Software:PC Building Simulator

PC Building Simulator is a simulation-strategy video game produced by The Irregular Corporation and Romanian independent developer Claudiu Kiss. The game is centered around owning and running a workshop which builds and maintains PCs, mainly gaming-oriented ones.

It was initially released for early access in March 2018 on Steam. The game is compatible with the Windows operating system, and utilizes the OpenGL programming interface.

PC Building Simulator features real life parts from a vast array of specialized brands, such as ADATA, Asus and Asus ROG, Antec, AMD, Arctic Cooling, be quiet!, Cooler Master, Corsair, EVGA, Fractal Design, G.Skill, GIGABYTE, MSI, NZXT, Patriot, Razer, SilverStone, ZOTAC, and others.

Gameplay

Game modes

The game features two distinct modes: Career and Free Build, each requiring different play styles.

Career

In Career mode, the game puts the player in responsibility of a workshop where they must complete tasks that involve modifying pre-built computers, (e.g. removing viruses, adding new parts) or building a brand new computer to earn in-game cash, which can be spent on purchasing new or used parts (see below). After each completed task, the player earns a certain amount of experience points. When a certain amount of experience is reached, the player levels up, unlocking newer and more advanced parts.

In order to acquire parts, the player must buy them from fictional online stores, which sell new or used parts. For new parts, the player can choose between different shipping services: the shorter the delivery time, the more cash the player has to pay. The game offers 3 choices: next-day delivery, the standard option which costs 30 dollars; same day delivery, which spawns the parts immediately on the loading bay, but costs 100 dollars; and a slow but cheap delivery which can take from 3 to 5 working days but costs only 10 dollars. Used parts are shipped for free, but they usually take several days or even a couple of weeks to arrive. A calendar tracks the estimated delivery date for each product bought and the deadlines for the customers' orders.

As the player progresses, they will start seeing larger sums of cash stored in their banks, which could be spent improving their workshop. Some of the upgrades include additional workbenches (needed to accomplish tasks with more efficiency) and a cabinet (used to store computers and reduce clutter).

The player starts the game with a basic computer that can keep up with all the tasks required in order to fulfill the customers' orders. However, as the game progresses, the player can fully customize it (or even build a new one from scratch), either for convenience or mere aesthetics. There is also an optional leaderboard that lists the best PCs built by the other players during their own career.

The player must pay the rent for the shop each month, as well as the electricity bill. Failing to do so will result in the game ending.

Inbox

The Inbox is where the player receives in-game messages from potential customers, and other messages ranging from discount alerts, to spam and plain scams. The player can accept or reject each request.

Potential requests include virus removal, system upgrade, system fix, or rather the building of an entirely new personal computer. Depending on the amount of spending required for each request, the customers often always give the player a substantial profit margin. However, after accepting an order, unfulfilled requests are automatically rejected from returning to the customer, meaning that the player cannot simply conduct cash grab by doing nothing with the PC. As the game advances, timed jobs become more common. Being unable to conduct jobs within the limit will result in the customer revoking their order, having the players waste their money by buying unnecessary parts.

Free Build

In the Free Build mode, the player is given unlimited money, and all the parts, work benches and tools are unlocked from the start. Players are free to play the game without the constraint of constant jobs.

Tutorial Mode

The game provides a detailed tutorial in order to teach a novice how to build a proper PC.

Computer components

The game features several types of parts to be used in building or repairing computers. Most of the parts are fully licensed from various real-life brands. There are also three fictional brands, that provides basic parts (cheap and low performance): Mortoni, for productivity-oriented computers; Shean, for low-budget, Intel-based gaming rigs; and DFL (essentially the AMD-based counterpart for Shean).

The game includes common computer components such as:

• Cases with different aesthetic and internal layouts. Their sizes include micro, cube, mid-tower, full tower, super tower and open frame.
• Case Fans in various sizes.
• Intel and AMD CPUs
• CPU Cooling devices, including air and liquid coolers.

• Motherboards are also available in multiple sizes: E-ATX, S-ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX .

• Power Supplies come in ATX or SFX (small form factor) sizes. They are also divided into non-modular, semi-modular or fully modular units.

• Storage, which affect in-game software installation speed. Both hard drives and solid state drives (SATA and M.2) are available in game.

• Memory
• Graphics Cards (GPUs) from AMD and Nvidia are also featured, with AMD CrossFire and Nvidia SLI multi GPU technologies also being supported in-game.
• Cable connectors

Software

In-game software can be installed to fulfill specific tasks requested by customers, such as removing viruses or customize the lighting effects.

The bench-marking software 3DMark is also featured in-game as a key gameplay component; similar to its real-life counterpart, it is used to benchmark the newly built or repaired machines.

Reception

Robert Adams of TechRaptor gave the game a 6.5/10 rating, calling the game a "a partially complete experience"; he praised the game for capturing "the experience of working as a PC repair technician about 90% correct", while noting that it lacked several "critical" features such as the lack of data preservation/recovery mechanics.