Ready, Steady, Ship! Review

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S

Genres: Action game, Puzzle, Indie game, Simulation video game, Casual game, Adventure

Developer: JollyBits Games

Engine: Unity

Publishers: JollyBits Games, Untold Tales

The allure of video games is their ability to offer complete escape from reality or to mimic even the most boring daily activities. Have you ever wished you could have a taste of what an Amazon warehouse is likely like? I have the ideal solution for you, though.

Though it has the same name as the venerable cookery program Ready, Steady, Ship! is instead situated in a logistics plant that is, to start with, rather complex. As one of the diligent employees, your job is to simply maintain the flow of the goods along the many conveyor belts so they arrive at their destination on schedule.

All set for shipment?

It is quite easy to start with. The factory’s conveyor belts are not finished, so you’ll need to realign the various parts and make sure they face the right direction. The items will emerge from the belts and glide smoothly to their destination before hopefully being delivered after you pull the button.

In addition to moving massive items of equipment, your character’s skills are restricted; for instance, they are unable to jump. Running and throwing boxes, however, come in quite handy when you advance through the levels. A coffee from a vending machine can also provide you with a momentary, limitless energy boost.

It doesn’t take long for new conveyor belt components to become available, including bigger items that must be carried onto a turntable in order to be rotated because of their weight. Other examples are useful gadgets that can be used to stack flattened boxes, load them with packing peanuts, or launch them high into the air. Furthermore, sorting various colored boxes is eventually necessary, and occasionally the order in which each type needs to be shipped out is stated, adding even more complexity to the problem. Keep an eye out for environmental dangers as well, such as rooftop gaps, slick surfaces, and pools of acid.

Yes, the Ready, Steady, Ship! setting will alter following each cluster of stages. Among the ways to keep the action interesting are tossing packages onto cargo boats and moving them across rooftops.

It’s important to remember that you can always press the emergency escape button to go on to the next phase if things get too tough. You will undoubtedly sacrifice some or all of the available stars in the process.

Things do indeed change.

Depending on how fast you transport each box, you can receive up to nine stars on each level. But even though your try will end if you exceed the allotted time, your progress will be stored, and you can bank the stars you’ve earned to go back and replay particular stages. To unlock more and to keep moving forward, you must “complete” each level—even if you don’t make it to the finish—and accumulate a certain number of stars.

There are thirty levels available in all, with three distinct stages in each level. You should have plenty of gameplay to occupy you for a few early hours with that overall. A few extra characters will also become available to you after every five-level set. One of my personal favorites are the birds that join the fight but have a distressed appearance.

I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but allow me to explain. Ready, Steady, Ship!’s controls caused me a lot of trouble. Everything is a little awkward, particularly when you’re attempting to reach down into a stack of boxes to retrieve anything. To the extent that my character scooted over and pulled the lever instead of picking up the box directly next to them, switches seem to trump everything else around. Ship, get set, steer! is a really difficult game to play. Whether it involves attempting to steer your boxes toward their destination, making up for the unpredictable physics that occasionally cause them to blast off in an unexpected direction, or fixing malfunctioning equipment. It might occasionally seem like a true hassle.

I could manage these control difficulties, though. I found operating machinery to be, well, terrifying. The fundamental problem with Ready, Steady, Ship! is that its physics are highly volatile and sensitive. The parts of the game when you have to use a forklift to transport pallets—into storage bins or onto a conveyor belt—are the worst. It’s so annoying that there’s a tiny chance my wall doesn’t have a hole in the shape of an Xbox controller.

My actual issue with Ready, Steady, Ship! was the control concerns.

Better with a companion

That is, I believed. Unexpectedly, I found that I was enjoying Ready, Steady, Ship! a lot more after finishing the second set of levels and seeing no cranes or forklifts. This was prior to my former adversary making a comeback. During the campaign, I definitely developed a love/hate connection with myself.

Sadly, I did run into a few issues with Ready, Steady, Ship!. On one level, a platform with a pressure switch triggered lifted a box out of my reach and prevented me from reaching it. Other times, I had to perform an excruciatingly slow reverse manoeuvre to release myself after my forklift became stuck against something. Thankfully, the checkpoint system allows you to retry not just the level but every single stage.

Ship, get set, steer! is ideal for solitary play, but it also allows couch co-op, so you can team up with a friend to be the most proficient logistics team in town. When the number of players is doubled, a different set of levels are available, however they still include themes from the solo campaign. You’ll need to enlist the assistance of a friend in person because there is no online functionality. Co-op is a little more enjoyable because you can work on two conveyor belts at once. Still, it’s not a game-changer because the multiplayer version of the game experiences all of the same highs and lows.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 83%

Story – 75%

Aesthetics – 85%

Content – 80%

Accessibility – 78%

Value – 82%

Overall Rating – 81%

Very Good

Summary: Ship, get set, steer! is a somewhat substantial experience, but it is uneven. While playing with a friend makes it slightly more enjoyable, other games in the genre have done it more skillfully.