Repair Process & Mechanics — Disassemble, Clean, Solder, Reassemble

Overview

Every device in ReStory follows the same repair loop:

Disassemble → Inspect → Clean → Repair/Replace → Reassemble → Return

Understanding the mechanics of each stage — part conditions, the notepad, and the mini-games — is what separates a profitable shop from a broke one. This guide covers the full loop, the soldering mini-game in depth, and the known trouble spots that make certain repairs genuinely hard.

Stage 1: Disassembly

Use the correct screwdriver for every screw. Wrong sizes strip screws, which complicates the repair.
Remove screws in a consistent order and store components neatly.
Use tweezers for delicate cables — especially in phones, which are packed with tiny circuit boards and keypad work.
The game rewards patience, not speed.

Stage 2: Inspection — the Notepad

The To-Do List / notepad on the right side of the screen is your most important tool:

Tracks every part's condition: clean, dirty, or broken
Lists the assembly order for reassembly
Can highlight parts you can't find
The spacebar gives a hint

Golden rule: before ordering any replacement part, check the notepad — the "missing" part may be dirty, sitting elsewhere on the table, or still inside the Sonic Bath.

Stage 3: Cleaning

Most "broken" symptoms in ReStory are actually dirt.

Cleaning Method	Use For	Cost
Brush	Routine cleaning of individual parts	Free (reusable)
Canned air	Large shells, panels, awkward pieces	Consumable — use sparingly
Sonic Bath (ultrasonic)	Up to 3 parts at once, ~30 seconds	Electricity/time

Technique notes:

Cleaning progress only increases when the brush actually touches grime — rotate parts to find hidden dirt on edges, backs and connectors.
Keep dirty and clean parts in separate zones of the workbench.
If cleaning is stuck at 0%, the pointer isn't touching the component — move it directly over the dirt and watch the percentage.
Clean before you replace anything. Dirt, corrosion and sticky buttons cause symptoms that look far worse than they are.

For the full cleaning toolkit — hidden dirt, workbench zones, the stuck-cleaning bug and night grinding — see the Cleaning Guide.

Stage 4: Repair & Replacement

After cleaning, some parts are genuinely broken:

Soldering iron — repairs broken circuit boards and connections. The soldering station is unlocked in the full game (visible but locked in the demo). Jobs requiring soldering only appear after unlock — see Soldering in Depth below.
Replacement parts — from stock (salvaged devices), the marketplace, or licensed manufacturer orders (exact part, guaranteed).
Reprogramming — a rhythm-style mini-game (press keys to fill a bar) that fixes software issues. Unlocks "Hacking 101" on first use. Not profitable to add unprompted — only do it when the order requires it. Full details in the Reprogramming Guide.

Soldering in Depth

Soldering is one of the two skill-based repair steps in ReStory (alongside reprogramming). When a device's problem is a broken circuit board — a snapped wire, a cracked connection, a lifted pad — no amount of cleaning will fix it. You heat up the soldering iron and reconnect the joint.

The good news: soldering is deliberately slow and meditative, matching the game's chill philosophy. "Slowly moving a soldering iron over parts of a circuit board" is how reviewers describe the loop. It's not a twitch test — it's a patience test.

Unlocking the Soldering Iron

The soldering station is not available from the start. In the demo it is visible but locked; in the full game you unlock it as part of normal progression. Buy it through the shop computer (the screwdriver menu in the "Gozilla Fairfox" browser) and upgrade it when affordable — see upgrade priority below. Key consequence (community-confirmed): the game only starts generating soldering jobs after you own the tool. You will not receive a board-repair order you cannot complete — so unlocking the soldering iron early does not create pressure, it creates income.

