Sports Renovations review

If you love House Flipper, Castle Flipper, PowerWash Simulator, and other games in this genre, you’ve probably been watching Sports Renovations. This sports-related cleaning, rebuilding, and relaxing simulation game delivers a slightly rough-around-the-edges addition to the genre. Furthermore, much of the action is mindless, easy to understand, and a bit of a grind.

Developer Goat Gamez attempts to release a game in an already saturated marketplace. This is a brave move as fans of this genre are pretty hard to please! I’ve played practically every game in this field, and I have to say that this is good, but it doesn’t get everything right. Unlike its peers, I found my mind wandering long before I repaired, painted, and cleaned every location. This was a shame, as the level design is pretty interesting. Sadly, much of the action is repetitive, and this is where Sports Renovations falls short.

Sports Renovations asks you to back an underdog.

No one likes to see a business fail or an underdog get buried. Sadly, your local basketball court is in danger. If it gets closed, the kids will have nowhere to play, and it’ll get torn down to make new houses. Bloody developers and their heartless souls! Thankfully, this is where the tool-wielding cleaning maniac comes to the fore. If the protagonist can complete enough jobs, he can afford every repair and keep the basketball court open.

I admit that it’s not much of a story, but a minor plot is better than nothing. Additionally, it gives a little reason to your infatuation to cleaning, painting, and rebuilding everything in sight. The action is very familiar, very repetitive, and very easy to follow. Moreover, there are new tools to unlock and large levels to explore.

Oh, so repetitive.

Though the developer has done their best to keep things fresh, Sports Renovations lacks originality. Cleaning rubbish, smashing broken furniture, and replacing things with mindless ease make this a little lacklustre. Furthermore, following the step-by-step guide to completing each stage takes away from the challenge.

Sadly, I had to play this casually. Unlike PowerWash Simulator 2 or any other game in this genre, I couldn’t commit hours to one playthrough. Instead, I found myself playing this casually to overcome the sense of boredom. Had the developers tried something unique, this would have kept me playing for hours. Sadly, the thought of exploring each location and throwing bags of rubbish in a skip wasn’t that enjoyable.

Sports Renovations lacks polish.

The sim genre doesn’t have to look great. Most gamers forgive the rough edges, bugs, and other issues they face. Sadly, Sports Renovations delivers each of these issues in abundance. The textures are woeful, and the bugs rear their ugly head repeatedly. However, like most players, I simply ignored the problems and got on with my virtual job. Though I accepted the shortcomings, the developer should have done a better job before releasing this game. The audio is just as basic and mundane. This isn’t a complaint, as cleaning, brushing, painting, and using a hammer have basic sounds. Consequently, it does its job without blowing you away.

This would probably have been better with a mouse and keyboard. Unfortunately, a gamepad lacks accuracy, and some of the tasks need you to hit levers and switches. This caused frustration and made me curse when I should have laughed. Despite this problem, the UI is reasonably good and learning the basics wasn’t a challenge. I probably won’t return to play this again. Sadly, Sports Renovations isn’t a best-in-class title, and I’ll invest my time in other games in the field.

Sports Renovations is okay, but not great.

I am neither disappointed nor impressed by Sports Renovations. It’s a bit Marmite and will appeal to and annoy many gamers. Although it is rough, familiar, and easy to play, I enjoyed wasting time and the interesting settings. Moreover, there is a sense of reward once you complete each stage. As such, despite the few issues, I recommend getting a copy from the Xbox store!