Preview | House Builder: First Job

LifeisXbox’s House Builder: First Job preview | Today, we will have a more thorough look in a genre that I truly enjoy and call an interactive simulation game! It’s a game where what you do might resemble a real-life action. The sim we will explore today is called House Builder! Made by FreeMind S.A. But the question after all the gameplay is, of course: is it a game that should be on your wishlist? Let’s figure that out together, shall we?

What do you actually do in the game?

As the name might suggest: You build a house. Review over, haha! Well, I wish it was that simple. Unfortunately, it is actually rather complex the further you play the game. Like with most builder games, you start with gathering the required resources for the components you will need, which isn’t any different here. But the good thing is that there is a twist. You usually build some sort of “resource farm” that brings you, for example, more bricks per minute. Here you still have to make your bricks yourself. But by doing it more and more, you unlock skills. These skills allow you to collect more materials from the actions you perform. It also allows you to build faster if you build a lot. It’s an impeccable balance, actually, and it feels very refreshing from the usual flow of games.

It can get rather tedious, though. For example, when I was playing the current Afrika level, it felt a lot slower in the start compared to the Ice level. Which is fine, but the action I was repeating felt a bit buggy. So after repeating it a bit too much, it started to reward me with the required skill points to make it go faster and make it more fun again. Something I hope to see continuing with new levels!

I hope this continues in the future levels because each level seems to have its own thematic and skills. By which I mean that while I was on the icecaps, I had some cold music. But while I was in Afrika, it was all Afrika-themed music. A great twist to the way this is handled!

But does it look good?

Well, to my surprise, I was a small idiot. So I played the second level first; instead of the easy level. But I also played the game in a standard 16:9 1080P version, which looked great. Still, I felt like it could be a bit more. So then, when I took a second run at the game, I noticed an option to play the game at max resolution and in ultrawide mode. And I must say, I literally jaw dropped from surprise. How can a game that isn’t made by a big company have shaders like this? Big hats off here!

So is it a game that you should wishlist?

Honestly, this game has potential for the fans of the genre. It looks good, feels good, and all while feeling super new! And honestly, you don’t even need to believe me! You can go to the Steam store for all you doubters right now and play the same experience I had. For free! So go out, download this impeccable demo! And let us know on socials what you think of it!