Empyrean's House Flipper launched on 17 May 2018, published by Frozen District and PlayWay, and this is the original rather than the 2023 sequel. It is a first person renovation sim driven by an email inbox: clients write in, you mop, paint, knock down walls and fit radiators, and the money funds buying wrecked properties from the laptop to fix and auction off. House Flipper 2 arrived in December 2023 on a completely new code base and added the town of Pinnacove, an Assembly building mode and a true sandbox, none of which exist in this game. The 2018 original scored 68 on Metacritic for PC and still became a Steam bestseller.
Starting House Flipper can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
House Flipper is a simulation game built around Email jobs from the laptop and Six perk trees fed by tool use. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Painting | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Demolition | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Building | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Handyman | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Painting. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Handyman as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Email jobs from the laptop
Work arrives as emails on your in game laptop, each one from a named client with a short backstory and a list of demands. The first job in the game is Sara Lewis writing in about an ex-boyfriend who stole her radiator, and jobs like Amanda Smith's Amaranth Walls and Thomas Johnson's Additional Walls follow. Payment scales with how complex the job is and how completely you finish it.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Email jobs from the laptop works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Cleaning Jobs
The bulk of the early inbox and the reason the mop and vacuum unlock first. Jobs like Cleaning the Garage and the student house clean up are low paying but they build the Cleaning tree, which stays relevant for the rest of the game because every bought property starts filthy.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Vacuum Cleaner: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The second cleaning tool, introduced through jobs like Cleaning the Garage. It handles dust on surfaces and windows, and a later job demonstrates its use for clearing roaches, which the mop cannot touch.
Step 4: Understand Six perk trees fed by tool use
Perk points come from doing the work, not from levelling a character. Cleaning, Painting, Demolition, Building, Handyman and Negotiation each fill from the matching activity, and points spent inside a tree make that activity faster or better. Perks such as Instant painting, Triceps of steel and Price negotiations change how long a job takes far more than any gear purchase would.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Painting Jobs
Redecoration contracts, opened up by Amanda Smith's Amaranth Walls. They pay better than cleaning and they hand over the scanner, which changes your economy by letting you sell items already sitting in a property.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Email jobs from the laptop
Work arrives as emails on your in game laptop, each one from a named client with a short backstory and a list of demands. The first job in the game is Sara Lewis writing in about an ex-boyfriend who stole her radiator, and jobs like Amanda Smith's Amaranth Walls and Thomas Johnson's Additional Walls follow. Payment scales with how complex the job is and how completely you finish it.
Six perk trees fed by tool use
Perk points come from doing the work, not from levelling a character. Cleaning, Painting, Demolition, Building, Handyman and Negotiation each fill from the matching activity, and points spent inside a tree make that activity faster or better. Perks such as Instant painting, Triceps of steel and Price negotiations change how long a job takes far more than any gear purchase would.
Buying and reselling properties
Once you have cash, the laptop lets you buy derelict houses outright. You clean, repair, furnish and then sell them at auction to buyers who each weigh different things, one wanting cleanliness, another wanting family rooms, so the same house sells for different amounts depending on how you finish it. This flipping loop is the closest thing the 2018 game has to a sandbox.
Tool unlocks gated behind jobs
Tools are not bought, they are earned by finishing specific jobs, and a job has to be completed to at least 70 percent for the unlock to stick and show up on your tool wheel. The mop arrives with the first job, the paint roller and scanner come from Amaranth Walls, wall building and the sledgehammer come from Additional Walls, and the tiling and paneling tool from Eric Camel's Necessary Extra Bathroom fills the last slot.
The tablet catalogue and item scanner
The tablet is the in game shop for furniture, paint, tiles, doors and windows, and it is where most of a flip's budget disappears. The scanner that arrives with the paint roller lets you sell items already in a property for a partial refund, which is the fastest way to clear a hoarder house and recover some of the purchase price at the same time.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Abandoning a job around the halfway mark, which forfeits both the payment and the tool unlock that job was gating
2. Buying a property before the tool wheel is complete, then hitting a tiling or demolition step with no tool for it
3. Furnishing from the tablet before running the scanner over the junk already in the house, which throws away easy refunds
4. Spreading perk points evenly across all six trees, so no tree reaches the perks that actually change how long the work takes
5. Confusing this game with House Flipper 2 and looking for Pinnacove, Assembly mode, the Flipper Tool or co-op, none of which exist in the 2018 original
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Email jobs from the laptop and Six perk trees fed by tool use
- Choose Painting as starting build
- Clear Cleaning Jobs main content
- Acquire Vacuum Cleaner or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Painting Jobs
- A job has to be completed to at least 70 percent for its tool unlock to become permanent and appear on your tool wheel. Walking away from a job at 60 percent costs you the tool as well as the payment.
