As featured during the Wholesome Snack: The Game Awards Edition 2025, ReStory is an upcoming "restoration" simulation game by developer Mandragora and published by tinyBuild. Ahead of the game's reveal, we here at Netto's Game Room were given the opportunity to try the game out and share our first impressions.
And let's just say, it filled a cozy game hole in my life I didn't realize was missing.
Running a Repair Shop:
ReStory follows your own foray into the world of running a gadget repair shop. When the demo first began, I found myself looking at the inside of my newly acquired shop and the mess that was left behind by the previous owner. This is where the game teaches players about their workspace and introduces the concept of throwing away trash and placing items on one of the many shelves. Outside of this, a small computer sits on the desk next to a cash register, and a box is also located close by to place "scraps" in. It honestly isn't much of a shop, but it is plenty for what you will be using it for—repairing customers' broken gadgets.
After cleaning up the store, it was ready to be opened for business, and my first customer was none other than the landlord himself. He promptly reminded me of the rent and passed along a phone he happened across—a "Pokia" phone, no less. Although it wasn't his, he does you the honor of being your first client and offers for your services. This is where the real game begins as customers continue to line up to hand over their broken items, and as you race against the clock to complete as many jobs as possible before closing time. While there isn't a strict deadline, running a shop late at night isn't safe, and your bills continue to pile up. Fail to bring in money, and you can kiss your newfound business goodbye.
Tinkering with Electronics:
After being given a device to repair, believe it or not, you have to repair it. This means physically disassembling it, cleaning dirty parts, and throwing away what no longer works. Rather than just clicking options, the game actually has you break down the devices, and they mirror their real-life counterparts. Obviously, some branding has been altered, but these items are clearly recognizable, and dismantling one in the real world will look similar to what is displayed in the game.
I didn't go into this demo expecting to learn anything, but surprisingly, I walked away with a bit more knowledge of each item. I'm not sure if that is enough to truly repair something if I had to, but I at least now know the individual parts that make up the whole. And as you disassemble the items in the game, it becomes strangely calming, and once you finish a product, it is extremely satisfying to see the end result. Thankfully, the game keeps things simple, so even someone such as myself can repair these devices with ease.
Although it does take some playing around with, the game uses a simple control scheme where you use your mouse to take pieces off and undo the screws holding things together. You can then drag and drop the parts to either repair them or trash them, and put them in your box for safekeeping. Finished products can then be placed for pick-up, while the unfinished ones can be stored safely on one of your many shelves. While ideally everything should be repaired as fast as possible, this isn't always doable simply because you have a lack of parts. And that is where the second aspect of the game comes into play—managing your inventory.
The Computer and Ordering Parts:
Sitting on your desk is a computer running Windows XP. It is packed full of the 2000s nostalgia many of us were used to back in the day, and it is your main source to keep your shop stocked. By using internet listings, broken devices can be ordered and then stripped down for parts. While the Tamagotchi you are repairing might have a broken board, the one you ordered off the internet might only have a cracked shell. Stash the extra parts that still work, throw away the shell, and give your client the new board—the device is now good as new, and you have extra parts to use on future projects.
It is a fine balance of ordering broken items (which can be a risk) and accepting jobs that need the parts, and the gameplay loop of it all becomes very addicting. In theory, you can also use parts from one job on another, but this will come back to bite you in the end. During my playthrough, I avoided this, although to kick things off, one client did provide an additional Atari Controller just so I could get used to the idea of swapping parts.
A Promising Start:
Unfortunately, the demo was just a small taste of what's to come in the full version of ReStory. The characters and story lines that began to unfold from talking to the customers piqued my interest, but the relationships only developed so far in this build. Also, there were only a handful of devices to repair, and it didn't take long for duplicates to become a thing. Of course, I was faster performing future repairs on items I was already used to, but I would have loved the chance to take apart at least a few more gadgets. That's what the full game is for, however, and the demo did a great job giving me an idea of what to expect.
While it is hard to say if the full version will have me hooked for hours on end, this demo was both a very promising start and a relaxing venture. It was new territory for me, but I enjoyed every second of it.
ReStory is set to release in 2026.
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