[Review] Electrician Simulator | Nintendo Switch

Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.

In this explanatory review, we’re covering Electrician Simulator by developer Take IT Studio!:

Electrician Simulator (The Explanation)

Feel like the spark is missing in your life? Want to shine brightly in the darkest of places? Well now you can with Electrician Simulator. Developed by Take IT Studio! and published by Gaming Factory, Electrician Simulator is played in a first-person perspective and allows you to assume the role of an up-and-coming electrician and take on wiring and installation jobs from fitting a simple socket to completely rewiring a house from top to bottom.

 

Take on the jobs you wish to do that you feel like you can do comfortably and get paid for the privilege. When you are ready to take it up a notch, you can then take on bigger jobs that will put your skills and technical know how to the test. The best part of all is should you make a mistake, it won’t cost you your life. Just nip back to the circuit breaker and shut the fuse down and get right back at the task at hand (do bear in mind that a mistake like that in real life can cause grave accidents and is highly dangerous unless undertaken by a professional).

 

At the start of the game, the player character has moved out from the family home and has set up shop to be an aspiring electrician by converting their garage into a workshop. From here, you can accept jobs from your laptop and then use the truck to head over to job you are undertaking or you can use the workbench in the adjacent room to fix electronics as per a client’s request. You can earn cash from taking on jobs, as well as experience that will increase your reputation level. A higher reputation means you will get access to better paid jobs but bear in mind that better paid will also lead to more extensive jobs as well.

 

To help you get to grips with the game’s mechanics and controls, there are a number of “VR Training” courses that serve as a tutorial. From a virtual space you will be able to learn the basics of wiring a switch and a socket, joining up cables from one electrical box to another and most importantly, change a light bulb (How many gamers does it take to change a light bulb? Just you!). Upon succesfully completing the VR training, you will be granted a certificate that will allow you to take on jobs that you are now certified to do.

 

When taking on jobs that call for you to leave your house, you may need to purchase materials that are required to to do and finish the job. Materials can be bought via the laptop and will be added to your inventory immediately upon purchase. To use them however, you will need to access your inventory by pressing X and then adding what you need to the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You can only hold three items at a time, so you will be going back and forth quite a bit when you need something that is not in your toolbar.

 

For the most part on jobs, you will use a screwdriver (which will take up one of the spaces in the tool bar) to take switches and sockets apart and wire them up to the cables in inside the electrical box. Should there not be any wires to connect up inside the boxes, you will have to add them as well and connect them up to the fuses in the circuit box. As for other tools that you will use, you will have a torch and a measuring tape when on site at jobs so you can illuminate dark areas when the power is out or measure distances between walls and electrical appliances.

 

When dealing with electronic devices on the workbench, the way you work will differ, as do the type of tools that you will use. Tools include a soldering iron, tweezers, multimeter, antirust spray, and a trusty screwdriver. Jobs involving electronics require you to take the devices apart and troubleshoot why it is not working properly. You will need to take the whole thing apart and test each individual part until you find what parts are faulty and require replacing. Parts that need replacing will come at a cost and you may end up spending more than you will earn for fixing the device. On the plus side, you will still earn experience and you get to learn how some of your favourite real life gadgets are put together and work.

 

Electrician Simulator also has another set of jobs that when completed will allow you to earn special perks and rewards. They can upgrade your colour of your truck, and garage, upgrade the toolbench, open up the possibilities to work on bigger houses, etc. These kinds of jobs come with a time limit as to when they can be accepted and the list will refresh once the time is up.

 

As we come to the end of this EXPlay, I wanted to say that I am not really a Simulator fan by any means but this game actually intrigued me when it was announced and released for Switch. The reason it intrigued me is because I am actually studying to be an electrical technician and I wanted to see how accurate Electrician Simulator is and whether it would be a worthy addition to complement my studies.

 

While the game does streamline a lot of the more technical practices in an electrician’s trade, it does serve as a decent enough educational tool in how sockets and switches are wired up and how to wire up circuits to indivdual fuses. I wouldn’t say this game will completely replace my current curriculum and I should just ditch the textbooks I’ve been reading. I would however, say that I do find the game rather enjoyable and serves as a sandbox where I can freely play around with light fixtures and socket placements without the risk of a nasty shock.

 

One thing that I should point out is that the default controls can be a little fiddly at times and over responsive. You can adjust the joystick sensitivity in the options menu and remap buttons to your liking. With this being a simulation game, you will be better of lowering the sensitivity as opposed to raising it so that you have more control over where you want to move the onscreen cursor. There is also touch screen support that you can make use off but it can also be a little fiddly at times, especially when trying to interact with small parts (and there are a lot of small parts). I find a combination of touchscreen using a stylus and button controls work pretty well for me when playing in handheld mode.

 

To wrap up, Electrician Simulator has certainly sparked my interest that I was actually shocked me with how intuitive and engaging it is. Yes it is another simulation game to be added to the Nintendo Switch’s ever growing library, but I feel like many aspiring electrcians and simulator fans should be wired to play this game.

Electrician Simulator (The Gameplay)

Game Specifications:

Developer: Take IT Studio!
Publisher: Gaming Factory
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Simulation
No. of Players: 1 (Single System)
Release Date: NA| EU: January 5, 2024
Price: $19.99
File Size: 5.9 GB
Nintendo.com Listing