What A Flippin’ Game!
In 2018, House Flipper swept its way into the hearts of many simulation-focused gamers. At the end of last year, House Flipper 2 was released on PC. Now, just a few months later, the game has come to consoles. So, is this simulator sequel worth your flippin’ time, and does it play well on consoles?
Firstly, I have to give a massive shout-out to the two development studios; this is how you translate a PC-centric game to a controller. Having all your main actions on the right trigger and using a radial menu to select different tools; it is beautifully simple to control on a gamepad. There can be some small issues when trying to place certain items or move things due to the fact the controller doesn’t have the accuracy of a mouse, but this can be somewhat alleviated by adjusting the sensitivity in the settings. One of the main reasons I simply couldn’t get into Planet Zoo: Console Edition was due to a less-than-stellar console approach. Here, House Flipper 2 suffers from no such issue.
For those of you who played the first game, a lot will feel familiar. Like the first installment in the campaign mode, you do odd jobs for people around town to save up money to buy a house, which you can eventually flip for a profit. It’s an engaging cycle of gameplay, and there is something oddly relaxing about this loop. From painting walls to filling up garbage bags, to mini-games that have you putting together picture frames and more, there is not one aspect of the core gameplay I wanted to avoid. There is this constant sense of progression that helps me stay engaged even through the more mundane tasks. This is in thanks in part to the fact that you earn skill points, which allow you to upgrade your growing arsenal of tools, from a bigger paintbrush to fitting more rubbish in a bag and more. This means that as you get more tasks to do on different odd jobs, you will unlock new tools to do different tasks and improve existing tools, allowing you to flip those houses even more quickly.
Personally, I recommend you start off with the campaign mode since it does a great job of slowing down the introduction to all of the different tools and tasks you might need to flip a house fully. If you are a more creative person who has become an expert at House Flipper, you might choose to jump straight into the brand new sandbox mode available here in House Flipper 2. That said, since this sandbox mode lets you immediately let loose with all the tools to build whatever kind of house you like, some will no doubt find this overwhelming, but it also makes the entire experience more about pure fun. Think Minecraft creative mode and that’s essentially what this sandbox mode is.
On a technical front, I’ve had no issues while playing on Xbox Series X, and given the graphical improvement over the previous game, it was nice to see a solid framerate. It’s not just the improved visuals; the audio also sounds much cleaner and crisper. Although I really enjoy playing this game while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, it’s the perfect game for that kind of multitasking.
So, is this sequel worth your time? The simple answer is yes. It may be similar to the first, but improved presentation and a new sandbox mode that provides a place to completely gamify this simulation-first experience make it a worthy addition to the franchise. This is not only an improvement for existing players but also more welcoming to new ones. House Flipper 2 has become my new chill-out game, and what a flippin’ game it is!
Developer - Frozen District, Empyrean
Publisher - Frozen District, PlayWay
Released - December 14th, 2023 (PC), April 10th, 2024 (Console).
Available On - Windows PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X
Rated - (E) - Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X.
Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
I’m Jordan I have a background in game design and am deeply passionate about accessibility in gaming. My favourite games/franchises include Shenmue, Red Dead Redemption 2, Plague Tale: Requiem, Metal Gear Solid 3, Yakuza, Splinter Cell, and Assassin’s Creed.