When Ski Lifts Go Wrong

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.

Ski Lifts Go Wrong is a 2D building game (though you can also switch to 3D mode, i.e., rotate the view) in which you build ski lifts while trying not to bore yourself to death. The game offers a campaign, sandbox, and workshop modes, but that’s all there is to it. The developers tried to liven up the game with varied levels, but they didn’t quite succeed, so we end up falling into a gameplay rut. For the current price, the entertainment value is disproportionate.

100 physics-based challenges offers a lot of fun with building varied facilities and extreme sports.

An excellent construction game. You not only build ski lifts, but ski jumps over chasms. There are a great UI and some twists on the construction genre, definitely one to take note of.

When Ski Lifts Go Wrong by its original proposal seemed to have this little fun and crazy thing that makes the difference for this kind of games, it turns out to be boring in its complex handling, redundant in its execution and finally very little entertaining, except if you are passionate about engineering.

Each level does take a bit of thinking, and they do increase in the amount of time that you'll have to use your brain for. What sounds like a good idea, might not be, but that's the beauty with a game like this--plenty of trial and error. There's enough variety in the puzzles and different types of levels that if you're anything like me--you'll find yourself glued to the monitor for hours. The music is the right amount of soothing, the graphics the right amount of simple and the physics...the right amount of hilarity.

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.

GOOD - When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is an entertaining game with funny predicaments that are often caused by the way you build your structures. This engineering puzzle game will appeal to a wide range of gamers and is an excellent fit for the Switch.

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.

Huge Calf Studio's When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is an excellent physics-based puzzler for Nintendo Switch and PC.