Anyone who knows me knows I’ve always enjoyed tinkering around with cars. Whether it’s working on my own vehicles, checking out modifications, or just getting my hands dirty in the shed, anything car-related normally catches my attention. That’s exactly why “Cheap Car Repair” caught my eye, and after spending some time with the game, I can say it’s hit the nail on the head with a lot of things. Developed by Little Dog Games and published by Simplicity Games and PlayWay S.A., Cheap Car Repair promises to be lots of fun.

The story follows a broke small-town mechanic trying to keep his workshop alive in the forgotten village of Bumfuck Nowhere, deep in rural 1990s Poland. This town offers chaotic, absurd and often illogical behaviour, with every resident seeming to carry their own strange problems and demands.

You start taking on increasingly questionable repair jobs; you slowly become a part of the village’s everyday madness, dealing with eccentric locals, unexpected disasters, and the constant struggle to stay profitable in an economy that is held together with duct tape and desperation. The narrative is light and comedic rather than deep or emotional, but it suits the game’s tone perfectly. While the story isn’t particularly impactful, it’s consistently entertaining and brings back some backyard mechanic memories.

At its core, Cheap Car Repair is a mechanic and business-management simulator with a strong emphasis on creativity and cutting corners to get the job done. You’ll spend most of your time diagnosing problems, repairing damaged vehicles and replacing parts, doing bodgy bodywork and managing the finances of your workshop.

The one thing I loved about this game and what sets this game apart is the freedom to choose between proper repairs and some hilarious, questionable shortcuts, whether that means patching rust and quickly spraying it with paint, using makeshift parts or finding some unconventional ways to get the car running again and keeping costs down.

It’s starting to sound like some of the dodgy stuff I’ve done in my day. Beyond the garage, you can adventure around Bumfuck Nowhere, complete side activities, meet local legends and uncover some hidden secrets around the town. The gameplay is surprisingly addictive, balancing hands-on mechanical work with resource management, exploration, and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour that keeps each job fun.

When it came to the controls, they were generally straightforward and easy enough to pick up, making it simple to jump into repairs without a steep learning curve. Most interactions felt intuitive, and the game does a good job of highlighting the parts and components you’ll need to work on. That being said, the controls aren’t without frustration. I occasionally had to line up parts multiple times before the game would register the interactions, particularly when using the left mouse button to drag things around.

I also found that when I needed to find the bolts to loosen or tighten, it sometimes felt more like a chore than it was worth doing some red-hot, dodgy shit. Fortunately, these issues never became deal-breakers and were more of a minor annoyance than a major problem. For the most part, the controls did a solid job supporting the gameplay, though they could benefit from some additional polish.

I was pleasantly surprised by the visuals. The game strikes a nice balance between realism and a slightly cartoonish art style, giving it plenty of characters without sacrificing detail. The colour palette is vibrant and helps create that fun, welcoming atmosphere in the game. The shed and surrounding environments feel lived-in and believable, while the vehicles themselves are impressively detailed. Engine bays contain enough detail that you can easily identify each component and understand what you’re working on, which adds a great level of immersion.

The interiors could have benefited from a little love, but it never distracted from the overall experience. The character models were full of personality and fit the game’s quirky tone well. Combined with the stylised visuals, they help make the world feel entertaining and memorable. Overall, the graphics suit the experience perfectly, providing enough realism to make repairing the cars satisfying while keeping the fun, approachable feel.

The audio in Cheap Car Repair was surprisingly one of the biggest highlights for me. The game features a radio station packed with upbeat Polish music that I genuinely found myself jamming along to whilst doing dodgy shit to cars. It adds a lot of personality ot the garage and makes those more repetitive jobs a little more enjoyable. If the in-game music isn’t your thing, you can even add your own MP3 files to the game’s files, which is a fantastic feature for more control in the game.

The dialogue is equally entertaining, and thank god for subtitles. There were plenty of humorous exchanges and colourful language that fit the game’s rough-around-the-edges charm. Most importantly, the voice acting sounds natural and authentic rather than AI-generated, helping make the characters sound more believable. The audio created a fun and lively atmosphere that perfectly complemented the game’s visuals.

Cheap Car Repair is one of those games that knows exactly what it wants to be and fully embraces its chaotic charm. Between the entertaining cast of characters and the freedom to perform either proper repairs or some seriously dodgy bush mechanic fixes, it had it all. The soundtrack kept me working away happily and really delivered an addictive experience. While a few controls were frustrating, and minor visual shortcomings held it back from perfection, it was still a great game. The game’s humour, personality and satisfying gameplay loop make it easy to recommend.

Written by: Hayden Nelson