I’m one of the very few people who didn’t play the first House Flipper game. It always appealed to me, with its chilled vibe and seemingly open options when it came to tarting up a run down building, but I just never got round to it. But, like a midly stained angel rising from the pile of discarded packets of biscuits (I know, I need to work on my analogies) House Flipper 2 has arrived, giving me the chance to really get stuck in and see not only what the fuss was about, but what extra fuss has been generated in the new game.
The general idea behind House Flipper 2, for those unaware, is to keep tidying up and renovating houses and other buildings, starting with a small untidy bungalow and using your hard earned profits to work your way up the ladder to bigger and better places. This constant cycle of buying and flipping (a term for quickly moving on a property for profit) is the core loop of the game, and while the long term objective is to make your fortune and find more and more exciting projects, there’s absolutely no rush. There’s no time limits, nobody chasing you to do things in a hurry, you move at your own pace. You don’t even need to perfectly sort out a property to move on to the next, although obviously the better the job you do, the more you’ll be getting rewarded at the end.
Initially you start off with a small property with rubbish scattered around, evidence of creatures getting in and running riot, grubby windows and an opportunity to try and fling full bin bags into a bin from ever-increasing distance. You’ll unlock new cleaning tools as you go, letting you get your windows, floors and everything else looking sparkly in no time. You also need to track down items to sell while tidying up, making you a few more moneys while you try and make the place look respectable. It’s a nice intro, and while it can be tough to find that one final paw print, or the one final thing you need to sell in the bathroom, you can activate a Powerwash Sim-like yellow glow around those areas that you might have missed, which is handy if you’re struggling to get that final item to 100% a level.
The further you get, the more you get to do. You’ll be knocking walls down, deciding on new decorations, buying the right furniture for the occasion, and generally trying to fulfil your client’s requirements while putting your own personal stamp on things. You’ll need to chop down overgrowing vines that are creeping through the windows, remove rough wallpaper and rugs, basically giving yourself a blank canvas to work your magic on, like a cross between Picasso and Kevin McCloud. The sense of satisfaction when you’re finished grows as you take on larger and more challenging renovations, and looking back to the state they were in before you got involved is an amazing moment most of the time.
And just when you thought you were seeing everything, the Sandbox mode flags you down and lets you build you own properties from scratch and decorate them as you see fit. Want to build a replica of your own house, or plan out your garden gaming cave that you’ve always promised yourself? You can do that, then play around with whatever decoration you want. It’s a long winded task, but just as chilled as the main game, and I can only begin to imagine some of the things that people will be able to make with this mode.
So if you missed out on the first House Flipper title, or want even more of the same satisfying fix of cleaning up and redecorating, House Flipper 2 is right here for you. It’s a really nice, chilled title that could easily fill several lazy afternoons. It would definitely be nice to see even more customisation options to really allow you to experiment and be the next design guru, but even so I’ve really enjoyed my time flipping houses.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to dunk my paint roller again.
Reviewed on PS5
