Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

House Flipper 2 is the relaxing gaming finale 2023 needed

By

When the first House Flipper launched in 2018, it didn’t get the kindest critical reception. Reviews at the time knocked the house fixing simulation for its repetitive cleaning gameplay that turned chores into, well, chores. Playing its newly released sequel, House Flipper 2, I have to wonder if developer Empyrean was too far ahead of its time.

Games like House Flipper have become an unexpected phenomenon in the few short years between releases. That’s thanks in no small part to PowerWash Simulator, a surprise hit that only tasked players with hosing down very dirty surfaces. Maybe it was just because it launched between a world-altering pandemic and a hectic election, but many seemed to find some much-needed relaxation in some digital cleaning.

Recommended Videos

The world may not have been entirely ready for House Flipper in 2018, but it’s sure ready for House Flipper 2 in 2023.

Related

The joy of cleaning

Like its predecessor, House Flipper 2 tasks players with fixing up abandoned businesses and filthy homes. Each room comes with a checklist of renovation objectives, from simply cleaning up stains to setting it up with some fresh furniture. The included story mode starts small, tasking me with cleaning up a small house that was infiltrated by a muddy raccoon. That eventually balloons in scale when I buy full houses, renovate them top to bottom, and flip them for a profit.

House Flipper 2 hinges on the same satisfying gameplay loop that made me fall in love with PowerWash Simulator just a few years ago. I get to turn disgusting spaces back into sparkling homes like I’m a fairy Godmother granting Cinderella a wish. That’s accomplished through some simple minigames. In each mission, I have access to a radial menu of tools for the job. When I pick a scrubber, I watch as I magically wipe away paint stains and squeegee cloudy windows. I can paint walls, retile floors, and even sell junky furniture on the fly with my handy flipper tool. Those tasks are repetitive, sure, but that creates a Zen gameplay loop that’s easy to chill out to. It’s like ASMR.

A player paints a wall blue in House Flipper 2.
Frozen District

None of that is terribly new for the sequel, but House Flipper 2 does make some strides in weaving in narrative. Each house I fix now has its own distinct story that I can glean as I fix up the space. A personal favorite mission has me fixing up an old woman’s attic because she wants to create a room for her visiting grandson. As I follow her instructions, I begin unpacking toy train sets and animal wallpaper she’s picked out for him. It’s an endearing mission that plays with the fact that every living space has its own story to tell.

Players are encouraged to build their own stories, too. Freeform house renovation allows for some freedom as players rip out old furniture, repaper walls to their liking, and decorate to their heart’s content. Sandbox mode brings that even further, letting players build houses on empty land plots entirely from scratch. It’s a surprisingly robust tool that’s easy to use — take notes, Animal Crossing. While some may find story mode repetitive after a while, I imagine Sandbox is where many will find the freedom to express themselves.

A player builds a house in House Flipper 2's sandbox mode.
Frozen District

For myself, I’m perfectly happy sticking to the more guided side of the experience. That includes completing furniture assembly minigames, which have me building tables and lamps with step-by-step, Ikea-like instructions. Completing those quickly and efficiently gives me a discount on those items when renovating homes, creating a fun little progression hook that breaks up some of the repetition.

Most of all, though, I just love diving into new spaces and uncovering their stories under layers of filth. I piece together what happened in the aftermath of a rock concert when I follow a trail of paint-soaked footprints from the garage inside the house. In another home, I fix a shoddy bathroom DIY project gone awry by cleaning uneven stencil patterns off the tiled walls. They’re often funny but charming household mishaps that bring something human to the mechanical series. House Flipper 2 gives us a chance to laugh at our own accidents before granting us the power to clean them up.

House Flipper 2 launches on December 14 for PC.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
PlayStation reverses course on controversial Helldivers 2 PC change
Two soldiers hug in front of an explosion in Helldivers 2.

Sony will no longer require PC players of Helldivers 2 to create a PlayStation Network account in order to access the game. This reversal followed a weekend of controversy that saw both Helldivers games getting review bombed on Steam.

If you're unfamiliar with this controversy, Sony and Arrowhead Game Studios angered Helldivers 2 players with an announcement last week. They planned to start enforcing a PlayStation Network account requirement that Helldivers 2 on PC had ignored since shortly after launch. This already didn't sit well with PC players who flock to Steam in order to avoid making accounts elsewhere, but the situation worsened once players noticed Helldivers 2 was sold and purchased by people in regions where people can't create a PlayStation Network account. This resulted in a massive review-bombing campaign on Steam, Valve allowing refunds, and Steam delisting the game in regions that don't allow PlayStation Network accounts.

Read more
This fun and frustrating mountain-climbing game is worth the hike
Climbers climb a mountain in Surmount.

For whatever reason, the internet seems to love mountain-climbing games. Some of the most viral games of the last several years on platforms like Twitch have been titles like Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy and Only Up! -- games where it’s difficult to climb up something and the punishment for failure is massive. If you’ve found yourself playing or watching content about those kinds of games, then you’ll want to check out one of the first notable games to come out this May: Surmount.

Released by indie developer duo Jasper Oprel and Indiana-Jonas, Surmount is a roguelite where players climb and fling themselves up a huge mountain. The way players have to swing around is reminiscent of Getting Over It, but its controls have a lot in common with the somewhat obscure Game Boy Advance title DK: King of Swing. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but that’s part of the fun with these games. Surmount is the latest in a long line of hilarious climbing games.

Read more
Helldivers 2 PC players are furious over this controversial change
A Helldivers 2 player fires a laser canon.

Helldivers 2, February's surprise multiplayer hit from Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony Interactive Entertainment, is now getting bombarded with negative reviews on Steam. That's because the game will soon require all PC players to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account.

Anyone who plays Helldivers 2 for the first time after May 6 will have to link a PlayStation Network account to Steam. Those who already own the game will also be required to do so by June 4 or they will no longer be able to access the game.

Read more