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Some games radiate a certain kind of charm the instant you sit down to play them. It’s a special moment, and one that doesn’t occur all to often. However, when it does, you know you are in for a real treat. This is the exact feeling I garnered when I booted up FixFox for the first time.
FixFox is a top-down puzzle game with exploration elements. It was created by a one-person developer by the name of Rendlike. He stated on his blog that visiting a peace memorial in Hiroshima inspired him to create games that promoted kindness and friendship. Well, Rendlike. I’d just like to say this. Mission accomplished! This game is both awesome and unbelievably wholesome.
Story
Setting
FixFox takes place in the far-off distant future. Technological feats such as traversing the universe and sentient AI units are all rather mundane concepts. These advancements have unfortunately led to a continuous state of blisteringly cold weather on Earth. To survive the intense climate change, the entirety of mankind was forced to modify their DNA.
The procedure, simply referred to as splicing, transformed the body into some variation of a humanoid animal. This provided them with traits such as fur to deal with the freezing climates, and the ability to go into hibernation. The latter of these proved to be exceedingly useful for long distant space travel, as it helped to conserve resources.
Narrative
The protagonist of our tale is a Fox by the name of Vix. She works in the field of Space Pioneering Astronics Circuits Repair, otherwise abbreviated to as SPACR. In short, this is the title given to specialised mechanics that travel to various regions of outer space to repair broken machinery.
Although working as a SPACR is a dream come true for Vix, she doesn’t particularly excel at it. In fact, it has gotten so bad that upper management is now threatening to fire her over her poor performances. Naviko, a celebrity AI and the bot that Vix reports too, manages to pull some strings and grant her one last opportunity to save her career.
The task, which nobody else would seemingly take on, is to repair a nav beacon which has recently gone silent. The only problem with this is the planet is located in an untraversed area of the universe. Determined to save her career, Vix, and her AI companion Tin, set course for the mysterious planet Karamel.
Wholesome, yet bizarre
From this point on, the scope of the story becomes much more grandiose. There are a lot of unexpected twists and turns, with many of them emulating real world problems we are facing today. I strongly suggest that you play this game spoiler free, as doing so elevates the narratives ideologies massively.
To put it simply, I loved this story. It captured my imagination in a way that few other titles have recently. The wholesome and laid-back structure, mixed with the odd and humorous NPCs, made for one incredibly memorable adventure.
Gameplay
Puzzles
Scattered throughout the planet are various broken machines that need to be repaired. With no proper tools at your disposal, you are forced to scour the planet to find random junk which can be used in their place. There are a myriad of items to discover including coins, plasters, toothbrushes, dusters amongst other things.
Interacting with a broken object will take you to a repair puzzle sequence. This presents you with the internal layout of an electrical device. You have to figure out which components are broken, then analyse how you will fix them. This is where our makeshift tools come into play. For example, coins will be used in place of a flathead screwdriver to loosen screws. Toothbrushes on the other hand are useful in cleaning off any grime or rust.
The repair puzzles are fairly enjoyable, and do accurately represent the creative zaniness of FixFox. Having said that, there are some issues present here. One massive detractor is the fact that puzzles never evolve or ramp up in difficulty. It’s one of the more disappointing moments in a game that is full of genuinely enjoyable moments. Thankfully, this is something that can be easily fixed in future iterations.
There are also different puzzles outside of the standard repair-based ones. These boil down to basic management and navigation puzzles. While they are a nice change of pace and help to keep things fresh, they suffer the same problem in that they never develop into something more.
Exploration
There are a vast number of locales in the game to discover, each with their own themes and identities. You’ll find NPCs that are more than willing to help you out on your journey. Some of these even provide Vix with a nice homegrown meal in the process. The different regions will supply Vix with unique tools, making it much more imperative to get out there and explore.
There is one very annoying mechanic that happens ad nauseam. At random points, with seemingly no trigger, the current layout of the map will shaft and change completely. For instance, areas that were located on the far east might now be located in the north west. Why this design choice was implemented is beyond me, but it did prove to be rather aggravating at times.
Art
The colourful pixelated artwork that accompanies this game is yet another example of the FixFox charm. It’s not going to blow you away with graphical fidelity, or state of the art pixel work, but it does create a certain ambience. The various environments encountered in the game feel cosy and effervescent in their presentation.
The aforementioned puzzles have an old school point and click vibe, and are very similar to the likes of The Secret of Monkey Island. The characters have their own personalities and expressions which change depending on their current mood. I couldn’t help but get immersed into the art style, the wholesome nature of it could warm the coldest of hearts.
Audio
The music in FixFox captures the laid-back atmosphere to perfection. Some tracks in the game feature powerful orchestral pieces that enhance the emotional moments. Opposite to this are the catchy chiptunes which usually coincide with the more whimsical moments. Fittingly, these feel like something you might hear on dubious old torrent software. You even have bombastic old country tracks that feature slide guitars which encapsulates the explorative adventure excellently.
There are also short musical motifs that play for each character. Without even playing much of the game, their themes will help to derive what sort of tropes and traits they have. It’s a great little bit of storytelling produced solely through music. Its worth noting here that the music is one of the sole elements not created by Rendlike, but instead is credited to Aleix Ramon. Kudos to you Sir!
The sound effects in FixFox very much work alongside the art direction. There is a certain campy glamour to them, and they often feel as though they’ve been taken straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon.
Conclusion
FixFox is an exceptionally memorable game set within an imaginative world. The characters and environments radiate a wholesome and positive energy similar to something you’d see in a Pixar short. The gameplay is laid-back and enjoyable, though it does lack some substance in the puzzle sequences. If your interested in a game that will tug on your heart strings, or simply want something you can relax too, then I highly recommend you pick this up.
