I’ve been building PCs for most of my life, so PC building simulator was never a game that I actively sought out. I’ve played it dozens of times for hours, but it was more of a social experience – a game I started when friends were around to mess around or mess around with expensive graphics cards we only wish we could allow us.

PC Building Simulator 2, now in open beta on the Epic Games Store, is no different. It’s Guitar Hero for PC enthusiasts, relying more on being a game than being a tool for learning how to build a PC. As someone who tends to too much thermal paste, I expected PC Building Simulator 2 to disappoint me, but it’s not – despite some gamified stuff that prevented a PC from being built.

Become a nerdy rock star

Guitar Hero is the best touchstone for Pc construction simulator 2. It makes you feel like you’re building a PC, with a few licensed components, but it leaves out a lot of critical areas when it comes to putting a machine together. Cable management? Don’t worry, just click on the highlighted ports. RAM location? Any location will do. The list continues.

I started my beta preview with the timed career mode. If you played the first game, you know the deal: your faceless uncle left you another one decrepit PC store, and it’s your job to bring in orders, competently complete them, and balance your budget so you can afford new components (and most importantly, rent).

My business was starting to boom, but things were a little too quiet. I started pushing back, cleverly messing up PC builds to see if customers would get upset. I left the PCIe brackets missing, intentionally installed the GPU and RAM in the wrong slots, and completely drowned each CPU in thermal paste.

But nothing happened. Every order went off without a hitch no matter how hard I tried to sabotage them. There’s a fine line PC Building Simulator 2 must walk between being an enjoyable game and being a tool to learn how to build a PC. However, there are plenty of teachable moments in the game that are simply reviewed.

For example, a first job came from an aspirant Fortnite streamer whose PC did not meet the minimum requirements. The machine just needed a CPU upgrade, but I noticed that the two RAM sticks were installed next to each other (most motherboards need them spaced between slots for maximum speed). The problem is that there was no reward for noticing this issue, nor any consequences for intentionally messing up a problem like this on other systems.

The worst problem came when the game introduced its new bench system. You now have access to three types of workstations: build, water-cooled, and case modding. Career mode guides you through each bench from the start, including filling and installing a custom liquid cooling loop.

Unlike the first game, you now have to modify the components you want to water cool. This involves replacing thermal pads on a GPU, removing motherboard heatsinks, and more. It’s an awesome system, and I like the flexibility of being able to choose the components I want, both in the PC and in the custom loop.

But that’s not always accurate. In your introduction to the watercooling bench, for example, PC Building Simulator 2 asks you to install the rows on the same side of the GPU block. This would not allow any liquid to enter the GPU block, and this is one of the most common mistakes with liquid cooling.

PC Building Simulator 2 doesn’t need to provide full documentation on how to build a PC, but fixing common minor errors could provide huge benefits to gamers interested in building their own PC. That would PC Building Simulator 2 a better game too, with a back and forth of consequences and rewards that makes you feel like you’re running your own PC repair business.

Free play for days

Although some common career mistakes make me cringe, PC Building Simulator 2 is all about free play where you can build your dream rig, benchmark it, and overclock it. The new bench system is a huge boon here, allowing you to go further than ever before.

Liquid cooling is a treat on its own, where you have the freedom to make the choices that come your way when assembling a custom loop. Do you want a monoblock for the complete motherboard or just a CPU block? Want the ROG Strix RTX 3090 paired with a certain GPU block? It’s all inclusive. Custom liquid cooling was an option in the stock version, but PC Building Simulator 2 the stuff massively.

The other bench is case modding, which is a simple yet powerful workstation. You can paint cases with custom colors and apply stickers, allowing you to really make a build look like you. Hopefully we’ll see more here, either in the full release or in a future expansion, because I could spend dozens of hours modding PC cases.

A worthy sequel

Beyond the new benches, PC Building Simulator 2 also introduces a tablet to the game, saving you time commuting from your PC when you want to order new parts or check your emails. It also allows you to change the music, and PC Building Simulator 2 has a soundtrack stacked with every genre you can imagine.

More importantly, it brings the much requested room customization where you can point to a wall or ceiling and instantly swap it out with a different look. I imagine this is an area developer that Spiral House will heavily rely on in future expansions.

i was hoping PC Building Simulator 2 to leave me disappointed, wanting a free update rather than a new paid version. But it’s a worthy sequel, expanding the original version with new components and features, and delving deeper into things like overclocking and benchmarking – though it does have some issues with accurately representing how of which PCs are built.

PC Building Simulator 2 will launch exclusively on the Epic Games Store later this year. You can list it now to access the free open beta.

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