When Soldering Is Needed

Device Type	Soldering Likelihood	Notes
Consoles (Atari 2600, Nony PlayMachine)	High	Board-heavy internals; classic first soldering jobs
Handheld consoles (Atari Lynx, Patento BS, Pokia Njoy)	Medium-High	Tiny boards, cramped access — tweezers mandatory
Phones (Pokia 3310, Autorolla Razor)	Medium	Keypad membranes are usually just dirty; boards fail less often
Simple devices (Walkie-talkie, Unicorp 99L, Eggotchi)	Low	Few boards, few broken joints

The notepad is the authority: it flags parts as broken vs. dirty. Only genuinely broken parts need the iron.

Technique: Clean Board Repairs

Confirm with the notepad before touching the iron — a part that only needs cleaning will not benefit from solder.
Disassemble carefully to reach the board. Remove screws in a consistent order and lay components out in layers so reassembly follows the same path in reverse.
Take the repair slowly. The game rewards steady, deliberate iron movement over speed.
Reconnect the broken joint(s) — snapped wires and cracked connections are the two patterns reported in the launch build.
Reassemble in notepad order. If a component won't install, a part listed before it is still missing.

Common mistakes:

Soldering a part that was merely dirty (wasted time, unchanged result).
Rushing the disassembly and stripping screws, which turns a board job into a 20-minute headache.
Skipping the notepad's assembly order during rebuild.

Upgrade Priority

Upgraded soldering tools are among the most valuable early-mid game purchases. Each upgrade only saves seconds per repair — but board repairs recur across dozens of jobs, and those seconds compound exactly when your workshop gets busy.

Recommended order (community consensus from launch-week testing):

Brush upgrades — used in literally every job
Licenses — the real progression system; see the License System Guide
Screwdriver upgrades — speed on every disassembly
Soldering iron upgrades — speed on board repairs
Sonic Bath — frees your hands during long repairs

The Achievement

Achievement	Condition
How Did I Do This?	Repair any part using the soldering iron

This unlocks on your first successful solder — no grinding needed. It is one of the earliest story-adjacent achievements and will arrive naturally during your first console repair.

Soldering vs. Reprogramming: Know Which Tool to Reach For

Players frequently confuse the two skill steps because both are "the thing that fixes the part cleaning can't."

Soldering	Reprogramming
Fixes	Broken circuit boards, snapped wires, cracked connections	Software faults — corrupted firmware, bad updates, locked devices
Tool	Soldering iron (unlockable)	Reprogramming kit / Unlock-ToolKit CD
Feel	Slow, deliberate iron movement	Rhythm-style mini-game — press keys to fill a bar
Achievements	How Did I Do This?	Hacking 101, 11001 (25 devices)
Profit value	Required for board repairs — normal income	Cosmetic/creative — does not noticeably raise resale value

The notepad distinguishes the two before you touch a tool: hardware problems appear as broken parts, software problems surface as a software-fault flag on the device. If you are unsure, check the notepad before spending time on the bench.

Stage 5: Reassembly

Follow the notepad's assembly order exactly.
If a component won't install, a piece listed before it is still missing.
After assembly the device is auto-packed — but you must place the package back on the counter so the courier picks it up. No counter placement = no payment.

Stage 6: Delivery & Payment

Walk-in customers: hand over the device at the counter.
Online orders: courier picks up packed devices from the counter; payment + reviews arrive after pickup.
Reviews build your reputation (First Reviews, Getting Popular achievements).

The Repair Process in One Table

Stage	Action	Key Tools	Common Mistake
1. Disassemble	Unscrew case, remove parts	Screwdrivers, tweezers	Rushing → stripped screws
2. Inspect	Check notepad for conditions/order	Notepad, spacebar hint	Skipping the notepad
3. Clean	Brush / air / sonic bath every part	Brush, canned air, Sonic Bath	Buying parts for dirty ones
4. Repair	Solder boards, replace broken parts	Soldering iron, parts stock	Replacing cleanable parts
5. Reassemble	Install in notepad order	Notepad	Ignoring assembly order
6. Return	Package on counter for pickup	Counter	Forgetting to place package

Hardest Repairs & Troubleshooting

ReStory is chill — but some jobs will test your patience. These are the launch build's known trouble spots and how to beat them, based on community testing and reviews.

