When Ski Lifts Go Wrong

When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is one of the better bridge building games on Nintendo Switch. While I am quite disappointed that you can't share any challenges online, the content that is there is super enjoyable. The more than 30 levels are easily replayable multiple times, and it is fun to play around with the Sandbox Mode. What helps is that the controls feel built with a controller mind, instead of just trying to add in a less inferior scheme. Overall, Hugecalf Studios created a game I will gladly tinker with once in a while, which is an accomplishment in my book.

Overall, there’s quite a lot to love about Ski Lifts. There are a ton of stages to take on, each offering some new entertaining twist on what’s come before. The presentation isn’t especially innovative, but it’s always good to see devs playing around with the poly-centric visuals of the late ’90s and the marriage between visuals and gameplay in the title can’t be overstated. It’s not the first physics-based puzzler on Switch, but When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is definitely worth a look. Its sedate pacing won’t make everyone happy, but this is an endearing and inventive game.

Despite the logo giving the impression of a garish knock-off or mobile port, When Ski Lifts Go Wrong delivers some captivating simulation puzzling, with a light dusting of Excitebike helping to set it apart from the crowd. The UI and controls work very well on Switch and, although not being able to share or sample others’ creations online is disappointing, the base game works beautifully to provide a very enjoyable package if you’re after some rock solid, physics-based fun.

There is plenty of rewarding construction on offer in Where Ski Lifts Go Wrong. The game is sure to test your mental agility, and there’s a good challenge in balancing that with consideration of the agility of the characters you have to transport.

Unfortunately for When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, however, it exists in this world, where Bridge Constructor is a thing and this game just feels like a so-so imitator. Given that Bridge Constructor is between half a decade and a decade old (depending on where you first played it), there’s still room for a so-so imitator, but be aware of the fact that much of the time when you’re playing When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, you’ll be kind of wishing you were playing something else instead.