Although receiving largely positive reviews, there was something missing from House Flipper 2 that left a lot of players feeling like the magic had faded. House Flipper wasn’t alone in this regard, however, as many players began feeling simulation fatigue across the board.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of simulated asset flips and clones have dominated video game stores, each hoping to rekindle the magic of Powerwash Simulator and House Flipper. Some achieved marginal success, others found short-term virality, while others were nothing more than AI-generated cash-grab slop-fests.
With the market already saturated to a high degree, how does House Flipper Remastered Collection stand in the simulation genre it created? Can it offer players enough to beat their fatigue? And is it worth the £41.99 price tag?
A Fresh Start
The House Flipper Remastered Collection includes many upgrades from the outset. The graphics are shiny, and the setting feels much more lived-in, with lots sitting in actual neighbourhoods, with atmospherics and animals to match. It sounds like the music has been remixed to add more depth to the already pleasing tracks, and the UI has seen some upgrades without being so new that they become alienating.
Players have the option to follow the story progression as intended or jump into “Free-play Mode”, which gives you every tool and location from the start. I tried this mode to see how it differed, and it’s basically just a way to skip the need to do levels and unlock tools if you are already familiar with the systems. Typically, House Flipper is pretty relaxed, and I wasn’t given unlimited cash in this mode, so I couldn’t see much more point in it than this.
For newcomers, the House Flipper Remastered Collection will look appealing, sound relaxing and play like a dream. It’s abundant with tutorials and reminders on how to use each tool. Menus are easy to navigate, and with the DLCs now included in the base game, the decorative options are seemingly endless.
Mapped For Success
The original House Flipper saw players working through lists of what essentially boiled down to emails to collect their jobs. This has been revamped into a mission map, with each DLC and theme getting its own neighbourhood. I liked this design because I could easily pick and choose which type of challenge I wanted to take on. The overviews also provide an easy way to gauge the difficulty of each job before taking it on.
This also includes a character avatar and a voice-over for each job. These give more character and personality to the missions. I often found them humorous and charming, and they also served as a means of explaining what is required of the player.
From renovating abandoned homes to cleaning out barns with flood damage to building homes for bunnies, there’s a backstory to each mission that helps create the sense that this world is lived in. It’s a nice addition, even though they could have just delivered an upscaled port and called it a day, as many developers do.
Building Your Future
Naturally, growing your empire through odd jobs is only the beginning of your House Flipper journey. Your goal is to ultimately earn enough money to do up your old studio and flip it for the next project. Here you can put all of your skills to good use and create the ultimate home for prospective buyers.
The included DLC content and additional new builds for the Remastered Collection give players hundreds of options, preventing them from purchasing the same items and falling into a rut. Having never played them before, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to catch up on the ones I missed and try out the tools I have been dreaming about.
Growing crops, opening a new business and raising animals are all a part of your new house flipping adventure. The possibilities are endless. There are even a few new tools for players to discover, making revamped levels all the more refreshing.
Down To Business
The House Flipper Remastered Collection is the culmination of years of dedication and community engagement from Frozen Way. They have listened and have delivered exactly what players have been asking for, and have done it very well. Players can jump in and play their own way while still being offered easily attainable goals that appeal to new players.
I will say the budget warnings were a little annoying when I was simply purchasing the required items, but there didn’t seem to be much of a penalty for cutting it too closely. Similarly, I didn’t feel any benefit from coming in way under budget. My main issues came from visual glitches that required me to play with the graphics to remove, but after that, things worked really well.
I spent several hundred hours playing the original on PlayStation and found myself right at home on the PC with a mouse and keyboard. It’s even possible I may prefer it despite my need for trophies. The mini-games around each tool and task were a joy to play and I felt like I was learning a little bit more about the actual IRL tasks while I was doing it.
If you’re a fan of the D.I.Y/sim-builder genre and are new to House Flipper, then this is not an entry you will want to miss out on. Returning players will find the changes fun and often charming. The combined price of the base game and all the DLCs was daunting, so the collection has an amazing value for money, but it has given me an appreciation for why they were so expensive to begin with.
Either way, you can name and pet the animals, which is a sure-fire way to win over most players.
Platforms: PC
Publishers: Frozen Way SA, Frozen District
Developers: Frozen Way SA
Played On: Steam
Key Provided By: Keymailer
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