FixFox Review

So good at repairs, that handsome, vulpine swine!

We have been so excited about FixFox, the adorable, 2D puzzle exploration Fix-em-up that we even wrote a preview of it a week ago. Now it’s time for the full review. 

Vix is the protagonist of FixFox, with Tin as the anxiety-ridden but well-meaning robotic sidekick designed to keep him safe. However, she often gets a bit overzealous because she is a lovable jobsworth obsessed with “space germs”, whatever they are. 

On paper, FixFox sounds like a truly fresh, original title. There are certainly not many games, outside of the VR platforms, where the player fixes items in space as the main gameplay loop. But is this a joyous loop or a complete gimmick? 

Well, fasten your seatbelts and put down your drinks, folks. Because we are about to lift off! 

Lost in space with no meal ticket

The story of FixFox has a lot more substance than most players might expect. Despite its light, playful humour and basic appearance, there is a lot going on in the FixFox universe. There are many significant plot points (no spoilers!) explaining the reasons for the gameplay. And the story moves pretty quickly and is very engaging. 

The story is that Vix, the protagonist, gets sent on a job, but crash lands on a different planet than the one expected. From here, he must find his way home. But there are a lot of twists along the way, particularly that the planet he lands on has banned all tools. 

This is where the quirkiness and the skills of the protagonist, the wily Vix, come into play. Since there are no tools, the inhabitants of the planet, all robots, have lots of broken objects, but no tools to fix them!

Enter our hero Vix, who is able to use all sorts of objects in ways for which they were never intended. Spatulas and coins become screwdrivers. Sticky plasters become electrical tape. Doughnuts become… wait, let’s not go there. But you get the picture. 

This is such a fresh premise for a game and the humour that springs out of it is always just as fresh and genuine, at all times. 

Tin, Vix’s sidekick can constantly be heard spouting out brilliant one-liners, calling the last human on Earth, who also happens to be quite posh, an “Aristo-crackpot” and a “violent nutmeg”. These lines are not only hilarious but very characterful, as Tin is defensive of Vix and can never fully swear, as it’s not in her polite, helpful nature. 

Cuddly, warm, hilarious

Putting the story and gameplay aside for a moment, FixFox’s world is most likely the strongest element. 

Robots are the main inhabitants of the planets Vix visits. And, apparently, this makes everyone super polite and unthreatening. 

Even the pirates are friendly. When mugged by some passing pirates, after stealing just one cute cloud sticker, they then apologised and handed me a free toothbrush, out of guilt. 

Later in the game, the pirates even let slip that they are building hospitals, so the bravado is clearly all show and they are actually really nice guys.

The developer makes it clear in the press paperwork that he wanted to make a game free of violence. And the way he has done this, with such a glut of humorous, playful and downright silly aspects of the game, is more than adequate to make up for the lack of combat.

Deliberately, gloriously, colourfully pixelated

‘Big, bold and bright’ forms the core of the aesthetic philosophy of this title. Colours are beautiful, just often slightly muted, to give a stylised appearance. Menus are all delightfully chunky, with selection of objects completed by pushing them to the top of the screen. 

When bearing in mind the low-polygon aesthetics of FixFox, this feels like a perfect example of how an indie dev can do far more than work within budgetary limitations for a small team. 

It is clear that there was a deliberate choice to go with a more simple visual style to convey a specific story, using an appropriate aesthetic so that everything works together beautifully and cohesively. 

Basically, FixFox is the paragon of doing a hell of a lot visually, with a hell of a little.

Plaster up that electrical fault

The core gameplay loop of FixFox is fixing items. The items to fix don’t vary hugely, but the tools used to fix them definitely do. 

The sense of surprise and mystery for FixFox comes in a few different forms. Whilst there are no secret areas, per se, there are lots of areas to loot objects. These take different forms depending on the biome, such as cracks in the desert ground. 

Other gameplay dynamics include zooming around the biomes on your space bike. This is really fun and doesn’t usually get boring. 

If players do find themselves falling asleep behind the handlebars, however, there are underground shortcuts in the form of ‘underbots’. However, these don’t help much and are not an adequate replacement for fast travel. 

Every now and then, when the player has received a certain amount of reward or loot items, The Order comes down to take some away. If not The Order, Pirates can steal one object at a time too, if you take over 9 items in one day from loot areas, such as desert cracks. 

This is a fun departure from the routine loop of the game, and adds a little humour, as well as encouraging the player to sleep through the night. Or use radios to reset the number of receivable items per day. 

Overall, with the combination of completing the main quest by completing a diverse variety of tasks, and many side-quests, gameplay is satisfying and diverse. 

Banjo jangles in the salty desert air

The musical score varies, according to biome. Sound effects are well crafted too, with the desert having minimal environmental sounds and the forest biome being full of crickets and other animals making noises. 

There is no voice acting in FixFox, but the dialogue does not get tiresome. Such is the high quality of the humorous script and the presence of plenty of bouncy, eye-catching movement, from text and NPC talking-head animations.

Fresh as a still-warm doughnut

When I started out with FixFox, I was excited to find something so fresh and unique. This was clearly a game created by a lover of old-school, narrative-driven games, who wanted to make their own brand new entry into this crowded genre. 

The fresh and relaxing dynamic of fixing objects with weird items got me hooked, and the story and variety of main narrative quests kept me going. 

FixFox is as chill as any game you can hope to find, yet despite the chill feels, the game is very tightly structured: story, gameplay, game design and the size of the biomes are all meticulously crafted. This is a very lovingly made game and this shows everywhere you look. 

Back for more?

FixFox is about 8-10 hours long for the main story, as it doesn’t really have any extras to unlock. This duration is pretty impressive for the price point. 

However, once this game is over, it’s over. Unless you want to dive into Planet Karamel once more for the sake of breathing in some good old fashioned sugary air. There are no extra bonus rounds or collectables here. 

FixFox is available for £11.39 on Steam from 2pm today.