release on Steam for $19.99.
Gameplay
Main Assembly puts the player both literally and figuratively in the driver seat, allowing for sandbox-style vehicle creation alongside sandbox-style world and game mode creation.
Building, the main appeal of the game, is simultaneously in-depth and intuitive. Editing is streamlined better than any other vehicle creator I’ve played–everything snaps parallel across all axis’ making it so changing one part doesn’t throw off all the other dependent parts. The player camera reacts with each axis, where frames can be easily accessed and edited with simple drag-and-drops.
My first few builds were aided greatly by the tutorial / challenge system. Done in a well-scaffolded manner, the build process is broken down piece by piece while still encouraging exploration within the learning. There is an easy-to-learn, hard-to-master learning curve that invites the type of iterative tinkering integral to good engineering.
The physics of the driving/flying simulator is likewise encouraging to the core engineering of Main Assembly. Crashes, jumps, straightaways, turns, and lifts all feel like they do in other realistic-type simulators.
Similarly, the build UI and workflow is simple to learn and facilitates quick iteration. Everything in Main Assembly begs for creation, experimentation, and play.
Community
On top of high-tier sandbox building simulator fundamentals, Bad Yolk Games has allowed Main Assembly to grow into even bigger things with its community-focused game support. It’s only in early access, and there is already a growing base of content creators and possibilities for improvement with further development from the community and Bad Yolk Games.
I was able to find some build how-to’s and some forums with basic build ideas that helped get my gears turning and served as great inspiration for what could become of Main Assembly. The multiplayer aspects combined with the modular base has proven fruitful for many simulators in the past, and there aren’t any flaws here to prevent a similar turnout.
Overall
If you’re looking for an intuitive, in-depth building sandbox, then Main Assembly is your game. Only in early access, Main Assembly already stands out with a foundation ripe for expansion!
Check Out the Main Assembly Steam Early Access Trailer:
Main Assembly is available for PC via Steam Early Access. To keep up to date, visit Facebook, Twitter, and join on Discord.
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Recent Michigan State University grad and current Game Studies researcher who plays fantasy RPG's to escape, Smash to compete, and Stardew to chill. Also have a +1 to rage/toxicity resistance due to the many hours sunk into WoW, R6, and LoL.
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