Poly Bridge 3

Poly Bridge 3 returns to the genre the series essentially defined: build a bridge, watch vehicles cross it (or fail to), iterate. The third game keeps everything that worked about the previous entries and adds an open-world campaign structure on top — over a dozen worlds and 100-plus levels organized around themes like jumps, hydraulics, vaulting and 'normal' bridges that turn out not to be normal at all.

The sandbox side gives complete creative freedom for players who want to push their engineering past the puzzle constraints. Designs can be uploaded to the Steam Workshop, where community-made levels and creations have produced essentially infinite content. Cut-throat leaderboards and histograms rank the most efficient solutions, and the gallery system lets players show off their work to everyone else.

The custom physics engine is the technical signature. Total control, reliability and accuracy mean your bridges perform consistently every time, which is what bridge-puzzle players have always wanted from the genre. Mods extend the game's customization further — modify settings, add new options, change defaults, translate the game with community language packs. User-generated vehicles, boats, planes, decorations and textured custom shapes can be made and shared.

New features add real depth. Build Zones constrain construction to specific areas, like a reverse boat puzzle. Pre-Built Materials ship with levels and can either help or hinder your design — you have to work around them or incorporate them. A new Foundation material supports long bridges with strong stress reduction at key points. The combination keeps Poly Bridge 3 the engineering puzzle game that other engineering puzzle games measure themselves against.