PC Building Simulator 2 now has an open beta on the Epic Games Store
Until June 20th
What is building a PC but piecing together an elaborate, electronic jigsaw? Equally, what is building a jigsaw but piecing together an analogue cardboard PC you can't do anything with after it's finished? These similarities are why building a PC isn't as strange a subject for a videogame as it first appears.
If you like your electric jigsaws, then good news: there's now an open beta available for PC Building Simulator 2.
The beta, available only via Epic's game store the Epic Game Store, includes the career mode's first five levels, as well as access to Free Build mode with a limited number of computer parts.
PCBS' career mode gives you specific challenges, like troubleshooting a PC with an unknown problem or building a PC to a certain set of specifications. In PCBS2, there are more computer components to choose from, all of which are licensed from real manufacturers so they look as accurate as possible. This is maybe where I feel the game loops back around and starts to feel pretty strange again.
PC Building Simulator 2 is being developed by Spiral House, a different studio from the original game. The game's publisher and owners, Irregular Corp, were bought by Epic Games last year, which is likely why it's an Epic Games Store exclusive - and why the demo was announced as part of the Epic Games Showcase during not-E3 earlier this evening.
If you do download the beta from Epic, you'll get 15% off the full price of the game whenever it launches. You'll need to give the beta a try before June 20th however, as that's when it will disappear again. You can read more about which LED lights are included in the current build over on the PC Building Simulator 2 blog.
Not E3 2022 is in full-swing - see everything in our E3 2022 hub, as well as our complete round-up of everything announced at Summer Game Fest 2022. Many more big game showcases and streams are still to come this summer, so make sure you stay up to date with our summer games stream schedule.