Bob Help Them is a strategy simulation game for the Nintendo Switch and PC developed and published by No Gravity Games, and follows Bob as he completes tasks requested by the local townsfolk. There are 35 levels players will progress through using strategy and time management skills. While Bob Help Them appears to be an interesting game when first getting started, it is unfortunately lacking. It is short, simple, and feels better-suited for a phone app instead of a full-on console release.
Overall gameplay in Bob Help Them is simple and easy to learn, especially for farm simulation fans. The game is broken into short levels, with each possessing a time limit. The amount of time varies per level, ranging from one minute to seven. During the level, Bob must fill all the requests of the different NPCs on the map, which primarily requires running back and forth to resource spawns like chicken coops, fruit trees, or processing machines. The NPCs will request different resources, including apples, wood, ore, and fish. Some tasks require the player to process resources into refined goods like metal ingots or lumber. Bob must complete every task before the timer runs out to finish the level successfully, with the amount of time it takes to complete the level determining how many of the 3 maximum potential stars the player will receive as a grade.
Managing time while gathering and delivering resources for requests is the biggest challenge players will face during Bob Help Them. While some resources take almost no time to collect, processed goods require about one second per item, and chopping wood and fishing are similarly timed. Players will want to balance putting items into the campfire or processor, with collecting other easier resources, to complete everything they must do on time.
While Bob Help Them is affordable for a console game, it lacks the needed content players might expect when settling down to play a simulation or strategy game. While it would likely do well as a simple phone game, where gameplay could be done in spurts when a player has free time, it doesn't offer enough to be satisfying as a full simulation game. After a few levels, tasks become repetitive and boring, and there is an overall lack of incentive to keep players engaged.
Bob Help Them is likely not the right fit for fans of simulation games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons or Stardew Valley, but it could be good for those who enjoy quick, simple strategy games with easy puzzles. While the overall idea and gameplay objectives are cute and quirky, there is room for improvement if the developers decide to further expand the game in future update patches. Doing so could make Bob Help Them more appealing for its players, but for now, there's not much of a reason to engage with its charming but overly simplistic premise.
Bob Help Them is available now on the PC and Nintendo Switch. A Nintendo Switch code was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.