Ever fancied yourself as a bit of an interior design mogul? Do you like the idea of remodelling part of your house but don’t want to deal with the mess (or the cost)? We’ve picked out five renovation games that let you live out your redecoration or remodelling dreams — with none of the mess or the hard work.
We’ve played every game on this list and we think they’re five of the best renovation games out there. Every game is a little different: some might have you remodelling houses, for example, while another is about building a luxury hotel. We even have one that’s all about changing a run-down gas station into a modern and desirable shopping location.
Read on to learn more about our picks of the best renovation games. They’re all available on PC, with most having console ports too — so no matter what platform you play on, you’ll find something you can jump into.
Hotel Renovator
- Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
It’s that old chestnut: you’ve inherited a property from a dead family member, and it’s up to you to bring it up to scratch. This time, though, it’s not a farm: it’s a hotel! While this boutique place to stay is in a terrible state of disrepair when you first get your hands on it, you’re given access to all the tools to make it good again. And honestly, making the hotel a luxury destination again is a heck of a lot of fun.
What we particularly like about Hotel Renovator is the fact that its tasks are doled out to you piecemeal, so you’ll never feel overwhelmed. The upper two floors are blocked off until you’ve done enough of the first floor, for example. You’ll also need to renovate common areas too, like the lobby and the bar/restaurant (just in time for a guest’s wedding). You’ll have complete control over putting your stamp on your hotel, and we had a great time doing that.
But what’s also fun is that Hotel Renovator doesn’t take itself too seriously: look out for the vampire guest that needs a very dark room to stay in, for example.
Read our review of Hotel Renovator
House Flipper 2
- Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
When it comes to the best renovation games, none come close to House Flipper 2. Frozen District’s house decorating sim is legions above the rest, offering a level of depth and enjoyment that is, so far, unparalleled. Honestly, if the idea of remodelling and renovating in a video game setting appeals to you, you need House Flipper 2. It’s as simple as that.
House Flipper 2 will have you picking up jobs to complete for profit. They start out simple at first: perhaps you’ll need to clean up a house after a party – that might mean replacing a few bits of broken furniture and giving the place a good clean. But it gets more complex, with you needing to turn one bedroom into two, completely remodelling rooms of a house and, eventually, building a home completely from scratch.
Its campaign mode has a lot of content, and we had a blast working our way through it. But when you’re done there’s still plenty more for you to jump into, thanks to House Flipper 2’s Sandbox mode, which lets you bring your building and design dreams to life.
And when you’ve had enough of this, its predecessor House Flipper offers plenty more worthwhile renovations too. That one’s available on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and has a shedload of DLC available for it.
Read our review of House Flipper 2
Gas Station Simulator
- Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC
Ah, Gas Station Simulator, a game we both loved and hated when we reviewed it back in 2022. The main problem? It’s very buggy, or at least it was at the time. But even despite its issues — which include customers floating rather than walking, stock getting lost, cars swaying from side to side and a whole lot more — it’s one of those games that we simply can’t pull ourselves away from.
Gas Station Simulator is a little more than a renovation game. This is a full-on simulator, which will have you running a gas station, pumping cars full of gas, manning your shop and even fixing up vehicles in your car maintenance garage. But the renovation side of things might just be our favourite aspect of the game. You see, your station starts out as a completely shanty, run-down shed. Over time you’ll fix it up, adding a lick of paint, putting new shelves and displays in, and a whole lot more.
Read our review of Gas Station Simulator
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator
- Available on: PS4, PS5 Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Nintendo Switch and PC
Forget about redecorating buildings: this renovation game has you revamping a garden. Yes, it’s a little different from the other games on this list, but it’s still a great deal of fun — and as its name suggests, it’s super cosy, too.
Being put in charge of an abandoned community garden, it’s your job to get it up to speed. You’ll have certain goals to meet as you go about renovating it, but largely you can design the garden however you want. That means planting flowers and shrubbery, but also points of interest like gazebos, benches and flowerpots. Watching your garden bloom as the seasons change is utterly delightful, as is completing tasks given to you by the villagers who visit the garden (some might want particular types of flowers planting, for example).
Our only complaint about Garden Life, really, is that you’re limited to how much stuff you can place in your garden. It stymies the fun somewhat when you have a meter you need to watch out for. We suppose it’s to ensure the game continues running smoothly, but it’s still a bit of a pain.
Read our review of Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator
Garage Flipper
- Available on: PC
Garage Flipper feels a little bit like a watered-down version of House Flipper. But this time, it’s solely focused on garages. You’ll begin by just tidying up a garage, getting rid of garbage, painting its walls and straightening out its shelves. But over time you’ll be renovating garages into useful spaces, like gyms or car workshops.
You have a full suite of tools at your disposal right from the off, and a handy tutorial will walk you through all you need to know about Garage Flipper, so you can hit the ground running. Just like all of the titles on our list of renovation games, seeing a project come together is seriously satisfying. There’s just one real problem with Garage Flipper right now, though: since it’s only available on PC, it doesn’t have controller support.
