The Stretchers Review

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: The Stretchers
Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Website: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-stretchers-switch/
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 3
Release Date: 8/11/2019
Price: £17.99 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

If there’s one thing the Switch does surprisingly well, ever since Snipperclips, it’s multiplayer puzzle games. 

The Stretchers is a game where you have to stop the nefarious Doctor Brain from making people dizzy. To do this, you need to collect all the Dizzies, put them in your van, and drive your van to a hospital where they can cure the dizzies. Rinse and repeat until you beat all the levels, with a few side-quests along the way. 

The game isn’t that complex, so neither is its puzzles, most of it is just finding out the right thing to push or pull. It does leave a lot of the levels feeling very similar to one another. Since there’s a recommended time limit (you can keep playing the level after it runs out but you lose out on points), half the thought process goes into trying to streamline the rescuing as best as possible. 

The levels are pretty fun, it creates a good balance between not monotonous but not so hard. This makes the game a fun pick-up and play for the Switch, whether you’re alone or with a friend. 

When you’re by yourself, you have to control two characters at once, very similar to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It makes the game harder, but it doesn’t ruin the main fun, because it’s not too hard to get the hang of.

Even if you’re playing solo, you can easily control the hospital truck, as there’s only one. There’s even a bit of an open-world to explore, and you can do jumps and break stuff. In its own right, it’s fun, and you unlock more of it as you progress.

The music was nice, nothing memorable, but kept interesting throughout. The style was very simple but bright and kept the game looking interesting and distinct. The game ran smoothly, I didn’t experience anything bad technically (except for a bit of Joy-Con drift but that’s not the game’s fault).

The game is a fun little experience. It’s nice to play here and there, whether it’s one or two players. The game can have experiences feel similar after a bit of gameplay, so it’s very much a turn your brain off a bit and just enjoy for a while sort of game.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can purchase The Stretchers from the Nintendo eShop at the following link, https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/The-Stretchers-1655738.html#gameDetails