Can you fix my Nony Walkman?
Have you ever found something that you had no earthly idea you were even looking for? Well, I have done just that when I discovered ReStory: Chill Electronics Repair during the last Steam NextFest. They had me hooked with the elevator pitch of running a repair shop in the early 2000’s. But this isn’t just Ted’s PC Repair, no; your repair shop is going to fix Xbox’s, Atari’s, PSP, those big body Nokia phones; you know the ones, we all had one. I mean this game is just a bowl of delicious nostalgia and I couldn’t wait to dive into the full game.
Taking over the little shop from the previous owners, players will first need to clean and straighten everything. Having a neat and tidy shop will award players with ‘Zen’ points which will help to attract customers to your store. But it isn’t long before you will meet the first of many colorful characters. The first being the landlord, who tells you about some ruckus that happened the day before, after being a dick and also telling you when rent is due, he ends up asking to fix is phone which is one of those big body Nokia phones with the rubber buttons. You remember, the ones we all played Snake on and had that one friend who could actually finish the game; I wasn’t that friend.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
If you were like me and were the tech support for your friend group, then taking apart these various machines should be easy as they all ae designed like you remember. I fixed so many of those Nokia phones in my youth I was pretty much able to take it apart and put it back without some of the assistance the game provides. But when I mean it is realistic, I mean players will have to use their screwdriver (mouse click) to remove them and put them back. Initially this is slow because you are using a manual, but player can upgrade to a ratcheting screwdriver and even an electric one for almost instant unscrewing…descrewing?
Well anyway, players will find a phone number in the back of the phone written on a post it. One of the things I didn’t expect from this game was the branching story options, players can decide to give him the phone number or not mention it at all. Later you will meet a hapless romantic who is looking for advice on whether to move on to his crush by presenting her with her phone he wants you to fix. Ohhh there is a bucket with a taped-on smiley face who asks you to fix his Atari joystick because he is in a Pac-Man tournament. ReStory has quite a cast of characters that each have stories to tell and because players have agency in how their story turns out it leads to a lot of replayability with the game. Not to mention there are a ton of devices to repair I mean the big yellow Motorola radios, Atari Lynx, Nintendo Game Boy (the OG); if you have nostalgia for this era, I can almost guarantee you will find a device that you remember taking apart yourself.
All of this is in addition to the internet repair orders that come in via email. Players will have access to a desktop where they can accept or decline them as they see fit. This is also where you will go to order parts, other devices as well as items to decorate your store and make it really an expression of you. The best thing about this game is the chill vibe, there is no deadline put on anything. Sure, if you take longer than 3 days with someone’s device they will leave you a bad rating; but you can recover from that. Adding to that chill vibe is the lo-fi beats that plays from the boom box, and one of my critiques with the game is I would like to have more control over the music. Ideally, I’d love the ability to set a play list because I vibe with some songs more than others.
Luckily that vibe carries over even to the controls for the game. Everything is easily selectable with the mouse, various cleaning tools just need to be clicked to equip and then players can dust, solder or whatever is required of them. Even when disassembling devices ReStory makes it easy to recognize which part needs to be taken out in what order, and equally as easy when reassembling. It wasn’t long before I was rebuilding Atari 2600 consoles with muscle memory. This game is all about good vibes and not stressing you out, so nothing is overly difficult.
At this point in 2026 I have played a lot of video games for review, and I haven’t even begun to think about my GOTY list. But I can tell you right now, without a shadow of a doubt that ReStory: Chill Electronics Repair will make my list. I found myself just enthralled with the gameplay and its loop; earning money to get better licenses, especially for stuff I actually owned. I cannot recommend ReStory enough, its blend of great vibes, chill music and wacky customers is just what the doctor ordered for a quiet night in.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