The Nony Goman (Cassette Player) — Hardest Launch Device

The Nony Goman is the most involved job in the launch catalog: the cassette mechanism packs a lot of small moving parts.

Set aside bench space — don't take other complex jobs while it's open.
Organize parts by zone — keep the mechanism parts separate from case screws.
Use the notepad's assembly order religiously — moving parts must go back in sequence.
Clean every gear and roller — cassette players fail on sticky mechanisms more than dead electronics.
Check the notepad before ordering — a "missing" part may be on the table or in the Sonic Bath.

Phones — Tiny Boards & Keypad Work

Pokia 3310, Pokia Njoy, Autorolla Razor and Eggotchi lean on tiny circuit boards and keypad work:

Tweezers are mandatory for flex cables.
A good magnifier upgrade makes board work dramatically easier.
Rotate parts when cleaning — hidden dirt on edges and connectors causes intermittent "dead" keypads.
Buttons that don't work are usually sticky dirt, not broken membranes — clean first.

Cleaning Stuck at 0%? Here's the Fix

The classic frustration: you brush a part, hear the sound, and the percentage never moves.

The cause: the pointer isn't actually touching the grime — the game may play the sound anyway. The fix: move the brush pointer directly over the visible dirt and watch the percentage. Rotate the part to find dirt on edges, backs and connector pins. If a part is stuck at 74–95% clean, that is a different, rarer issue — see the Cleaning Guide for the full workaround list.

Stripped Screws — Prevention & Handling

Rushing disassembly causes stripped screws, which complicate repairs.

Use the correct screwdriver for every screw.
Remove screws in a consistent order.
If a screw won't turn, don't force it — switch tools and approach from a different angle.
The notepad's hint (spacebar) can point you at what you're missing.

The Missing-Part Trap

A part "won't install" or "can't be found"? Before ordering a replacement:

Check the notepad — it lists assembly order and can highlight parts you can't find.
Scan the workbench — it may be sitting in a separate zone.
Check the Sonic Bath — parts in a cleaning cycle temporarily appear missing.

Order Queue Management (The Real Hard Mode)

The hardest thing in ReStory isn't any single device — it's a cluttered bench:

Similar-looking devices get mixed up; separate projects physically.
Open orders occupy workspace — accept only what you can finish in the 3-day window.
Mix quick cleaning jobs with repairs that use stock parts.
Buy extra storage trays and shelves to keep multiple projects organized.

Quick Reference: Trouble Spots

Problem	Solution
Nony Goman mechanism	Slow, organized, clean every moving part
First soldering job	Unlock station, use upgraded iron, check notepad
Phone keypads dead	Clean sticky dirt, don't buy membranes first
Cleaning stuck at 0%	Pointer must touch grime; rotate the part
Stripped screws	Correct driver, consistent order, don't force
Part "missing"	Notepad → workbench → Sonic Bath
Bench chaos	Fewer open orders + storage trays

Mechanics You Should Know

Online orders: up to 11 per day from the shop computer, each with a 3-day deadline.
The bicycle ends your day, saves progress, and starts a new day. Closing the shutter stops walk-ins (and courier deliveries).
Part conditions are deterministic once inspected — the notepad never lies about broken vs. dirty.
No strict time pressure — work at your own pace.
Soldering open questions (unverified): the exact soldering interaction (iron temperature, joint quality feedback) is reported differently by different players; as of the launch build the community has not mapped a failure state — soldering appears to be a no-fail, time-only step. Whether certain device types require multiple soldering passes on a single board is also unconfirmed — most reports describe a single broken joint per board.

Tools & Equipment Catalog — every tool in detail
Beginner Guide — first-day workflow
Device Database — which devices stress which mechanics
Cleaning Guide — the full cleaning toolkit
Reprogramming Guide — the software-fix counterpart to soldering
Achievement Guide — soldering and repair achievements in context