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Electrician Simulator Review

Electrician Simulator is the latest in practical job simulations, simulating many aspects of typical home electrical repair as well as electronic component repairs on devices. The player will be tasked with things like replacing light bulbs, troubleshooting electric switches, and wiring issues for the domestic side of the game. For the device repair, these jobs will take place in the player’s little home workshop and consists of things like taking devices apart and testing/replacing bad components. The player gains experience and levels up by completing these tasks, and leveling up is required in order to buy parts and items from an electric supply store. The player is effectively operating a solo electric handyman business (which is named by the player near the start of the game).

Electrician Simulator has the look and feel of a Source Engine game, and the options reflect this. The control mappings are easily changed and fairly clear to understand. The music is turned down from maximum by default. There are several graphics related options and one of the odd features is that changing any of them have the effect of taking effect immediately. It’s possible to immediately see the effect of changing screen resolution, field of view, ambient occlusion, etc., which the game is rendering. There are a couple of gameplay controls; language and turning the tutorial on or off. The tutorial is helpful in getting oriented as some of the difficulty getting started is understanding the mechanics of disassembly and connections.

The gameplay in Electrician Simulator is somewhat limited. The player moves around in a 3D world, but can’t just travel anywhere. The player’s home has a little workshop and a computer where the jobs and tasks arrive. The computer is also used to buy some items, tools, and equipment. Disassembly and reassembly of items is mostly automatic, the game doesn’t require players to get into the finer points, like locating the correct screw or measuring wire lengths. There is a little bit of difficulty that can arise when trying to remember the order, like a connector must be connected before a backplate can be put on. The game doesn’t allow reassembly of a device with a step 10 moves ago that the player forgot about. However, the game does allow the player to forget to turn off a circuit breaker and get electrocuted.

Interestingly, some of the puzzling in Electrician Simulator involves disassembly of things that are working in order to understand how something ‘should be’ wired. In the real world a person would logically look up instructions to see how a socket or switch should be wired, but here the player will have to use trial and error or take apart something that is ‘known good’ to figure out what is wrong somewhere else. The jobs are timed, so this turns the game into a bit of racing against the clock. In this way, it is very similar to the game “Tin Can”, without the death-in-space danger. The nomenclature in Electrician Simulator will not be familiar to US players that understand electrical work. Rather than neutral, ground, and hot; terms like neutral, protective, and electricity are used for the wiring names. The plugs look like European style plugs and the electrical wiring connectors are very different than would be typical in the USA. Overall, Electrician Simulator isn’t an electrifying game in terms of excitement, but it is satisfying completing many of the tasks; as a casual game it can be instructional and is recommended.

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