Junkyard Simulator

60%
Game Brain Score Based on 738 reviews
  • gameplay
  • story
  • graphics
Junkyard Simulator Game Cover
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In Junkyard Simulator, you run your own junkyard business, collecting, repairing, and selling various types of vehicles and parts. Use a variety of machines and tools to dismantle cars, trucks, and machinery, and sell the parts for profit. Upgrade your junkyard and expand your operations for greater rewards and challenges.

  • PC
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Play​Station
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

60%
Audience ScoreBased on 738 reviews
gameplay29 positive mentions
stability55 negative mentions
  • The game has a lot of potential with a unique concept of managing a junkyard and restoring items.
  • The graphics are decent and the game offers a variety of activities to keep players engaged.
  • The developers are responsive to feedback and actively working on updates to improve the game.
  • The game is plagued with bugs and crashes, making it frustrating to play.
  • The tutorial is lengthy and confusing, often leaving players unsure of what to do next.
  • The controls are clunky and unintuitive, leading to a poor user experience.
  • gameplay141 mentions

    The gameplay of the game is described as enjoyable and full of potential, featuring a variety of mechanics such as buying, cleaning, and restoring vehicles, but it suffers from numerous bugs and optimization issues. While some players find the mechanics engaging and addictive, others criticize them as overly complicated and tedious, with a lack of clear progression and a frustrating tutorial system. Overall, the game shows promise but requires significant improvements to its mechanics and user experience to fully realize its potential.

    • “The gameplay in and of itself is very enjoyable: buying, cleaning, and building up your scrapyard; hunting for scrap and antiques to sell to raise more funds for renovating your scrapyard; finding cars and interesting items to restore; and improving your character.”
    • “Gameplay is awesome and has meditative properties.”
    • “The core mechanics of this game are pretty addictive - basically 'money number go up yay'.”
    • “Right now the game looks like a tech demo than anything else, there's barely any content, no interesting gameplay loop that makes you want to play it beyond the tutorial, because once the tutorial ends, your progression stops, you only earn more money that you don't have anything meaningful to spend it on.”
    • “However, the story is just a tutorial, and the mechanics need lots of work.”
    • “The tutorial is hardly a tutorial, difficult to figure out how specific mechanics work.”
  • story138 mentions

    The game's story mode is often criticized for its lack of clarity and structure, with many players feeling overwhelmed by the numerous fetch quests and poorly defined objectives. While some appreciate the potential for engaging gameplay, they note that the story serves primarily as a lengthy tutorial, filled with bugs and frustrating quest mechanics that hinder progression. Overall, players recommend starting with story mode but express a strong desire for improvements and more engaging narrative elements.

    • “I strongly recommend playing the story mode first because sandbox gives you no guidance at all.”
    • “Great storyline, so much to do and see to keep things interesting.”
    • “The intro with the story gives me postal vibes about the character you play as and I love it.”
    • “Good potential, but the game has you doing 100 different things with a story mode that makes no sense and has you all over the place.”
    • “The story mode of this game is basically a dude on the phone saying 'good job, doing that thing, now go over here.'”
    • “The tutorial itself isn't great; instead of giving you a tutorial when you find something, it expects you to do things in a specific order, often putting things close to you instead of where that thing is in the world.”
  • graphics93 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising them as "nice" and "beautiful," particularly on higher settings, while others criticize them for being poor, clunky, or demanding on system resources. Many users report issues with optimization and performance, especially on lower-end hardware, leading to frustration with frame rates and graphical fidelity. Overall, while there are commendable aspects to the visuals, significant improvements and optimizations are needed to enhance the gaming experience.

    • “The visual style of the game is amazing; it's such a beautiful game, especially on max graphics settings.”
    • “Great graphics, big world, and plenty to do.”
    • “On the bright side, the graphics are amazing, probably more quality than some of the triple-A games that I have played.”
    • “The graphics are really not that good and should not be that demanding.”
    • “Graphics are absolute trash.”
    • “The game play is as good as the graphics, which is crap.”
  • stability58 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and performance issues that significantly hinder gameplay. While some players have experienced smooth performance on higher-end systems, the overall consensus is that the game is currently a "buggy mess," with frequent crashes, unresponsive controls, and frustrating gameplay elements. Despite its potential, many reviewers express hope for future updates to address these issues, but caution against purchasing it in its current state.

    • “As for people complaining about performance, it runs great with my 1660 Ti GPU on my PC and even better on my ROG Ally.”
    • “The game runs great on my middle-of-the-road computer, and the graphics are nice.”
    • “I built my powerhouse machine, and the game runs great.”
    • “I hope somewhere down the line this gets better, as of right now, it is a buggy, busted mess, and not the fun kind.”
    • “Overall the game is not worth getting; it's buggy, broken, and overall quite a mess at times.”
    • “The game freezes and I have to force shut down the game.”
  • optimization48 mentions

    The game's optimization has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players reporting severe stuttering, lag, and crashes regardless of their hardware specifications. While a few users have experienced acceptable performance, the majority agree that significant optimization improvements are necessary for a playable experience, especially given its early access status. Overall, the consensus is that the game is currently poorly optimized and requires urgent updates to address these issues.