- The four tool unlock jobs are worth doing in order: Sara Lewis's stolen radiator job for the mop, Amanda Smith's Amaranth Walls for the paint roller and scanner, Thomas Johnson's Additional Walls for the sledgehammer and wall building, and Eric Camel's Necessary Extra Bathroom for tiling and paneling.
Tips for New Players
- A job has to be completed to at least 70 percent for its tool unlock to become permanent and appear on your tool wheel. Walking away from a job at 60 percent costs you the tool as well as the payment.
- The four tool unlock jobs are worth doing in order: Sara Lewis's stolen radiator job for the mop, Amanda Smith's Amaranth Walls for the paint roller and scanner, Thomas Johnson's Additional Walls for the sledgehammer and wall building, and Eric Camel's Necessary Extra Bathroom for tiling and paneling.
- The scanner is a money tool, not a cleaning tool. Selling the furniture already inside a bought property recovers part of the purchase price before you spend a single coin on the tablet.
- Perk points come from doing the activity, so the tree you use most fills fastest. That makes Cleaning almost free to max and Building the slowest to fill unless you deliberately chase wall jobs.
- Negotiation perks apply on both sides of every transaction. Price negotiations and Higher payment together change the profitability of the same flip more than any decorating choice does.
- Buyers at auction value different things. Read what a buyer type wants before deciding whether to spend on a second bathroom or on a family room, because finishing the wrong feature well earns nothing extra.
- This game has no true sandbox mode. House Flipper mode, where you buy a wreck and do what you like with it, is the closest equivalent, and the dedicated sandbox arrived only with House Flipper 2 in December 2023.
- Apocalypse Flipper is free DLC from May 2018 and adds five extra properties along with new items, which is the cheapest way to widen the pool of houses available to buy.
- Cyberpunk Flipper, also free and released November 2020, is cosmetic only. It adds items rather than jobs, so treat it as decorating options rather than new content.
- The full paid DLC list runs Garden Flipper from May 2019, HGTV from May 2020, then Luxury, Pets, Farm and Dine Out. Each adds its own item catalogue, so buying several at once inflates the tablet menu considerably.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is House Flipper the same as House Flipper 2?
No. This is the 2018 original by Empyrean, published by Frozen District and PlayWay. House Flipper 2 launched in December 2023 on a new code base, moved the game into the town of Pinnacove, added an Assembly building mode, a true sandbox mode and later online co-op. The 2018 game has none of those.
Does House Flipper have a sandbox mode?
Not a dedicated one. The 2018 game has two modes: taking jobs from the laptop inbox, and House Flipper mode where you buy derelict properties and renovate them however you like before selling. That flipping mode is the closest thing to a sandbox here, and the real sandbox only exists in House Flipper 2.
How do I unlock all the tools?
Tools come from specific jobs, each finished to at least 70 percent. The mop arrives with the first job from Sara Lewis, the paint roller and scanner with Amaranth Walls, the sledgehammer and wall building tools with Additional Walls, and the tiling and paneling tool with Necessary Extra Bathroom, which fills the last tool wheel slot.
What are the perk trees?
Six of them: Cleaning, Painting, Demolition, Building, Handyman and Negotiation. Points come from performing the matching activity rather than from levelling up, so the tree you use most is the one that fills fastest.
Which DLC is worth buying?
Apocalypse Flipper and Cyberpunk Flipper are free, so add them regardless. Of the paid ones, Garden Flipper from May 2019 changes the loop most because gardens raise what a finished property sells for. HGTV, Luxury, Pets, Farm and Dine Out mostly widen the item catalogue.
More House Flipper Guides
- House Flipper House Flipper Overview
- House Flipper Best Builds
- House Flipper Tier List
- House Flipper Walkthrough
- House Flipper Tips & Tricks
- House Flipper Weapons Guide
- House Flipper Combat Guide
- House Flipper Boss Guide
- House Flipper Maps & Locations
- House Flipper Crafting Guide
- House Flipper Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy House Flipper, check out these related guides:
- Stardew Valley Beginner's Guide: simulation game with similar mechanics
- Satisfactory Beginner's Guide: simulation game with similar mechanics
- The Sims 4 Beginner's Guide: simulation game with similar mechanics
