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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: House Flipper
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:Your progress is automatically saved every so often, but it's explicitly saved when you exit the game or leave a house. To pause the game, bring up the pause menu with ESC. Time needed per session:Plan for longer sessions if you're going to play this game - it can take over an hour to clean a house properly, and it's also easy to lose yourself in the project.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians There are some minor issues with this game - such as a small amount of blood and some g-rated swearing - but nothing is serious enough to warrant much concern. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/house_flipper_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/house_flipper_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/house_flipper_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Viscera Cleanup Detail managed to turn the chore of cleaning up a large mess into a fun way to pass the time. However, as its name suggests, it's also pretty graphic, as there's a lot of blood and other remains to deal with. Enter House Flipper: another game that focuses on the tedious task of cleaning up large scale messes and setting things right. This time, there's only one place in the entire game where you'll encounter blood, and even then, there isn't much of it.
A house flipper, for those how aren't familiar with the term, is someone who buys houses with the intent of cleaning them up and selling them at a profit. In this game, that's exactly what you'll be doing. At the start, you'll only be able to do some cleaning and handyman work, but once you've earned enough money, you can switch to selling houses like a proper house flipper.
Although they are present, the game's physics aren't really used very much. Cleaning up old boxes and other garbage is done by simply clicking on the offending object. Another break from reality is that your equipment never needs to be washed, nor will it smear the mess around. That said, cleaning isn't all you do. Once everything has been cleaned up, it's time to start installing various appliances like sinks, toilets, showers, and washing machines. You'll also want to paint the walls and furnish the building, as your buyers have different tastes and love the idea of buying a house with everything they need already set up and waiting for them.
This is a relaxing, fun little game. If you're not up to saving the galaxy or were uncomfortable with the gore in Viscera Cleanup Detail, then give this one a try. Even though the challenges you'll face are minimal compared to other games, it's still pretty rewarding just to watch as the cluttered, broken down, and abandoned homes become a wonderful home.
A house flipper, for those how aren't familiar with the term, is someone who buys houses with the intent of cleaning them up and selling them at a profit. In this game, that's exactly what you'll be doing. At the start, you'll only be able to do some cleaning and handyman work, but once you've earned enough money, you can switch to selling houses like a proper house flipper.
Although they are present, the game's physics aren't really used very much. Cleaning up old boxes and other garbage is done by simply clicking on the offending object. Another break from reality is that your equipment never needs to be washed, nor will it smear the mess around. That said, cleaning isn't all you do. Once everything has been cleaned up, it's time to start installing various appliances like sinks, toilets, showers, and washing machines. You'll also want to paint the walls and furnish the building, as your buyers have different tastes and love the idea of buying a house with everything they need already set up and waiting for them.
This is a relaxing, fun little game. If you're not up to saving the galaxy or were uncomfortable with the gore in Viscera Cleanup Detail, then give this one a try. Even though the challenges you'll face are minimal compared to other games, it's still pretty rewarding just to watch as the cluttered, broken down, and abandoned homes become a wonderful home.
Points of Interest
Two types of gameplay
Your role as a newbie house flipper begins with handyman jobs you'll recieve through your in game email. These jobs are fairly simple and don't pay much, but they act as the game's tutorials and you're required to complete them in order to unlock various mechanics. Once you've earned enough money, you can buy run down houses and start making a real profit by refurbishing them.
Custom posters & pictures
For an extra bit of fun, you can use images one your computer to make posters, paintings, and other artwork in the game. This is entirely optional, but it's one way to make your office more interesting and unique.
No limits
How you refurbish each house is entirely up to you: be creative! There's a ton of paints, tiles, furniture, and other things to decorate the houses you work on. You can even customize your office anyway you want. The only catch with all of this is that each potential buyer has their own preferences, so if you're trying to attract someone in particular, you'll need to cater to them specifically. Someone will always buy the houses you put up for auction, regardless of what you do.
No fear
A nice gesture that was added shortly after launch was a setting that changes how one type of debris is shown to the player. If you're deathly afraid of cockroaches, you can replce them with shards of broken glass. The gameplay mechanics are the same, but now there won't be any creepy crawlies to deal with.
Steam community features
Even in a game about cleaning houses, there are still some bragging rights to claim. These achievements come in three types: an award for selling a house to a specific buyer, awards for achieving specific milestones in your career, and awards for doing some specific actions during the game. Some of the latter are a bit silly, so you might not earn them via normal gameplay.
Additionally, there's a series of steam trading cards for those interested in collect them or crafting a unique badge that showcases your love of cleaning homes.
Additionally, there's a series of steam trading cards for those interested in collect them or crafting a unique badge that showcases your love of cleaning homes.
Limited replayability
Unfortunately, as much fun as this game is, there's a limit on how much you can play before things start to get boring. Once you've finished all of the jobs and sold each house, there's nothing to do except do it all over again. You can always decorate the houses differently, but this doesn't change the fact that there's nothing more to see or do.
Concerns and Issues
G-rated swearing
As you play the game, the various buyers will comment on what you've done with the house you're currently working on. This is a good way to learn what each person or family wants, but they can sometimes be annoyed or angry with what you do. When the houses go up for auction, they'll be quite blunt about their feelings, and sometimes this can lead to phrases like "What the hell?!" being used. But no matter how angry they get, actual profanity never appears in this game.
A tiny bit of blood
I mentioned above that there is a little blood in this game, and indeed, one of the houses you can buy has some blood you'll need to clean up. This house was previously owned by a guy who was involved with the Mafia, and, for whatever reason, he ended up getting whacked. Thus, his house is almost entirely clean -- the one exception being the murder scene in the living room and kitchen.
This is the only time you'll explicitly deal with blood in the game. There are splatters in various houses that might be old vomit, but while that's a bit gross, it's not the result of anything violent.
This is the only time you'll explicitly deal with blood in the game. There are splatters in various houses that might be old vomit, but while that's a bit gross, it's not the result of anything violent.