Well, here we go. I dove into Real Estate Simulator, expecting a laid-back stroll through the housing market. But, oh boy, was I in for a wild ride deeper than a rabbit hole of realty madness – or so it should have. Real Estate Simulator isn’t your run-of-the-mill early access title; it’s a quirky adventure that grabbed me like a prime piece of real estate. Let’s take a plunge!
Real Estate Simulator
So, what’s the deal with Real Estate Simulator? Developed by the Turkish studio KiKi Games, this PC debut isn’t your typical property-flipping escapade. Their LinkedIn page shows a tight-knit crew of 12 people working at the studio. At first glance, the game seems like it’d cozy up with titles like “House Flipper” and “Power Washing Simulator.” It’s the game where you ditch your day job to pretend you’re a real estate mogul. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a certain charm to these games. The zen of painting, decorating, and cleaning grubby homes with a click is oddly satisfying.
These games usually have a peculiar charm that’s hard to describe unless you’ve had your fair share. The specific style of their engine, often Unity-based, throws the same template spin on familiar functions: a glow around selectable objects, wonky animations, clunky square menus, and the infamous circular quick menu for swapping items, tools, and whatnot. However, Real Estate Simulator cranks up the quirkiness, not as a genre standard, but more of a lack of polish. Fair enough, it’s not pretending to be a finished product; it proudly claims its eternal residency in early access on the Steam Store. But as these games strut their stuff and sometimes fetch a full price, it’s only fair to acknowledge those rough edges—excusable, maybe, but not to be swept under the rug when contemplating a purchase.
My Real Estate Rollercoaster:
Let’s start with the game settings—yikes! Limited graphics controls, scant resolution options, and zero gameplay tweaks. And brace yourself for an awkward sway when you sidestep, inducing a motion sickness dance party I haven’t experienced since the first wonky Wii-Days. An FOV slider might’ve saved the day, but alas, no such luck.
The opening menu throws you into the character selection pool, where you pick your protagonist and your significant other. Weird, right? But hold up, it adds a gameplay twist. The top UI constantly flaunts your “relationship” level with your virtual better half. Dive deeper, and you discover a hunger meter in the UI. You’re in charge of keeping your in-game self well-fed with the food items conveniently stashed in your inventory. Half of the controls aren’t compatible with the Steamdeck – so no clue how this got verified.
Now, onto the main aspect of the game: buying homes, cleaning, and jazzing them up for a sweet profit. Apart from a handful of fixable bugs, this aspect seems almost there. Cleaning involves trash pickup, dirt and blood scrubbing, roach warfare with pesticides, and then letting your decorating dreams run wild. Buying homes is a breeze—hit the road or hop on a bus, explore the map, and look for homes with a “realtor wanted” banner. But beware of a pesky bug; trying to talk to someone with objects too close to you clips the camera through walls, turning negotiations into a surreal experience. And here’s the glitchy cherry on top—leave without saving, and poof! The home magically reverts to its pre-clean state. Cue reloading and redoing the cleanup dance.
The game often throws you into tablet territory, where you manage your property portfolio and sift through emails. Venture deeper, and voila! A working cryptocurrency market awaits, letting you play pseudo-stock market maven. And if that’s not your vibe, there’s a casino in the game offering craps, roulette, and slot machines.
Conclusion:
Am I booking a return ticket to the Real Estate Simulator? Probably not. Its unfinished core elements make it feel like a scatterbrained mix compared to the genre’s usual standards, even for an early-access title. Typically, early access games lock in a complete main gameplay loop, with community feedback guiding further enhancements. Surprisingly, the community chatter happens mainly in their Discord. Checking the Steam forums? They’re nudging everyone toward the Discord server for feedback. I get it; they’re a small squad, and juggling channels is no small feat. But they just shouldn’t have released it in this state. Even with the Early Access sticker off, it still feels like an Early Access title, and I have no clue how it got all those positive reviews. Sorry – this is a very rough diamond.