    • “As for people complaining about performance, it runs great with my 1660ti GPU on my PC and even better on my ROG Ally.”
    • “Car physics were updated, blurry textures and optimization issues were addressed; not 100% fixed, but the game is at the very least playable.”
    • “Runs smoothly on a 1070ti with an i9 10900k, for me at least.”
    • “It's so badly optimized it becomes unplayable.”
    • “Game was unplayable, constant stuttering.”
    • “This game requires a massive optimization patch; gods help the poor souls that bought this piece of junk with specs even lower than mine.”
  • music36 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the radio's selection of songs, particularly those reminiscent of 80s and 90s independent rock, while others express frustration over the inability to turn off or adjust the ambient music and radio settings effectively. Many users report technical issues, such as music looping or overlapping, and a lack of customization options for personal music preferences. Overall, while the music has potential, significant improvements in audio settings and functionality are needed to enhance the player experience.

    • “The background music is okay, but the real highlight is the radio, which features some great songs.”
    • “Edit: just discovered the junky FM radio in the game, and the music has brilliant taste, especially if you enjoy independent rock from the eighties and nineties, with some techno and house mixed in.”
    • “Great music collection, scrap mechanics, minigames, and a world to explore.”
    • “Annoying music continually playing on a loop that you can't turn off - fuck no!!”
    • “I have - options> audio> ambient music, and the slider for ambient music is greyed out and cannot be changed and is stuck between 0.5 and 1.0 - so I still hear the annoying music and cannot change anything.”
    • “Turning off the music only turns off the ambient music, the tutorial menu still has music, there's no way to turn off the junky challenge sounds which get annoying very quickly, and there's no way to turn off the tutorial voice.”
  • grinding22 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, particularly during tasks like disassembling cars and navigating clunky controls. While some players appreciate the grindy nature of the gameplay, many find the mechanics unnecessarily complicated and the tutorial overly long, detracting from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the experience can feel frustrating, especially when players are forced to follow specific paths without the freedom to explore.

    • “It's a frustrating, and needlessly tedious experience.”
    • “Many of the tasks are just unnecessarily tedious.”
    • “The renovation gameplay is stale and tedious, and sadly the scraping mechanics are interesting but quickly become repetitive.”
  • replayability7 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is mixed, with some players finding it infinitely replayable while others describe it as repetitive and lacking depth. Major bugs and unclear quests have contributed to a perception of low replayability for some, though minor improvements have been noted. Ultimately, experiences vary widely, with some players enjoying occasional play while others feel it lacks the engagement for repeated sessions.

    • “✅ infinitely replayable”
    • “I have noticed some minor bugs, but nothing that damages replayability, especially for independent developers.”
    • “Its more playable now”
    • “Three years in early access, major bugs with controls and UI not fixed, unclear quests, very low replayability...”
    • “Okay game, very repetitive; it was worth a few hours here and there, not a whole lot of depth and replayability honestly.”
    • “Story 1 out of 10; there is somewhat of a story I have yet to figure out; replayability 2 out of 10. This game isn't my cup of tea.”
  • humor7 mentions

    The humor in the game is derived from its numerous glitches and bugs, which often lead to amusing situations, such as vehicles flipping over unexpectedly or getting stuck on invisible walls. While players find some of these moments entertaining, the overall experience is marred by technical issues and a lack of depth compared to similar titles. Despite its comedic potential, many feel the game is currently too broken to fully enjoy.

    • “A bit hard to get the hang of the game at the start, but after a little time you start to unlock some stuff and get the hang of the game. It is just now getting interesting, very good game so far, and some funny bugs that are not game-breaking.”
    • “Like the physics on vehicles in one or two places is funny, and you flip your vehicle by just turning a corner.”
    • “It's funny and enjoyable, but for now it's a junkyard of bugs, just a little bit more than half-made game.”
    • “This game is so broken at the moment it's not funny. The radio does not work; it repeats the first song, and when you switch the radio station, you get to hear two songs playing at once. The level system is messed up badly. After you complete the tutorial, the game becomes a delivery driver simulator. XP should be earned when doing car engine renovations, not just doing deliveries all the time.”
    • “Driving in the game isn't bad, but there is a poor collision box on the trees and poles. This game needs a lot of work. The map sometimes allows you to scroll in and out, but it will get stuck and not work at all. The map needs a lot of rework; I cannot tell where I'm going.”
    • “This game does have potential, but it needs better optimization and more things to do.”
  • atmosphere4 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beauty and immersive post-apocalyptic setting, creating a relaxing experience while managing the scrapyard. However, some users have noted technical glitches that can disrupt the ambiance, such as issues with item management and the behavior of in-game mechanics.

    • “The atmosphere is beautiful, and the grind to operate the scrapyard is somehow relaxing to me.”
    • “Very atmospheric.”
    • “The atmosphere of the game feels like a post-apocalyptic world.”
  • monetization3 mentions

    Reviews indicate a mixed perception of monetization; while some players appreciate the developers' responsiveness to feedback and hope for genuine improvements rather than exploitation, others criticize the game's interface and navigation as reminiscent of a cash grab, suggesting a disconnect between the game's quality and its promotional efforts.

    • “Developers seem like they actually care about feedback, and I expect them to improve the game and not engage in cash grabs.”
    • “The monetization model is fair and doesn't feel intrusive, allowing players to enjoy the game without feeling pressured to spend.”
    • “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of free content, making it accessible for everyone while still providing optional purchases.”
    • “The UI is ugly and frustrating to navigate; the menus look like they came from a cash grab mobile game.”
    • “Superbly boring; congrats on the advertisements for making such a boring game look so good.”
    • “Developers seem like they actually care about feedback, and I expect them to improve the game and not cash grab.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional response to the game is largely negative, with players expressing frustration over unnecessarily complicated mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Issues such as cumbersome inventory management and technical glitches contribute to a sense of disappointment and disengagement.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

7hMedian play time
8hAverage play time
4-10hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 15 analyzed playthroughs

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