Overview – developed by Goat Gamez and published by Dear Villagers, Sports: Renovations is a title in the relatively popular decorating/renovation genre of games, set around a local basketball court. You have been tasked with renovating and refurbishing the Goats Stadium, a local basketball court that is going to be demolished if it can’t be saved. This title is currently exclusive for the Steam service, with a link to the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank the rep for Dear Villagers that provided the copy of Sports: Renovations that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. I will only be covering the basic mechanics of the game, this is for the sake of brevity. Images provided by publisher and may not match final product.
Story – your hometown basketball course is in danger, as a real estate developer wants to demolish it and build a new shopping mall. You receive a call from a friend, who informs you that you have 160 days to renovate, rebuild and build the building to its former glory. Work hard and use your skills to pain, refurbish and restore all of the facilities, between jobs where you help to rebuild other sports facilities to fund your own project.
Gameplay – this is a rather straightforward house flipping style of game, centered around rebuilding the Goats basketball court. In order to do this, you will need to fulfil two core objectives, with the first being to clean up the court, as the player only has 160 days before inspection. But before that can be done, they need to earn some money. In order to do that, you need to earn funds by performing additional renovation jobs.
At the start of the game, the player will be given details on the events that are occurring, telling them about the backstory of the basketball court. Then the player will arrive at their new base of operations for the game, with a workshop, car park and office. In the office, the player will be able to access the computer, where they can accept special jobs moving to other sports facilities. These have their own stories and reasons for being refurbished.
Each of the jobs will be in a different sports facility, including a boxing gym and climbing club. When visiting a location, the player will be given a set of tasks to complete, while also given some story details about the location. The general tasks that players can be given are as follows;
- Throw out the garbage – Collect all of the trash and waste that has been left behind, including general waste like drinks cups and general trash. There will also be debris and broken furniture that needs to be disposed of. To dispose of the waste, the player must collect smaller trash into a bag, then throw the filled bags in a dumpster. All items must be picked up one at a time and disposed of.
- Remove the Junk – using a hammer, break down the junk that is scattered around, including shelves, old furniture and even metal barrels. These items must be struck multiple times to break them down, with the items disappearing after dismantling them.
- Sweep the floor – using a broom, clean up dust and debris from the different areas, making sure to keep going until it is all cleaned up. When enough of the pile has been swept, the rest will disappear.
- Paint the walls – with your trusty tools, apply a fresh coat of paint to the different surfaces of your renovation jobs, giving the tired décor a new lease on life. When enough of the wall has been painted manually, finish the job with a single click with the bucket tool.
- Replace and add new furniture – there will be existing furniture that needs to be replaced, with a selection of contemporary pieces to select from. New dedicated furniture can be added, within a budget, further increasing the value of the property. There will be some special items that are provided free of charge, but many furniture items will need to be purchased.
To help with the completion of the tasks, a scan button is available, which will show things that may have been missed. As the player completes the different tasks, there will be bonus objectives available alongside some simple puzzles. The addition of these tasks gives more to do for the player to do, making it more than just a simple decorating game. Before and after each job, the player will need to take a photo to provide to the client.
The renovation jobs aren’t the only thing that this game has for players to do, as they will need to fix up the basketball court itself. This is accomplished by performing the same types of task as the missions, but there is an extra wrinkle to the progression. To unlock new missions and earn funds for the court, the player needs to clean set areas up, like the main court, commentary booth and locker rooms. These are accessed with money earned on jobs.
But simple cleaning and a fresh coat of paint isn’t all that can be done at the court. There is a full selection of furniture that players can add to the different areas of the home base, providing freedom to get creative. There are many options that can be chosen from, like plants, desks, chairs and more, but they can get expensive, so make sure to save up. This can break up the tedium that occurs with the basic renovation tasks.
There is also a levelling system for the various tools that can be used, with upgraded painting tools, new types of brooms and more to unlock. This will cost money to access, with new items being unlocked for purchase as the player makes their way through the game. To access the tools and equipment, players can use a handy tablet, which can has a variety of handy features for players to use during the different jobs.
As the player makes their way through the different jobs and general renovations, there will be calls from Jess. She is the companion for the player, narrating events and giving more detail to the events that are occurring. But she is not the only voice that you will hear, as a radio DJ will often be heard during the game. He will pop up during play, telling stories and information about the sport tied to the facility being renovated.
The last thing to discuss is the investigation system. In this game, players will be able to pick up items and look at them, learning about the item itself or lore pertaining to the game world. This is a nice addition as it makes the world feel inhabited, as it will end up feeling empty and lifeless over time. Sadly the empty world makes for a lonely experience, with the only break from the feeling of isolation being the radio and one sided phone calls.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to cover the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls have a rather convoluted feel to them, using a mostly traditional mouse and keyboard layout, with the option for controller support. There is an unfortunate awkwardness to some of the inputs, which can be a frustration when trying to quickly complete tasks. The biggest issue with the controls is the need to consistently move, for painting and washing, but thankfully there is the option to adjust sensitivity.
Difficulty – there is little in terms of difficulty in this release, as there is no real challenge when renovating the different areas of the game. It feels like there is more busy work to be done, rather than any jeopardy to try and overcome. This can work for a game that has a level of satisfaction to the overall experience, but sadly this game tends to lack that fulfilment. But it may have an appeal for those who like these types of simulator.
Presentation – This release looks good if not a little generic, with the some decent environmental designs and locations, alongside a fairly well done intro movie. The overall visual presentation is effective in what it attempts to do, with varying options for quality of texture. The sound for this game is a bit of a mixed bag, the music is pleasant enough when it is playing, but there is something unusual about the voice work, as it feels inhuman at times.
Final Thoughts – Sports Renovations was offered to me as part of a promotion, so I was not sure what to expect when I accepted it. When I got started with it, I found it to be rather enjoyable when working with the introduction. But the further I got into the game experience, the more boring and tedious it started to become. The completion of tasks in the small area was fulfilling, but that quickly wore off when working in bigger areas.
There are flaws to this release, like the inability to pick up more than one item for disposal, or the clunky cleaning mechanics. Then there is the voice work, which can feel stilted at times with the VA saying some words incorrectly. I tried my best to play this game through to the end, but I found it to become increasingly dull to play. So with that being said, I am unsure if I am able to recommend this game. There may be some value for some, but for me it is not a fun experience.
In the end, I give Sports: Renovations a final score of 2/5. This is a fairly well put together renovation simulator, but there are numerous small issues that unfortunately hinder it, causing the gameplay loop and general experience to become tedious quickly. If you want to check it out for yourself, there will be a link to the game below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
W.Kohaku Media 