I like to think of myself as an organized person, especially when I’m playing video games. I neatly stack items in my inventory, and make sure everything looks clean and symmeterical. My room in real life tells a different story though, and that’s why House Flipper 2 allows me to ignore my responsibilities by letting me fix up houses in more ways than one. In my review, I’ll see if this sequel is the next big simulation fix you need.
Clean and Fix
House Flipper 2 has two game modes to choose from, Story and Sandbox. The Sandbox mode is the new addition to the series and allows you to create entire houses yourself and design them in any way you want. The campaign mode is similar to the first title where you’re slowly introduced to more complex jobs and tools required to complete those.
You start with the ability to clean stains out of walls, floors, and different objects. You also have an unlimited supply of trash bags that carry junk, and you’ll unlock a vacuum for things you just can’t pick up otherwise. Going from room to room and getting rid of spills, splashes, and dirt is pretty relaxing, and the controls are easy to get used to.
You can also sell unwanted items in the house, and depending on which tool you currently have equipped, a simple press of the Q button highlights anything you might have missed. It’s a relaxing loop that feels rewarding thanks to the constant visual feedback of your efforts.
Seeing how you tidied up a literal raccoon-infested room is gratifying, which brings us to the actual decoration and renovation part. Look, I’m not much of a decorator, and usually just place things in order where I think they’d fit, but if you’re creative, you’ll have a lot of fun fixing the place up.
Sandbox Mode and Replayability
Arguably, the biggest addition is the Sandbox Mode, which gives you an empty canvas to build your house on. It’s a bit daunting at first, but the tutorial walks you through the building process. Again, there are no restrictions here, and you can create and decorate the house of your dreams. You can choose the setting, and the size of the plot, and have basically everything at your disposal.
I like how almost every activity in the game feels different enough that you aren’t repeating tasks. Yes, the overall loop tends to become a bit repetitive over time, but if you enjoy that loop, there’s enough polish and variety in there to last you dozens of hours. The replayability comes from these tasks, and House Flipper 2 does a great job of keeping you busy.
There are different objects you’ll need to assemble as well with neat little mini-games to keep things fresh and engaging. Thankfully, the game doesn’t penalize you for having terrible taste, and you can technically finish the mission by doing the bare minimum tasks.
This does reduce how much you make from the job, and I’m not sure why anyone would be playing this if they aren’t invested in the idea of organization, cleaning, and eventually flipping houses.
Presentation and Performance
House Flipper 2 is certainly an improvement over the first one. It looks similar to other busy-work games like PowerWash Simulator. It doesn’t have the most fancy lighting or the best textures, but there’s enough variety and detail to paint a believable world. You can interact with practically every physical object, and manipulate it. I’m sure a lot is going on under the hood to ensure everything naturally reacts to interaction.
While it certainly looks decent enough, I’m not too sure about the performance. The game has upscalers including DLSS and FSR, and even though I was getting enough FPS, it never felt super smooth to me. Rivatuner confirmed my fears, and there is constant micro-stuttering despite a higher framerate.
During the campaign, you’ll often get calls from the clients whose houses you’re working at, and they’re all voice-acted. It’s a nice touch, and you can choose to ignore it, but it certainly adds to the immersion. The music is light and never feels overbearing enough to get in the way of work.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, I had a lot of fun with House Flipper 2, and if you’re a fan of organization and design, it’s an easy recommendation. Each mission in the campaign has some story that led to the disastrous state the houses are in, and there’s always enough variety in the tasks assigned to you on the job. The game doesn’t penalize you for taking your time with things and allows you to be as creative as you want.
The performance on PC is a bit inconsistent, with micro stuttering which makes camera movement feel jerky. There were a few instances of jank, but that’s to be expected with how many moving parts there are in a simulation game like this. I also had some tools not switching when I pressed the number keys, which was a bit annoying and led me to rely on the item wheel instead.
What did you think of our review of House Flipper 2? Share what you think about it in the comments below.
This review is based on the PC version of House Flipper 2. The key was provided by Frozen District.
