videogamescritic
← all games
PC Building Simulator

PC Building Simulator

Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation · released Jan 29, 2019

IndieSimulation

Build and grow your very own computer repair enterprise as you learn to diagnose, fix and build PCs. With real-world licensed components and comprehensive hardware and software simulation, you can plan and bring your ultimate PC to life.

Steam page ↗OpenCritic ↗
87
VGC Score
■Stablehigh confidence
80%
At launch
93%
Steam all-time
70%
Press
60%
Player sentiment
86%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

What players say

Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 298 sampled Steam reviews (265 positive / 33 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.

What positive reviews talk about

  • Grind & repetition4% mention it

What negative reviews complain about

  • Bugs & crashes9% mention it

Satisfaction by hours played

Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.

Under 5h

83%

92 reviews

5-15h

89%

96 reviews

15-40h

98%

64 reviews

40-100h

84%

31 reviews

100h+

100%

15 reviews

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)–705
All-time Steam reviews93%881000
Metacritic user ratings––0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)86%8036
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 102 reviews sampled · 92 total reviews in window · weighted 62.3 up / 10.1 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (12)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 60
    Nintendo LifeNintendo Life
    trust 76Aug 20, 2019

    “It's not a game for everyone, that much is obvious. But what it does, it actually does quite well. ”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    Nindie SpotlightNindie Spotlight
    trust 70Aug 13, 2019

    “This may be about as niche a title as I've played on the Switch, and yet as someone who has assembled my own PC from scratch more than a few times, I'm happy to say that PC Building Simulator absolutely delivers the authentic goods...”

    read full review ↗
  • 55
    NintendoWorldReportNintendoWorldReport
    trust 69Aug 24, 2019

    “Really the problem is that even the fun that can be had in PC Building Simulator simply isn't worth the trouble of the painfully slow and clumsy user interface. This is a game that is surprising to find on a non-PC platform but disappointing to learn that it probably should have stayed there. It can really only be recommended if you are a die hard PC enthusiast who doesn't have a PC.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    FingerGunsFingerGuns
    trust 66Aug 15, 2019

    “PC Building Simulator on PS4 is an enchanting game, channelling creativity and problem solving through the medium of making and fixing computers that even a PC newcomer like I can get to grips with and wholeheartedly enjoy. I do wish the game had spent a little more time explaining 3DMark scoring and overclocking as these are areas that it skips over too quickly for my liking but otherwise, this is a game that's easy to access, even easier to lose an afternoon too and is a great translation of the PC version.”

    read full review ↗
  • 85
    SECTOR.skSECTOR.sk
    trust 66Feb 8, 2019

    “Great way to learn how to build and upgrade your PC with a lot of components and details.”

    read full review ↗
  • 65
    TechRaptorTechRaptor
    trust 63Mar 15, 2019

    “PC Building Simulator tries to capture the PC technician experience and mostly succeeds, but it's lacking some critical parts of the real-world experience.”

    read full review ↗
  • 40
    Thumb CultureThumb Culture
    trust 60Sep 4, 2019

    “PC Building Simulator is fun to experiment with on a short-term basis, I think if it was possible to add in some more variants like Laptops, Tablets, Phones etc. then it may be more appealing to general gamers however I appreciate with all the components its most likely not a feasible option. Unfortunately, the repetitiveness of the tasks means that it’s a game that will sit on the shelf for rather long spells in between use and after completion will most likely not be played again. PC Building Simulator has reached the Benchmark of the Thumb Culture Bronze Award, usable and fun but could and maybe should be better.”

    read full review ↗
  • 72
    Hynerd.itHynerd.it
    trust 55Nov 27, 2019

    “The title is all in all well structured but there are obvious problems that affect the gameplay. The lack of realism in certain actions often lead to abandon the game or continue with little desire. But in the end the work done by the developers is discreet.”

    read full review ↗
  • 74
    New Game NetworkNew Game Network
    trust 55Jan 31, 2019

    “PC Building Simulator is one of the better entries in the genre, with nice touches of authenticity and attention to detail. It's too limited and simplistic to replicate the experience of putting a rig together yourself, but it does a good enough job to get you started in the right direction.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    ShacknewsShacknews
    trust 53Feb 19, 2019

