Tiny House Simulator Preview

Tiny House Simulator is an Early Access title developed and published by FarFromSky. For those who don't know what a tiny house is — I learned a few months ago when my wife showed me a YouTube video — it's exactly what it sounds like: it’s a very small house people live in, and a lot of them are even made by the inhabitants.

In Tiny House Simulator, you'll receive emails from clients asking you for help with their homes, and that entails everything from painting rooms and selling their furniture to restructuring walls. Since the areas are obviously small, the jobs throw towards the short side, taking a few minutes while you finish up all the tasks. I appreciated this because it kept the gameplay relaxing due to the short bursts, not leaving a lot of room for boredom or feeling overwhelmed by tasks; it felt like I was in each house for just enough time.

Another thing I enjoyed was taking the houses over to the clients. Unlike in other flipper titles I've played, where you just hand in the work and move on, I appreciated the personal touch of having to go out of my way to hook up the house and take it on the road to its new owners. Despite Tiny House Simulator's graphics not being the most impressive, I was charmed by the scenery; the natural landscapes really added to the relaxation.

Of course, as I mentioned, the game is coming out in Early Access, so not everything is ready, and there are a lot of bugs. I had everything from being thrown into the air by another car and having to restart my game because the tiny house got stuck, and I couldn't hand it in to clipping out from the walls while climbing ladders. Personally, I don't really mind bugs like those — unless I lose progress a lot and start getting frustrated, I don't care about clipping and whatnot. Still, it is one of the buggier Early Access titles I've played!

What's in the game paints a good picture for the future; while there are some quality-of-life changes I look forward to (such as being able to get multiple of an item when buying instead of having to purchase it over and over), I enjoyed the way the tools work, the items available, and the overall gameplay loop. The tiny house approach was a great way to innovate the genre, especially because it frees up space to do other things, such as drive around. I'm looking forward to seeing what the city will offer once some of the areas are unlocked, such as the bar! It’s a good reminder that there are always ways to add new things to genres. Perhaps one day, we’ll see a life simulator all about flipping tiny homes! 

While I enjoy helping others with their pre-made houses more because I have little creativity or inspiration for creating something from scratch, that is also an option. Not only does it provide a different pace and "game mode" to make your own house instead, but it also adds another layer to keep the gameplay from becoming stale or stagnant. I just hope to see a nice balance of both, as I really am trash at building!

If you enjoy simulator titles where you build, tear down, decorate, paint, etc., I suggest checking out Tiny House Simulator on Steam's Early Access, as it releases on the 5th of November.