Demo operational for All Our Broken Parts

• Announcements by Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu
• Published:

Narrative-driven cybernetic surgery simulator coming soon to Steam on Windows PC

In a world populated exclusively by humanoid robots, you’d think having a doctor around would be a bit pointless. Not so in All Our Broken Parts, by developer Tin Bird Studio, an upcoming cybernetic visual novel and surgery simulator, where having a skilled technician around is all that can keep you from being recycled.

You play Ruth, a medical android unit flagged as a “problem element” after she attempted “a forbidden procedure on a patient afflicted by a mysterious plague.” In the aftermath of the incident, she has been reassigned to a “nameless clinic” in a run-down part of town. But just when she has resigned herself to obscurity, the sickness she tried to cure re-emerges and Ruth now has to unearth the reasons for this plague while helping her robotic patients “suffering from malfunctions, pain, and nightmares.” As she gets to know them better, their treatments “become personal stories about love, loss, work, memory, and identity,” and gradually their tales bring to light the city’s hidden secrets. In the meantime, Ruth must deal with “increasingly harsh corporate directives” from the company that pulls the strings for all robot life in the megacity.

Described as “VA-11 Hall-A meets Trauma Center,” All Our Broken Parts is a “story-driven cyborg doctor game” presented through an anime-inspired, 2D cyberpunk pixel art aesthetic. The game is part visual novel, with text progressing through story sequences as you click through lines of dialogue, and part surgery simulator in which you perform medical procedures on the five different androids who come to the clinic. Your first job to determine their needs and the issues they’re experiencing. Every model has a unique purpose and problem, whether it’s a bartender unit who is “suddenly unable to taste ‘flavor’” or a “sales unit trapped in a loop of endless jokes.” 

Surgery itself is a hands-on experience of “tactile repair and diagnostics.” You’ll use your screwdrivers and “stethowire” to jack into various modules of the complex computing centers for each patient, from memories to logic to vision. Each module will reveal if any abnormalities are present, which narrows down the possible culprit for whatever is causing the malfunction, allowing you to perform whatever procedures are necessary to repair it. However, resolving defects often requires unfortunate sacrifice, such as needing to sever an art android’s memory circuit to save her ability to paint with the right colors. And what of the larger illness that seems to be spreading through the city? Why are there “nearly forgotten dreams within the prototypes hidden deep inside your patients’ minds," and why can’t these androids “stop dreaming"?

There is currently no confirmed launch date for the full robotic medical drama of All Our Broken Parts, but there is a demo on Steam available now for Windows PC that will give you a sizable first look at what to expect from the final release.

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