    “At the end of the day, PC Building Simulator is a solid experience, especially for those who may already have an affinity for PC hardware.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    SpaziogamesSpaziogames
    trust 52Feb 4, 2019

    “PC Building Simulator is a good idle experience. Here you can learn how a PC is made, but forget to learn how to build one seriously thanks to the game.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    Generación XboxGeneración Xbox
    trust 49Sep 1, 2019

    “PC Gaming Simulator is what we could call a “curiosity”. A strange game that mix some very generic elements with a strong fidelity regarding sim mechanics.”

    read full review ↗

Patch history

  1. January 2023 Update
    Jan 11, 2023
  2. PC Building Simulator Update v1.15.3
    Apr 5, 2022
  3. PC Building Simulator Update v1.15.2
    Mar 22, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  4. PC Building Simulator Update v1.15.1
    Mar 10, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  5. PC Building Simulator Update v1.15
    Mar 2, 2022
  6. PC Building Simulator Update v1.14.3
    Jan 26, 2022
  7. PC Building Simulator Update v1.14.2
    Jan 19, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  8. PC Building Simulator Update v1.14.1
    Dec 14, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  9. PC Building Simulator Update v1.14
    Dec 9, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  10. PC Building Simulator Update v1.13 - Including the IT Expansion
    Oct 28, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  11. PC Building Simulator Update v1.12.3.1
    Sep 29, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  12. PC Building Simulator Update v1.12.3
    Sep 15, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  13. PC Building Simulator Update v1.12.2
    Aug 19, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  14. PC Building Simulator Update v1.12.1
    Jul 14, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  15. PC Building Simulator Update v1.12
    Jun 25, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  16. PC Building Simulator Update v1.11.2
    May 6, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  17. PC Building Simulator Update v1.11
    Apr 28, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  18. PC Building Simulator Update v1.10.8
    Mar 23, 2021
  19. PC Building Simulator Update v1.10.5
    Feb 11, 2021
  20. PC Building Simulator Update v1.10
    Dec 22, 2020significant · resets scoring window
  21. PC Building Simulator Update v1.9.5
    Nov 25, 2020
  22. PC Building Simulator Update v1.9
    Oct 29, 2020significant · resets scoring window
  23. PC Building Simulator v1.8.6 - Esports Expansion Bug Fixes
    Aug 13, 2020significant · resets scoring window
  24. Introducing our Esports Expansion DLC – build PCs for elite esports teams!
    Aug 4, 2020significant · resets scoring window
  25. PC Building Simulator Update v1.8
    Jun 24, 2020
  26. PC Building Simulator Update v1.7.5
    Jun 3, 2020
  27. PC Building Simulator Update v1.7
    Mar 26, 2020significant · resets scoring window
  28. PC Building Simulator Update v1.6.5
    Jan 23, 2020
  29. PC Building Simulator Update v1.6
    Dec 17, 2019
  30. PC Building Simulator Update v1.5
    Oct 28, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  31. PC Building Simulator Update v1.4 - ASUS ROG Workshop, New Parts from Alphacool, FSP & Lian Li plus more!
    Aug 28, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  32. PC Building Simulator Update v1.3 - Swapping monitors, new parts and some fixes!
    Jun 26, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  33. PC Building Simulator Update v1.2 - Swapping peripherals, a remade workshop and a whole lot more is live now!
    Apr 29, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  34. PC Building Simulator Update v1.1.1 - Squashing some bugs!
    Mar 20, 2019
  35. PC Building Simulator Update v1.1 - be quiet! arrives to expand your build options further
    Mar 14, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  36. PC Building Simulator Update v1.0.3 - Hotfix recap
    Feb 4, 2019
  37. PC Building Simulator Update v1.0.1 - Some post-launch fixes.
    Jan 31, 2019
  38. PC Building Simulator Update v1.0 - Upgrading out of Early Access
    Jan 29, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  39. PC Building Simulator is leaving Early Access on the 29th January!
    Jan 10, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  40. PC Building Simulator Update v0.9.3 - G.Skill speeds into your future rigs!
    Dec 12, 2018significant · resets scoring window

…and 23 earlier patch announcements.