Bridge Constructor Portal from ClockStone and Headup Games is a very interesting simulation puzzle game on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Bridge Constructor Portal review!

 

Bridge Constructor Portal is exactly what you’d think of when hearing the name: a mash-up between Bridge Constructor and the Portal franchise. You’re a new employee in the Aperture Science test lab, so you will be tasked with build a ton of bridges, slides, ramps, and more to take on the challenges you will face through the 60 test chambers on offer, as you try to get the Bendies from point A to point B in one piece, so that they can ride through the course on their vehicles to live another day.

After reading that paragraph, the game sounds as if it was nothing more than a reskin of a Bridge Constructor game to add the Portal license on top and call it a day, but this game is anything but that! You’ll make good use of items such as propulsion gel, repulsion gel, the beloved portals, cubes, and other stuff so that you can keep the Bendies safe from the casually placed sentry turrets, the deadly baths of acid, and more. Oh, and GLaDOS is back as well for the ride, voiced by Ellen McLain!

 

And speaking of that, it will be GlaDOS herself who takes you through the game’s tutorial as you learn the basics of this clever simulation puzzle game. That is after you complete a short interview section that is screening between applicants to find the one that would be perfect for the job. Get the answers right, and off you will go to your new job at Aperture Science. Get the answers wrong, and it will be time for a short and painful visit into the hot and deadly incinerator!

One short interview and a quick loading screen later, you will find yourself in the first test chamber which is aptly named “My first bridge.” You can either control the action with the Joy-Con while playing Bridge Constructor Portal in docked or in portable or tabletop mode, but while playing in the last two console configurations, you will also be able to use the Nintendo Switch’s touchscreen to click away and start building!

When using the Joy-Con, the left analog stick will move your on-screen cursor around, and the B button will be used to erase components. You will then get to place some plans by pressing up on the D-Pad to follow the guidelines and build a scaffold for the bridge. Once the path has been created, you can turn the elements for the path you’ve created into an actual road that vehicles can traverse. When all is ready, you can press left on the D-Pad to do a test run and see if what you have created is good enough. Once that’s been taken care of, you might want to send a convoy down the road by pressing right on the D-Pad to see if you’re actually as good as you think you are.

Paths for bridges on their own will not be enough, so you’ll need to build the support they need to actually stay in one piece while Bendies go over it. If you don’t build a bridge properly, it will collapse under the weight and stress of the Bendies trying to cross it. You will also sometimes need to get a bit creative when there are not latch points from which to build a proper path, so sending the vehicles flying from a ramp might be the only way to go. The angle and the length of the ramp will need to be just right for the vehicles to gain enough momentum to clear a gap, but that’s part of the fun!

 

Building bridges is only part of the equation since the Portal license adds some extra fun design elements from the franchise. Portals are sometimes needed to help characters travel between rooms or to get over tricky spots. Since there are going to be a lot of portal pairs in each of the levels you will take on, the game will color-code them so that you can see which entrance is connected to which exit so that you can plan accordingly and build your structures so that the Bendies and their vehicles can gain enough momentum to live another day.

Bridge Constructor Portal is a fun and clever release that brings us some of the best elements of the Bridge Constructor and the Portal series in one solid 2D simulation physics-based puzzler you are going to love on Nintendo Switch. The game is out for a very affordable $14.99, making it a very easy one to recommend

Disclaimer
This Bridge Constructor Portal review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Headup Games.