A list of tasks will appear in the right side of the screen, and this updates as you walk from room to room to reflect what needs to be done in the room you’re currently in – also appreciated. After reading an email sometimes rife with typos and questionable grammar (whether as a touch of realism or lapse in editing, I can’t be entirely sure), you can accept the job and be conveniently teleported to the job site. It’s just too bad that House Flipper mostly focuses on the drudgery involved in actually cleaning up and renovating a home, rather than the fantasy aspects that I suspect many gamers enjoy more.įor instance, you might accept a job to clean up someone’s garage or paint a person’s bedroom. I’ve spent enough hours in The Sims franchise on simulated home improvement tasks and budgeting for these projects that I’m sure I could thoroughly enjoy a simulation that focuses on those aspects of The Sims, even without the human simulation part. For all the promising marketing copy touting repair mechanics, interior design, and budget management, House Flipper sadly ends up falling short.ĭon’t get me wrong – I think House Flipper’s premise has a great deal of potential. Even if you enjoy the intersection of HGTV and games (e.g., games, such as The Sims or Animal Crossing, which significantly involve interior design, renovation, and/or other relatively mundane tasks), House Flipper may not hold your interest long unless you appreciate the meditative nature of repetitive simple tasks and don’t mind relatively simplistic gameplay or lower budget graphics.
The issue with House Flipper, though, is that it’s probably only truly enjoyable for a very specific niche audience. One of the game’s strengths is that it seems accessible to people of varying skill levels and familiarity with games.
For example, my still-illiterate preschooler (who plays some videogames but isn’t coordinated or focused enough to play more involved games yet) was able to play much of this game without too much difficulty and with minimal help from me. Generally, the controls are pretty straightforward, reasonably serviceable, and probably simple enough even for someone who doesn’t usually play games to figure out. I’m not sure if the game can be manually saved, but it seemed to auto-save or ask if I wanted to save if I was returning to the office before completing a job.
#House flipper office upgrade#
The top trigger buttons are used for most of the other tasks (such as tool selection and interacting with objects), the minus button is used to access your tablet (which allows you to purchase supplies and furniture, as well as to upgrade your skills), and the plus button accesses a general menu for things like game settings or quitting to the main menu. The left analog stick moves your guy around in first person, right analog stick moves the camera, and there are typically on-screen prompts for the other controls. There isn’t much of an actual tutorial to the game, but the basic interface is fairly familiar and easy to pick up, especially if you’ve played other first-person-perspective games. Besides earning you some money, these jobs also serve as the game’s tutorial by easing you into various tools and skills, such as painting walls, buying and placing furniture, and demolishing and building walls. Conveniently, there’s a laptop that you use to check for client emails and accept odd jobs to earn the cash you need. I was a bit surprised to start off with a pretty generous chunk of money that could be used immediately on fixing up the gross office if I’d wanted, but as can be expected, it wasn’t enough dough to actually flip a house. The game starts you off with minimal introduction or instruction in a grungy little starting office (which is probably also your home, given the nasty unmade bed right inside the front door, as well as a rather unprofessional poster that, while thankfully not X-rated, would quickly earn someone a sexual harassment complaint at my real-life workplace). If not, though, I’ll be blunt and save you some time: this is not the kind of game that’ll change your mind about a genre you didn’t think you’d like. If that sounds potentially like your jam, there’s a chance you’d find this game entertaining.
#House flipper office simulator#
Empyrean’s House Flipper is pretty much what you’d expect from its title: a simulator in which you play the part of a handyman/home renovator, cleaning up and remodeling homes for various clients or flipping homes for profit.