To simply put it, House Flipper is a game in which you renovate properties, cleaning them up, decorating, buying furniture, and even smashing down walls before putting your hard graft up for auction. It may sound like a peculiar set-up, but it’s the very epitome of a guilty pleasure.
Your venture in house flipping begins by carrying out menial jobs to earn money, with a rundown shack acting as both your home and office. That money is then used to fund your first abandoned house, leading the way to more lucrative, multifloored, properties. The properties within your budget are pretty grim to begin with, coated in filth.
The first few jobs are essentially tutorials teaching the tricks of the trade, as well as how to purchase furniture via a faux phone app, paint and decorate, and (tediously) install radiators, baths and toilets. Plug sockets sometimes need repairing too, and much later plastering comes into play, adding a new mechanic.
New tasks appear on a laptop within your shack, via emails from the varied cast of characters. Everyone from elderly couples to highflying bachelors are on your client list. While each has a personality, demanding and expecting different things, it’s hard to create a bond with them. That said, trying to sell at least one property to each provides something to focus on.
The majority of playtime is spent painstakingly cleaning, painting, and decorating – tasks which become easier and less time-consuming after gaining upgrades. I’m also thankful for the option to sell a property when it’s only 75% renovated because sometimes it’s tricky to track down that last patch of dirt. Not that there’s any pressure, I should note. This is an experience as relaxed as they come.
Those well-versed with the PC gaming scene may be familiar with House Flipper. While this Switch conversion brings convenience due to its portability, it doesn’t top the PC original. The controls here can be finicky, making painting walls in their entirety tricky. It seems there’s always one bit that can’t be easily reached. As it’s impossible to adjust movement settings, you’ll just have to get used to madly spinning around.
Installing radiators – as well as other bathroom utilities – can be a drag too. All fastenings must be manually screwed in. It’s every bit time-consuming as it is boring.
Despite some annoyances and tasks that drag on longer than a snail climbing a rock, I still found myself lost in this game for hours, renovating houses and making everything neat and orderly. If you have a passion for making things spick and span, give House Flipper a try now it’s on Switch. If the whole house flipping aspect doesn’t entice, it also has a sandbox mode with numerous decorations and unlimited money to beautify a giant dream house. Well, a regular size dream house. Somebody take these cleaning products away…