Well, it’s been one of those weeks, and I’ve been in desperate need of the reminder in the subtitle of this game. ServiceIT: You Can Do IT has all the positivity in the name, and we could also use a reminder that we can do hard things. Granted, it’s always a questionable choice when one voluntarily signs up to do IT, so let’s see where this simulator stacks up.
Plot Ahoy!
As with most other simulators, your task is to set up a company and make it profitable. However, ServiceIT diverges a bit from the standard formula by introducing an antagonist. There’s a hacker who’s out to get you for…reasons? I’m honestly not sure, but the Guy Fawkes mask feels a little derivative.
Aside from the villain, you’re pretty much doing what you do in any simulator—taking jobs, turning a profit, and trying to upgrade your workspace from the proverbial parents’ basement to an actual building of your own.
Review Notes
You open ServiceIT by selecting a player name and a company name. Then, an AI called Evelink will direct you through the tutorial, but before you can move beyond “prove that you’re a human,” the hacker appears on your screen informing you that while you don’t know them, they know you. Your first task is to purchase your computer, and once you do, you’re off to the races.
In many simulators, the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive, so unless you’re really invested in building that spaceport, taking breaks is probably a better idea. ServiceIT, however, affords you a wider variety of tasks than originally expected. You repair hardware, set up new users for a corporation, retrieve or remove data, OS installation at an enterprise level, and everything else you might expect from an IT service. The developer Picture4u has done a great job amassing an array of electronic tools from voltmeters to soldering irons to much more sophisticated tech that you can unlock as you progress.
In terms of gameplay, the tasks generally fall into the pattern that if you’ve ever played one of these simulators, you’ll recognize. Some are straight puzzles while disassembling devices becomes a sort of minigame. As your reputation grows, you’ll be able to take on more lucrative clients. And as an additional bonus, you’ll get a very simplified idea of how network management works, though IT professionals will probably be frustrated by the lack of complexity.
The other half of the title, of course, concerns furnishing and decorating your office as you slowly move your business into larger and larger digs. Picture4u has included a pretty solid selection of furniture and decor, which of course, drive you to take on more contracts to buy the lovely new tables and chairs. You’re also in charge of securing your business against cyberattacks and general downtime. Remember I mentioned the hacker?
You do have pretty granular control over how you configure your business in terms of workstations, permissions for staff members, and building your business network. You’ll also be hiring and firing staff based on their performance and skills. That’s obviously nothing new for the genre, and the same can be said for the amount of budgeting you’ll be doing.
In terms of music and sound design, there’s not much to write home about. While the graphics are generally on par with what you’d expect from an indie simulator, the faces are odd. The game itself runs mostly alright, but it’s not bug-free. ServiceIT is very much an early access game.
TLDR
That said, ServiceIT: You Can Do It offers a fair amount of promise, especially if IT isn’t something you necessarily do all day every day. If you’re a fan of the other Playway-style simulators, give ServiceIT a pretty good look. If you’re looking to get into the simulator genre, this isn’t necessarily a bad start, either.
Currently, ServiceIT: You Can Do IT retails for $12.99 on Steam.
Stray Thoughts From Behind the Keyboard
- I did like the option to switch from the QWERTY keyboard layout to the AZERTY option. It felt very IT for some reason.
- You have a lawyer from the very beginning of ServiceIT, and it goes about downhill from there.
- There’s an Echo Dot on your desk when you start. I feel like that was a controversial choice.
- You do get the opportunity to track your hacker. That’s part of the plot.