Assemble with Care is a 2019 Video Game by ustwo games, about a restorer named Maria who comes to the city of Bellariva. While Maria's goal is to fix the objects important to the city's citizens, she soon finds herself fixing more than just objects.
The game is available to buy on Steam, as well as Apple Arcade.
Assemble with Care was nominated for a BAFTA for Mobile Game of the Year in 2020. The website for the game can be found here
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Assemble with Care includes examples of:
- Big Sister Worship: Helena says Carmen, her younger sister, looked up to her when they were younger, and Carmen still is shown to love and rely on Helena.
- Bookends: Not counting the epilogue added in 2020, the game begins and ends with a level focused on Maria's suitcase.
- Central Theme: Broken family relationships. Joesph has been more focused on work than Izzy since losing his wife, Carmen and Helena are estranged siblings, and Maria herself hasn't spoken to her parents ever since she left home.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: Carmen is very upset with Helena after she finds out that Helena is broke. She gets over it when Helena sells her prized camera to help keep Carmen's cafe afloat.
- I Am Not My Father: Joseph is determined to stop being a distant parent to his daughter, Izzy, unlike his own father.
- Improbably Female Cast: While we don't meet many of Bellariva's residents, the only male character in the game with a speaking role is Joseph, compared to the four speaking female characters in the game.
- Linear Visual Novel: The game has playable sections, but the player is unable to change or interact with the narrative itself at all.
- Missing Mom: Joseph is a single father, as Izzy's mother died at some point before the game starts.
- Nostalgic Musicbox: One of the game's levels has you fix a music box that used to belong to Izzy's mother. Joseph says the song it plays is a lullaby that Izzy's mother sang to her, and when you fix the music box, Joseph begins to sing the lullaby.
- Sell What You Love: Near the end of the game, Helena sells her prized camera to help fund Carmen's cafe.
- Shout-Out: In both the first and last levels of the game, you can see Maria's passport, which implies she's from the United Federation.
- Sibling Team: The game ends with Carmen and Helena working together in Carmen's cafe.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: While Carmen is very energetic and emotional, Helena is more subdued and responsible.
