First-person renovator House Flipper looks ace
Shiny and new
After the joys of cleaning up spaceguts in Visceral Cleanup Detail, I feel ready for something more constructive. I've mopped up blood and burned bodies but what do I have to show for it? A grubby office which my friends trash every time they visit. I feel ready for House Flipper [official site], a first-person renovator about smartening up homes by repairing, remodelling, painting, and decorating homes. Tasks like knocking down walls, fitting kitchens, and painting look a genuine treat, though sadly it seems to be singleplayer-only (and that 'flipping' premise is awful). Here, check out this trailer:
Smashing stuff. I'm definitely up for fixing wiring, installing radiators, squeegeeing windows, and all that. I do hope developers Empyrean get co-op in there too, as the joys and terrors of teamwork and accidents could be great fun. I mostly do my Visceral Cleanups with chums.
It is a shame that this fun-looking renovation is wrapping up inside a 'flipping' metagame - you're trying to buy cheap houses and do them up enough to sell them on at a profit to unlock more options. As someone who'll likely never be able to buy a flat let alone a house, thanks in part to those darling flippers, it seems an unpleasant premise for a game which doesn't need it. Sure I've committed more virtual war crimes than I can count but, y'know, those were in games primarily about exploding faces. Renovating houses could be cast in several more-pleasant lights.
House Flipper is headed for a launch at the end of 2017 on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's currently having a crack at Steam Greenlight.