X Construction

Don't hire me to build a bridge! That's what I've learned after playing many games of X Construction on my Android phone over the past 24 hours. This game is quite cool and adds another very satisfying entry to the world of physics based puzzlers.

In X Construction you play the role of a bridge builder having to carefully place girders to create a structure strong enough to allow a train to cross. On each level the span may be wider and there may be additional supports at the bottom of the chasm, but the idea remains the same. One interesting thing is that each girder that you can place can be of varying length and you drag your finger to make in longer (up to a point) or shorter so that it connects two endpoints. That created a temptation in me to always use ‘more’ or longer girders given that I didn’t have to pay for the extra steel. The game has a basic tutorial that gets you started with the only real suggestion that might help improve your game play being the somewhat obvious 'build stable shapes like triangles'. So, off I went to build my first bridge.

The first bridge is pretty easy... a small gap with enough girders to make it easy. I ended up creating what looked more like a suspension bridge. As the game progressed I learned that probably wasn't the best way to go about things and that underside support worked better. When building a bridge there are two 'modes': ‘add a girder’ and ‘delete a girder’. There's also an undo option that you will use a lot. And that is probably my biggest aggravation with this game: I'm always having to undo stuff because the dots I have to touch are so small and my hand covers where I'm placing so it often takes many tries to get the placement I actually want. There's also a zoom in option that makes placement a bit better, but certainly doesn't eliminate this problem. Once you're satisfied that your bridge will hold you press the 'play' button in the upper left and watch the action as the train comes. As the train rides over the buckling behemoth you'll see some girders glow red to indicate stress. If there's too much stress the girder snaps and the train tumbles to the bottom of the abyss with the passengers doing a cheesy 'aargh' scream of death. It becomes obvious this isn't a big budget game with the audio and, from the way the train bounces around, I also start to question the physics of the game as, unless the train is made from super balls then there's no way it would actually move like that.

But the bridge physics seem pretty good (although I'm certainly no expert). Eventually (hopefully?) you'll get it right and be on to the next level of which there are 11. I'm on 7 right now and while 11 levels certainly warrant the hefty $1.30ish price tag (yes, sarcasm) I have to confess that it will be sad when the game is over and I'm forced to wait for more. There's also a free version with ads available which means there's little reason not to try this game on for size.

If you like physics puzzle game that this is unquestionably a necessity for your Android game library. And if you don't, it's still worth taking for a spin. I hope the game grows. There are some interesting suggestions in the game's comments on the market such as adding different vehicles (how about having a tank cross the bridge?). This is a really nice game that barely misses the 5/5 mark. 4.5/5 stars.