Even in the vast expanse of the cosmos you can’t get away from car trouble. Not to worry though – if you find yourself in the back end of beyond needing an oil change, or someone to unblock your toilet there’s always Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop. A creative blend of roguelite, simulation, and puzzle game this one had been on my radar for a while after seeing the demo online.
Roll Up Your Sleeves
You play as Wilbur, a fox (half fox? half man?) mechanic stationed on an garage in a far flung corner of the galaxy. After firing the corpse of the previous mechanic into space, you are tasked with repairing procedurally generated spaceships to earn enough money to pay your rent. Repairs require using an in-game manual, that you manually flip through to find the instruction for machines or fault finding instructions for each module of the ship. And trust me – much like building your bedroom drawers from IKEA, you are going to need to read the manual.
Now, I absolutely adore an in game manual, and the one on offer in Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop certainly does not disappoint. There’s little hand scribbled notes on some of the pages giving you tips for how to repair things; detailed diagrams of each module and machine so you know exactly what you’re meant to be doing as your chafe under the pressure of getting your repairs done in time and fun pictures and logos from the various companies that pulled together the manual. Think Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes but with the colour and charm of the manual from Tunic.
Two game modes exist: a timed mode (frantic fixing), which challenges you to complete repairs quickly within daily time limits, and a more relaxed take your time (focused fixing) mode, where you focus on complex repair challenges without being timed. I’d highly recommend trying out the focused fixing mode as you get used to some of the more complex machines, as the time pressure is brutal towards the beginning of the game.
Adventures in SPACE!
One of the standout features of Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is its cast of colourful characters. Wilbur himself is a weird little fella’, with his sideways eyes and distinctly human body to go with his fox head. Then there’s Droose the owner of the greasy spoon next to the workshop, who teaches you how to repair ships and unlocks more areas to go as you progress. The customers who visit the shop are equally memorable, with many of them belonging to specific factions. The game has a pretty surprising story attached too, with faction quests opening up some, frankly, absurd scenarios and endings – but I won’t spoil it, just be careful who’s ship you chose to take jobs from!
Writing wise, Uncle Chop’s Robot Shop has a bit of a Rick and Morty vibe to it. The artstyle while cute has its fair share of Cronenbergian horrors and struggling to scrap together enough rent only to get shot in the face for being one coin short was completely unexpected, and completely hilarious.
Encoding Platformer: Level 1
The main draw of the game though has to be repairing the ships. As I mentioned above each module has it’s own set of faults that you have to figure out and fix before you can finish the job. Most modules feel tactile, involving things like pulling levers, loosening screws with your tools and opening panels. It’s incredibly immersive and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was originally envisioned as a VR game, what with all the flashing lights and buttons to push.
Other modules are… less fun to play around with. The Toomfoolery module in particular felt incredible off to me. It involves loading levels onto a game cartridge, inserting the cartridge into the ship and then playing through a short platforming stage. To be clear, I love a little 2D platformer, but the controls are, to be frank, shit. I understand that it’s part of the challenge of fixing that particular module but I dreaded seeing it on a list of repairs for a ship and if I could remove it from the game I would never engage with it at all. The VR module was also a bit weird. Some solutions were fun, invert the controls to open a door for example, but other were just a janky, or worse boring.
Timelooping!
Obviously as this game is a roguelite, there’s got to be a timeloop mechanic to reset your run. Again I won’t spoil the story, but I found it to be pretty well implemented with some fun meta progression options to make each fresh start a little bit easier. Because each module has a variety of things that can be wrong with it the repairing didn’t get stale, and the more you play the faster you get at fixing simple faults so you can make take more jobs and make more money. With daily gameplay variations, hidden puzzles, lore, and upgrade discoveries, each game run feels fresh.
Final Thoughts
Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is a delightful blend of humour, strategy, and creativity. Due to it’s fantastic focused fixing mode, even those that aren’t great under pressure can enjoy tinkering away on rocket ships in the garage all day. Whether you’re a fan of puzzle-solving, time management, or simply enjoy a good story, its charming characters, engaging gameplay, and stunning visuals, make it a must-play for anyone looking for a fun and unique gaming experience.
So, if you’re ready to embark on a galactic adventure and have a penchant for building IKEA furniture, then Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is the game for you. Just try not to let the Toomfoolery module annoy you too much!
Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop was reviewed on PC, Gamer Social Club would like to thank the publisher for the code. It releases on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch on the 5th of December 2025.
