Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop

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Got a spaceship in need of a quick fix? Just drop by Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop! It’s the premier* repair station that’ll help your ship get back to being literally ship-shape. You’ll play the role of Wilbur, a new employee of Uncle Chop’s doing his best to fix up ships and make R.E.N.T. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it, and you’re definitely “someone.” Time to get wrenching!

* service may not actually be premier.

via YouTube

Uncle Chop’s basically takes the little task minigames that we all know and love from Among Us, mixes them all together, and pits you against a time limit (or, if you’d prefer, against grumpy customers who grievously punish mistakes) rather than a homicidal impostor. Each ship that comes into the station might need any manner of services, and it’s up to you to diagnose the problem, figure out how to apply proper maintenance, and then actually make the repairs without causing anything to explode. You probably won’t be surprised to hear this is a little more difficult than it sounds.

Take something simple, like a ship that needs a refuelling. It might really be that simple! Just grab the ship’s fuel canisters, fill them up, reinstall them and Bob’s your uncle. You can check the omnipresent Grimoire repair manual to figure out how to deal with whatever might be ailing a ship, so you’re not going to be left in the lurch.

That’s great and all, but there’s plenty of complications that can and will arise even in such a simple process. Maybe the ship’s fueling system needs rewiring? Maybe the fuel pump is broken? Maybe you accidentally overfilled a fuel canister and need to replace it after it broke? The Grimoire has all the answers, but that can also become a problem as you try to determine which exact minor fault could be causing everything to go wrong. That’s all just one very simple system, too, and a ship can have four or more things going wrong with various systems all at once, possibly with the problems interacting and making each other worse.

Combine all that with working on several ships per shift, and you’ll rapidly discover you’ve got your hands full. No pressure, right? Success means earning cash that you’ll need to pay the R.E.N.T. and purchase supplies, along with Omen tokens that can be used on various upgrades like rerolling possible job orders. Failure means, well, not making the R.E.N.T., and you’re not going to like what happens then.

At least your many failures to cover your living expenses, resulting in your ceasing to continue living, will make for plenty of laughs thanks to Uncle Chop’s lighthearted presentation. We’ve got a classic Cartoon Network kind of feel here, a real mix between adorable and horrifying, and it suits the frantic experience of repairing ship modules perfectly. Sure, having to start a run over might be upsetting, but at least you’ll get to encounter new and hilarious aliens.

Take a dash of WarioWare, add in a little Among Us and mix it all into a roguelike and you’ve got Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop. It’s an anxiety-inducing good time, whether you’d rather deal with time pressure or an incessant push for perfect repairs. Keep your Grimoire handy and one hand on your wrench, because R.E.N.T. is due soon and there’s only a couple shifts left to go.