There's a warning as the game boots up that "All actions performed by the main character are designed for ENTERTAINMENT ONLY. DO NOT TRY ANY OF THIS AT HOME!" ... And never has better advice been given at the start of a video game. Please do not presume completing this game qualifies you to start taking electrical sockets apart or installing new ones...
Further tips such as "Remember! DO not put your fingers in the socket" as well as always switching off the fuse box are crucial advice and should be the first thing you do when attempting any electrical maintenance, whether it's in this game or at home. Even when you've completed this lighthearted simulator it's undoubtedly wise to seek out a qualified electrician rather than attempting most of the tasks in this game, possibly with the exception of changing a light bulb. I use the word "possibly" because I saw an idiot friend nearly electrocute himself attempting to insert a light bulb into a floor lamp many years ago. Yes Graham Barton, I'm talking about YOU. If you attempt to fiddle with a socket or switch without turning the fuse box off, you'll most likely get a fizzing sound, a red, blurred screen and the controller vibrates like an angry bee. Thankfully, doing this doesn't blow up your console, set fire to your eyebrows, give you smoking, frizzy hair or just simply kill you outright.
I'm going to start the actual review by mentioning that Electrician Simulator features EU plugs and sockets, so it all looks a bit alien to me, and although the principles are the same, it's a bit of a shame that they didn't localise the electrical fixtures & fittings for the US and UK markets.
So what kind of game is Electrician Simulator? Well... jobs come in via your laptop computer and when there's more than one you can choose the order in which they're done. There are basically two types; site jobs in people's homes and repair jobs you do in your workshop. Accept a job and walk to your truck, and you're transported to the site, there's no driving to sites in a virtual town, which is a bit of a shame as it may have given the game a wider appeal.
When accepting a job you're given a list of suggested items that you probably need, but if you are short of an item you can always pop back to base and buy said item(s). If the house has a PC then you can even order them on-site.
The tutorials are thorough and if you have any idea of how electronics work then the game is fairly easy to figure out, but it certainly doesn't lead you by the nose with constant naggy tutorials and warnings like some sims. To be honest, some jobs were a bit of a puzzle to figure out, but they're all logical so if you follow a standard mental checklist of what could go wrong with a switch, socket, appliance, model or toy and dissemble each part and test them, then you can't really go wrong.
The sub menu (X button) contains some of the most useful features. The left and right Triggers zoom the view out and in, and you can rotate the various items so you can get a better view. Electrician Simulator was released in September '22 on PC and it's unsurprising that this sort of sim is much better suited to mouse control, so selecting some items, lining up on small components can be fiddly even with the sensitivity turned down. A togglable "auto aim" assist makes selecting small objects such as small screws or solder points easier
Control Button Map
Inventory-'Y'; Tools-'X'; Inventory slots-Dpad Left and Right; Drop Item-Dpad Down; Jump-'A'; Interact-'RT'; Precision mode-'LT' (The R and L Triggers are also used to zoom the view in and out in close up mode.); Crouch-'R3'; Rotate item-'LB' & 'RB'
We live in a throwaway World and some repair jobs seem to cost more than a new replacement would, but you get paid for your work anyway so it's just a matter of finding the fault, buying the replacement part and reassembling the item. Just like in real life, you're not going to get rich repairing old appliances or toys and the site jobs are where the money is.
The Unity engine supplies graphics that are typically simulator-ish, as detailed as most first person adventures but hardly groundbreakingly realistic and not hugely interactive. Some objects can be picked up and handled, most cannot. Some doors open, others don't. Some cupboards and drawers open, others don't–you get the idea, the level of interaction is a bit hit and miss. I was delighted to see that you can label individual circuit breakers, just as an electrician would in real life.
You should beware that you'll get some very odd customers, including someone who is presumably a vampire cop and a little girl who wants you to power up a fridge and put a snowman in it... You always have a checklist of tasks to complete on a site job and although some faults can be obscure and tricky to track down it gives the game a puzzle game feel that I really enjoyed.
Downers are the previously mentioned less than stellar optimisation for a game controller, which sometimes makes positioning items and the camera overly fiddly, some glitching/clipping with objects and during cable installation, oh and the not insubstantial fact that your screwdriver isn't automatically selected when it's obvious you just want to loosen or tighten a screw, making it automatically selected would have saved me more than a few exasperated sighs.
Extra jobs come in the form of new contracts, and these offer extra challenges and another way to earn cash and XP. These vary from small tasks to complex electrical installations.
An interesting diversion for sparky console and PC owners everywhere, Electrician Simulator can be filed in the "fun" end of the simulation category and is priced at a very reasonable £15.49. I played the similarly-themed Rover Mechanic Simulator and Tin Can last year and I think this is better than both, despite a few flaws.
Thanks to: Take It Studio!, Gaming Factory, 100Games and PressEngine for the review code.