Bridge or Bust

As we approach the end of the Easter holidays, the last entry in our Easter Egg-stravaganza is going to be Bridge or Bust, a solo or cooperative bridge-building game from Upper Story.

I’m going to start this by being really honest upfront, Bridge or Bust is wonderful. It’s made to an extremely high standard, it works incredibly well, and this is the sort of thing you could happily use as a teaching tool at university level when explaining the difference between tension and compression, and how different types of bridges work, it really is that well made.

The whole thing is presented in a fantastic box with a brilliant story, and if your child is at all interested in engineering, this is an absolute must-buy. The reason I’m leading with such a strong recommendation is that Bridge or Bust is not cheap, even on sale you’re probably looking at over £100. But I’ve never shied away from expensive games, and I’ve spent far more than that on special Kickstarter editions. What you’re getting here, in my opinion, is absolutely worth the price of entry.

From the moment you open the box and are greeted by the lovely puzzle book that introduces you to how Bridge or Bust works, you know you’re in for a treat. The whole thing is told through a story set five years after humans have left the world. On a small island in the Pacific, dogs have survived and built their own civilisation, running things much like humans once did. In the distance, they spot another island where things are still working properly, and so you take on the role of a team of dogs building bridges from island to island to reach it.

The whole experience is presented as a comic, with each puzzle forming part of the story. There’s a beautiful map page where you can flip down completed sections to track which puzzles you’ve finished and which you haven’t, all on the journey to the dog park, including some seriously challenging bonus puzzles once you’ve got the hang of things.

From a components point of view, this is outstanding. The wooden beams act as your construction materials, they connect together and can be adjusted in length using a small screw mechanism. These are brilliantly engineered so that when they’re put under too much pressure, either in tension or compression, they fail realistically, but without the entire bridge collapsing into a mess. You can simply reset, relieve the pressure, and go again without rebuilding everything from scratch.

At the same time, the game naturally teaches you about compression and tension, and how to balance both when constructing a bridge. As you progress, you’re introduced to different bridge types and mechanics, starting with truss bridges and moving on to arches and more complex structures.

The story is engaging, the steady introduction of new ideas keeps things fresh, and completing a puzzle genuinely feels like an achievement. There’s also rarely just one solution, you can absolutely over-engineer things if you want, but that can often backfire when unnecessary weight causes the structure to fail.

I don’t often talk about my life outside of Little Board Gamers, but alongside reviewing games I’m also a Design and Technology teacher, and this is genuinely something I would use with higher-level students to teach forces, structures, and engineering principles. It’s that good.

And that’s really how you need to look at this, it’s a STEM-focused game that absolutely works for adults, but in the hands of an inquisitive child it can hold attention for a very long time.

The boys have spent several afternoons with this over the past few weeks, working through most of the standard bridges and learning a huge amount along the way.

Coming back to the cost, you’re generally looking at around £140. I know that sounds like a lot, but genuinely, what you get in the box justifies that price. I completely understand why it costs what it does, and I have no qualms recommending it. It also feels like the kind of product that, if kept in good condition, will hold its resale value well.

I appreciate the price will be too steep for some, but if you’re looking for a standout birthday present for an inquisitive, budding engineer, this really is outstanding. They do produce two other games which are at lower price points and is worth mentioning that over the next month or so I’ll be covering those two more games from Upper Story.


I’m spacing them out a bit, but one is Turing Tumble, which teaches computer logic, and the other is Spintronics, which mechanically explores electronics.

Disclaimer – A copy of Bridge or Bust was kindly provided by Upper Story. We have not been paid for this review, and all thoughts and opinions are our own.