So I Tried… Model Builder

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time, I went for the PC version of Model Builder.

What I thought it was

I used to build models as a kid, though I didn't really have the patience for it. My USS Voyager remained unpainted (it was supposed to be greyish anyway, right?), superglue went unused and dried out… But several years ago, when I discovered model kits from Japan just snapped together, no glue or paint required, I was revitalised and really got back into it! However, in a house with four kids, I don't really have the space to keep building them, and getting everything out to build some can be a real obstacle… So, if Model Builder lets me build things for 10 minutes at a time and not have to physically store them afterwards, then I think that's exactly what I'm after!

What it actually is

Inheriting a workshop from Grandpa Stan (yeah, it's one of those openings), you're encouraged to build models in his final note to you. At least for the campaign, there's also a sandbox mode, but I need some motivation in games, so I didn't check that out.

You're given the basic tools such as paints, knives, an airbrush (not sure how basic that is), and shelves. The tutorial tells you how to do everything and each model has an instruction booklet, so it's pretty accessible. The controls are a bit cumbersome, however, but not impossible to get to grips with. It's not long before you're assembling things for competitions and requests, and buying new equipment to do things like making a tank look dirty.

Will I keep playing

Honestly, if the game hadn't teased a Gundam-like robot mecha thing as one of the models, I might have said no. It's a little weird how some things require exactness, and others are just general. Take painting for example, you can flood fill an entire section, but when you airbrush you can easily accidentally paint over something while waggling your mouse around.

But those Japanese model kits I like? Most of them are Gundams, so… I'll keep playing so that I can make some giant robots. Can we get some Gunpla DLC, please, Bandai?