Start with a clear build goal
Brick Garage opens on the main game page, with the Build section ready before the lower-priority panels. You can begin from Free Build, use a guided starter, open the Build Library, or continue a draft restored from this browser. A starter is useful when you want to learn the controls immediately; Free Build is better when you already have a shape or vehicle type in mind.
Before adding detail, decide what the first test should prove. A low road vehicle might target stable distance. A utility machine might focus on a wide supported frame. An aircraft-inspired display build may use wings and canopy parts even if it is not meant to behave like a road chassis. The builder allows creative machines, but the Ramp model is tuned around a prepared chassis and aggregate vehicle statistics.
Use a simple sequence: establish a foundation, add running gear, connect functional parts, shape the body, and finish with readable detail. This order keeps the lower layers visible while they are still easy to correct. It also gives support and socket guidance enough structure to evaluate the part you are trying to place.
Use the builder controls
Select a part and place it
The palette is divided into Basic and Special tabs. Basic parts cover useful blocks, plates, slopes, and round forms. Special parts cover functional and shaped families such as wheels, axles, steering, connectors, glass, aero pieces, tracks, springs, lamps, seats, service equipment, aircraft forms, and spacecraft details. Search, role filters, suggested presets, and a recently used row help narrow the catalogue. Selecting a part does not place it; it prepares that part for the next valid location.
Choose the Place tool, move the pointer over the floor or the top of an existing part, and inspect the preview before clicking. The status rail reports the active layer, coordinates, orientation, support quality, and conflicts. A preview can be fully supported, partially supported, floating, or blocked. In relaxed support mode, an unsupported experiment can still be placed when it is otherwise valid. In strict mode, floating placement is rejected. The mode changes a builder rule, not the Ramp result directly.
Move, rotate, duplicate, and remove
Choose Move and select an existing part in the scene. The nudge panel moves it along the X and Z grid axes or between vertical layers. The toolbar can rotate a selected part, duplicate it into nearby free space, or delete it. The Camera tool changes dragging to orbit control, and the mouse wheel zooms the view. Use the focus control when the vehicle drifts outside a useful camera framing.
The preview rotation control turns the part you are about to place by ninety degrees. The selected-part rotation action turns a part already in the build when the new footprint is clear. Rotation can be blocked if occupied cells would overlap. Check long plates, wings, axles, and offset shapes from more than one camera angle because their footprint may extend farther than the visible center point suggests.
Stack and connect
Snap Best looks for a supported general placement. The separate Socket action looks for a compatible functional hotspot and aligns the selected wheel, axle, steering piece, or connector to the best candidate. Paired markers identify the candidate socket and target socket before placement. Exact socket connections can intentionally share their functional connection cell, but unrelated occupied cells remain protected from collision.
Use small nudge steps for manual correction, Same stack controls for repeated copies, and Smart stack when the builder can choose a safe useful position. A connector is considered ready only when it makes the bridge expected by its connection role. A nearby part may provide support without being an exact functional match, so read the socket label instead of judging only by appearance.
Undo, save, export, and return
Undo and redo cover normal builder actions, including placement, movement, rotation, deletion, clearing, and socket placement. Use them for quick corrections, but do not treat the history stack as a permanent backup. The active draft is stored in local browser storage, and named designs can be saved through the build manager. Saving a loaded named design updates that design instead of making an unwanted duplicate.
Duplicate a named design when you want to test two competing ideas. For example, keep one version with a lower cabin and another with a wider frame. Descriptive names make ramp comparisons easier to interpret than a sequence of anonymous copies. Browser storage can fail or be cleared, so export important designs as validated JSON files. Imported designs are checked before they enter the workspace, and older supported design data is migrated locally.
There is no Brick Garage account or cloud synchronization in the current release. Drafts, designs, Career progress, and Ramp history belong to the current browser profile and origin. Private browsing, clearing site data, or moving to another device may remove them. Keep exported JSON outside the browser when a design matters to you.
Prepare and run a Ramp test
Select Prepare Test after the build contains at least one part. Preparation creates a frozen snapshot containing the parts and calculated statistics used by the test. If you edit the vehicle afterward, the game marks that the build changed after preparation. Prepare a new snapshot before the next comparison so the visible build and the tested configuration refer to the same version.
The Test panel shows the active inputs and a preflight assessment. Warnings can identify missing or partial wheels, weak drivetrain support, low stability, heavy mass, tall proportions, or a low aero margin. Warnings guide the next decision but do not prevent a run. Choose the start push, select Follow Cam or Orbit Cam, and run the test. Retry uses the prepared build again; Reset returns the test to its initial state.
The current Ramp mode uses one simulated chassis collider. Wheels, axles, steering, drivetrain, aero, brakes, mass, and stability influence shared launch, friction, and damping formulas. It does not simulate each brick as an independent rigid body, real tyre deformation, flexible suspension, structural breakage, or material strength. Treat results as consistent feedback inside Brick Garage, never as engineering or safety predictions.
After a run, read the finish reason before chasing the score. A stall, fall, recovery, time limit, or clean distance result points to a different problem. The result card reports distance, maximum speed, score, and a tuning suggestion. Best-run comparison shows how the current wheels, drive, stability, mass, aero, and braking values differ from the locally saved best. Change one important variable, prepare again, and repeat with the same start push when you want a fair comparison.
Advance Garage Career
Garage Career turns the learning path into ten missions and five ranks, from Pit Rookie through Garage Ace. Missions are derived from current core build statistics, prepared snapshots, and recorded Ramp runs. They reward actions such as establishing a working chassis and completing relevant tests. Career XP is not a purchased shortcut and does not represent an online competitive rank.
Completed mission identifiers persist in local storage, and a finished run can update progress immediately in the same tab. If storage is unavailable, Career can continue for the session but cannot promise persistence. Current public core parts and templates remain Career eligible. Preview or optional-content experiments use a separate sandbox boundary and cannot replace the core best, add core XP, or become a core challenge baseline.
Plan the next run
- Save a clearly named baseline before changing the structure.
- Identify one weak observation: support, socket fit, stability, mass, speed, or aero balance.
- Make one small edit and keep the launch setting unchanged.
- Prepare a fresh snapshot, read the preflight notes, and run again.
- Compare the finish reason and distance before treating the score as the whole story.
For a closer look at the catalogue and connection roles, continue with the Brick Garage parts guide. When you are ready to assemble a vehicle, return to the game.