Repairing Electronics in ReStory Is Relaxing, Nostalgic and Surprisingly Rewarding

I’m drawn to the current era of simulation games, not complex driving or flying simulators, but rather games that make the act of something mundane enjoyable, immersive, and often relaxing. PowerWash Simulator 2 is the perfect example of this kind of game, but I think ReStory has the potential to be the next best thing.

Disassembling, cleaning, and repairing electronics is the core of ReStory’s gameplay, and I had a chance to check out a good chunk of its repairing magic.

Repairing Pokia Phones and Joysticks

You begin ReStory as the new owner of a rundown electronics repair shop in Tokyo that you will clean up and restore to working order. The first objective is to clean a Pokia phone, which is essentially the Nokia 3310, an iconic device from the early 2000s, the era the developers are targeting for the electronics featured here.

Taking apart the phone feels as close to the real thing as possible, and I can attest to this because it is exactly what I would do as a kid, just to see what was inside, or what I’d see the repair shop guy do.

Once you have all the parts disassembled, you can clean anything that is dirty, replace the broken part, reassemble it, and turn it on to see if it works. If you did a good job, you will get the cash and a satisfied customer. Repairing these electronics is not the only responsibility you have.

The money you earn pays the rent for the shop, the internet, and the delivery service. The developers have presented all this in a fairly immersive manner by highlighting your workbench and a window through which you can speak to customers.

Items become more complex as you progress, and you will need to order the specific parts using the browser on your computer using GOZILLA FAIRFOX, by the way. While you wait for those parts, you can shelve the project, which turns into a cute little box to be placed on your shelf, and work on something else in the meantime.

There are officially licensed Atari products in the game as well, such as the Atari CX40 joystick, which I cleaned and repaired by replacing its cable and button by extracting those from another joystick. You can also store parts from devices for later use if there is a possibility. It really does feel like a workspace with all the actions and utilities you’d expect.

By the time I finished the demo, I was hungry for more devices to disassemble and repair. Being able to take apart these things and figure out what’s wrong without the fear of actually ruining them is the recipe for something really special.

ReStory Release Date

ReStory is coming to Steam in 2026, and you can add it to your wishlist now. Check out the announcement trailer below:

Based on what I have played so far, ReStory is definitely something I am looking forward to next year, and I hope to spend hours repairing all sorts of things.