For those who find cleaning, decorating, and renovating houses to be a relaxing pastime, the original House Flipper is the perfect simulator to scratch that itch. House Flipper 2 builds upon its predecessor by introducing enhanced visuals, improved tools, and a new Sandbox mode where players can construct their dream house literally from the ground up. Despite having some room for improvement, House Flipper 2 stays faithful to the original by offering simple yet satisfying gameplay mechanics and ample means for creative expression.

Home improvement

House-flipping nearly takes a backseat in the sequel, as the newly added features place greater emphasis on player creativity this time around. House Flipper 2 consists of two game modes, Story mode and Sandbox mode. Story mode iterates upon the experience of the first game by introducing a full-fledged story that guides your house-flipping endeavors. Players start out as an aspiring renovator who has moved into their parent’s old house in a cozy town called Pinnacove. Your well-connected realtor friend Tom is willing to hook you up with cleaning and renovation jobs that will help you to become a successful house-flipper. Those looking to express their creativity beyond the confines of the story can delve into the newly added Sandbox mode instead. The mode gives players more freedom to design houses from scratch, with additional tools that allow for more nuanced house construction.

Flippin’ out

Alongside the Pinnacove suburbs, your renovation work takes you to the Crayfish Coast seaside community, where houses are situated along the beach, and Coralroot Forest, with houses tucked deep in the woods. At first, jobs are focused primarily on cleaning and unpacking. After you get the hang of tidying up, you can move on to other renovation tasks like demolishing walls and redesigning interiors. Clients will occasionally call while you’re on-site to mention optional stipulations for the job, such as moving an object to a room or leaving certain rooms alone. Jobs do not have time limits, meaning you are free to renovate at your own pace. Completing jobs will reward you with a star rating and some cash, the amount of which is determined by how well you completed the task. Going for a higher star rating will grant you more money to be put toward house-flipping. 

Many of the renovation tools from the previous game have returned with improved mechanics and functionality. For example, the Flipper tool is used to sell unwanted items, but can also duplicate and copy the style of existing items as well. The painting tool returns with an upgrade for the paint roller size that allows you to paint a wider surface in one go. The grid-snapping system used for placing objects now has a precision setting that allows you to place objects exactly where you want them. Using tools extensively will reward you with Perk Points, which can be used to improve your efficiency with the tools you use most. Whether you’re laying bricks or smearing paint on a wall, renovation is a gratifying endeavor, and much of that can be attributed to the user-friendly tools and mechanics.

All of the tools available during the Story are also available in Sandbox mode, with added features like land sculpting and trash generation for further customization. One of the unique features of Sandbox mode is the ability to turn Sandbox properties into jobs, complete with cleaning tasks and renovation objectives like in the story campaign. An inbuilt Mod.io file sharing system allows players to share their creations with one another. 

As much as I enjoy the satisfaction that comes with designing and creating a house of my own, building structures from scratch has never been my strong suit. If there were blueprints or pre-made house designs to use as starting templates, I would have been more inclined to spend time in Sandbox mode. There are some nice looking house layouts available during the story that I would have loved to freely fix-up outside of the campaign. While Sandbox mode remains a welcome addition to the series, small tweaks would make the mode that much more appealing to those who aren't strong builders.

A fixer-upper

House Flipper 2 is not without a few minor flaws. Basic decorations like curtains and blinds appear to be missing. There are also some typos and placeholder text found on items in the menu. Although there are plenty of decorations and furnishings to choose from, the number of available items seems limited overall. The added ability to customize colors and textures should help sustain players for a while, but there is always room for more when it comes to cosmetic items. While these gripes can likely be addressed in a future patch, the accumulation of minor issues like this makes the game feel somewhat unfinished.

While the game could use a tiny bit more polish and perhaps some DLC, there is still plenty to enjoy in House Flipper 2. Fans of the original should have no trouble diving back into the house-flipping business, with an enhanced set of tools to help get the job done. Sandbox mode opens up new creative possibilities while adding a social element to the game that will only get better as more players get involved. Despite its shortcomings, House Flipper 2 keeps me coming back for more, and I can only hope there will be more to come back to in future updates.

This review is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. House Flipper 2 releases on December 14, 2023 for PC and will release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 21, 2024.