Assemble with Care, created by ustwo games, is a single-player puzzle game available on iOS, Steam, and Nintendo Switch that is targeted towards both teen and adult audiences. In the game, you play as Maria, a globe-trotting antique restorer visiting the sunny town of Bellariva. As Maria, you meet various townspeople and repair their cherished possessions, from cassette players to film projectors. Playing Assemble with Care as a feminist means recognizing how the game’s mechanics of object repair and narrative dynamics of empathy and care align with feminist values of reclaiming traditionally masculine activities and promoting emotional labor. However, the game falls short in fully realizing its feminist potential by presenting a one-dimensional female protagonist, lacking diverse representation, and missing opportunities for the player to actively engage in interpersonal care.
At its core, Assemble with Care’s object repair mechanic challenges the gender norms deeply entrenched in the gaming industry and beyond. By putting the player in the shoes of Maria, a skilled female restorer, the game subverts the stereotype that fixing things is a male-dominated activity. As the player, whenever I carefully disassembled and reassembled objects using the game’s tactile, puzzle-like interactions, I felt a sense of satisfaction that transcended gender boundaries. Therefore, this mechanic effectively reclaims a traditionally masculine space, aligning with the feminist goal of dismantling gaming’s focus on men.
Assemble with Care’s use of puzzle mechanics to challenge gender stereotypes sets it apart from many other games in the puzzle genre. While popular puzzle games like Candy Crush or Bejeweled often feature abstract, gender-neutral challenges, Assemble with Care seems to intentionally ground its puzzles in the traditionally masculine domain of object repair. This design choice is similar to games like Unpacking, which uses the typically feminine-coded activity of unpacking boxes to tell a deeply personal story. However, where Unpacking focuses on the narrative significance of everyday objects, Assemble with Care takes a more mechanically-driven approach, using the tactile, “hands-on” process of repair to create a satisfying gameplay experience that challenges players’ assumptions about gender roles. In this way, Assemble with Care stands out as a unique example of how puzzle mechanics can be leveraged to promote feminist values and encourage players to rethink societal norms.
Moreover, the game’s narrative dynamics, which emerge from the interplay between the repair mechanics and the story vignettes, frame the act of fixing as one that involves empathy and care. As I progressed through the game, I encountered various characters from two families, each with their own emotional struggles and personal stories tied to the objects Maria repairs. For example, as shown in the image below, I fixed a young girl’s cassette deck and learned about her strained relationship with her father as well as the importance of the device in keeping her connected with him. These narrative elements present repair work as an act of emotional labor, aligning with feminist values of caring and empathy. By weaving these personal stories throughout the gameplay, Assemble with Care takes a step towards telling the kind of intimate, conversational stories that feminist games aspire to.
However, Assemble with Care misses opportunities to fully embrace its feminist potential. For example, as explained by Chess in Play Like a Feminist, there should be an emphasis on telling feminist stories in games that are “conversational, personal, and relay narratives that surpass the expectations we tend to have of those ushered in to and for patriarchal audiences.” While Assemble with Care’s narrative dynamics touch on themes of empathy and care, the game falls short in fully developing its female protagonist, Maria. More specifically, as I played the game, I wanted more insight into Maria’s backstory, motivations, and personal growth.
Moreover, Assemble with Care’s gameplay focuses primarily on repairing physical objects, which, while symbolically meaningful, limits the player’s ability to fully engage in the kind of radical play that can challenge existing power structures. Imagine if the game had provided opportunities for the player to actively participate in shaping the narrative and characters’ lives, such as through dialogue choices or actions that directly challenge societal expectations. For example, the game could have presented scenarios where Maria must confront and dismantle sexist attitudes or discrimination in her work as a restorer. By allowing the player to make choices that actively promote equality, Assemble with Care could have become a powerful example of how games can use play as a means of disrupting and reshaping current gender expectations. This type of mechanic would align with Chess’ concept of “agentic-training tools” that help players reconsider their own agency within oppressive systems.
In terms of representation, Assemble with Care’s cast of characters is primarily heteronormative, missing an opportunity to showcase a broader range of identities and experiences. As noted by Chess, intersectionality is crucial in feminist game design, as gender cannot be considered in isolation from other aspects of identity such as sexuality. By incorporating more diverse representation, Assemble with Care could have better exemplified the feminist value of inclusivity and served as a more effective tool for promoting intersectionality in gaming.
Discussion Question: How might Assemble with Care have used its unique gameplay mechanic of object repair to subvert traditional notions of gender and labor, and what kind of radical play could have been included to challenge players’ assumptions about societal norms?
