Computer Repair Shop review

Geek Squad Gone Bad

Cheesecake Dev’s Computer Repair Shop isn’t another one of those dry occupational simulations. Sure, the game lives up to its title, so you’ll spend the bulk of your time diagnosing and repairing PCs. But instead of working from some kind of bland suburban storefront, the title takes place in a dark and dingy dystopia. Before work, you’ll have to evict a trio of squatters and scrub graffiti off your walls. Once you become fatigued, you can rest at the local hostel. But first you’ll have to pay a shady landlord. Yes, Repair Shop’s world is weird, grimy, and dangerous.

Although a tiny developer can’t match the scope or sophistication of a game like Cyberpunk 2077, Computer Repair Shop manages to be more transgressive. Yes, you can go the ethical route, using tools to remove viruses, scan CPUs, or blow accumulations of dust out of computer cases. However, you’d be missing out on the mischievous fun. After a bikini-clad patron asks for help with new broken PC, you might be temped to peer into the ‘My Nudes’ folder found on her desktop. Here, Cheesecake Dev’s in-gaming trolling supplied one of the heartiest laughs from the last year of gaming.

It’s Great to be the Bad Guy

As such, enjoyment stems from role-playing as the bad guy. From stealing money by acquiring a client’s personal data, swapping out high quality parts with cheap crap, or just installing some malware,  Computer Repair Shop provides plenty of opportunities for immoral acts. And there’s something enchanting about the game’s lack of moralizing, which doesn’t punish you for being a complete asshole. And as anyone who has made a living as a thief in Elder Scrolls knows, being the villain can be a blast. At least some of Repair Shop’s gratification stems from figuring out new ways to be shameless.

And if you’re old enough to remember the era of i486 PCs, nostalgic contentment comes from all of the references to twentieth-century computing. Each PC you repair has its own personalized desktop, with its own working faux-programs. While listening to a few songs on a WinAmp parody, I opened notepad to draft an expletive-filled message for my client, for no good reason. Seeing a simulated viral scan picking up dozens of infections on a porn addict’s hard drive just might rekindle lapsed memories. Remarkably, every job feels like a puzzle, where you use tools like USB drives or a diagnostic computer to determine the issue with each client’s rig.

Expect the Unexpected

While gradually building and eventually expanding my business felt straightforward to a nerd like me, those less savvy about yesteryear’s hardware might feel differently. Occasionally, Computer Repair Shop is unintentionally vague- neglecting to alert players that repairing components is much cheaper than replacement. Other times, the purchase of a wrong component can push you toward bankruptcy.

Intermittently, this feels like a design decision. Without spoiling things, I became too lax with security, and subsequently paid the price. I liked the surprises the game had in store, but others might be bothered by the lack of signposting. Repair Shop wants you to learn some important on-the-job lessons, forcing you into facing surprises and making sense of its often ambiguous instructions- which might be the most accurate part of this simulation.

Conclusion

Although Repair Shop’s early hours provide a lot of mischievous enjoyment, enjoyment eventually diminishes. While you can spend your profits at an underground fighting robot tournament, squander it at the local nightclub, or just pamper a stray cat that lingers around your store, there’s little sense of late-game progression. Unlike most sims, you won’t be able to radically improve the look or size of your small store. Yes, crime pays in Computer Repair Shop’s dystopia. But the excitement of lawbreaking fades when you realize your operation can’t grow. And that’s a shame, as corporations might be the most loathsome criminals of all.

Computer Repair Shop was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.