Power Wash Simulator

[Metalhead]

Xbox Game Pass hit PowerWash Simulator celebrates seven million players

FuturLab has announced that Xbox Game Pass sensation PowerWash Simulator has seen over seven million players pick up a hose for a spot of cleaning.

www.trueachievements.com

A part of me is tempted to start this game just to see what the big deal is.

 

[Bolletje]

I share the same temptation. Shall we make a pact? First one to try reports their findings!

 

[Metalhead]

I return home Sunday. I will try it then.

 

[Brictoria]

I'd be interested in hearing what it's like - I've had that game on my Steam wishlist for almost 2 years (Since watching "Worth A Buy"'s review on youtube in July 2021 [1]), but haven't got around to buying it yet, so it would be nice to see a "second opinion" on what it's like.

I've found there are quite a few "simulator" games (like this) that can be quite relaxing to play - there's no stress from time limits or in-game "events" and so you can just sit back and perform a set of tasks at our own pace.

[1] If you're interested (He can be somewhay juvenile in his reviews at time and\or use colourful language), the video is at

 

[Misery]

This type of game is the sort of thing that is super hard to explain to anyone that hasnt gotten it already. For instance:

I've found there are quite a few "simulator" games (like this) that can be quite relaxing to play - there's no stress from time limits or in-game "events" and so you can just sit back and perform a set of tasks at our own pace.

This is the perfect spot for me to share this:

Viscera Cleanup Detail on Steam

In Viscera Cleanup Detail, you step into the boots of a space-station janitor tasked with cleaning up after various horrific sci-fi horror events. Instead of machineguns and plasma-rifles, your tools are a mop and bucket. That hero left a mess, and it's up to you to deal with the aftermath.

store.steampowered.com

It's a similar idea, high focus on satisfaction and the challenge of making sure you get all the details, though unlike Powerwash it's possible to screw up and make a mess again (if you've got a bucket full of bloody monster bits, gotta be sure not to knock it over... among other mistakes you can make, which are usually hilarious) and there's waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy more things involved in huge areas, and more mechanics involved (you've got tools specifically dedicated just to FINDING things you need to clean or fix, for instance) so individual "jobs" are very long and the pacing is slower. Your primary tool is a mop (though you've also got things like The Welder) and that does mean buckets, and carrying things around, and...

It sounds real stupid on paper, but, well... just look at the review count. Yeah. It's good. But I'd have a hard time trying to explain to you WHY it's so good.

I will say though, if you end up liking Powerwash, there's a LOT of games along this line out there right now. These are popular for good reason, even if I cant quite articulate that reason. Powerwash and also House Flipper seem to be the biggest ones right now.

 

[Brictoria]

This type of game is the sort of thing that is super hard to explain to anyone that hasnt gotten it already. For instance:



This is the perfect spot for me to share this:

Viscera Cleanup Detail on Steam

In Viscera Cleanup Detail, you step into the boots of a space-station janitor tasked with cleaning up after various horrific sci-fi horror events. Instead of machineguns and plasma-rifles, your tools are a mop and bucket. That hero left a mess, and it's up to you to deal with the aftermath.

store.steampowered.com

It's a similar idea, high focus on satisfaction and the challenge of making sure you get all the details, though unlike Powerwash it's possible to screw up and make a mess again (if you've got a bucket full of bloody monster bits, gotta be sure not to knock it over... among other mistakes you can make, which are usually hilarious) and there's waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy more things involved in huge areas, and more mechanics involved (you've got tools specifically dedicated just to FINDING things you need to clean or fix, for instance) so individual "jobs" are very long and the pacing is slower. Your primary tool is a mop (though you've also got things like The Welder) and that does mean buckets, and carrying things around, and...

It sounds real stupid on paper, but, well... just look at the review count. Yeah. It's good. But I'd have a hard time trying to explain to you WHY it's so good.

I will say though, if you end up liking Powerwash, there's a LOT of games along this line out there right now. These are popular for good reason, even if I cant quite articulate that reason. Powerwash and also House Flipper seem to be the biggest ones right now.

I've had that in my Steam library for many years (last played October 31, 2014, apparently), along with quite a large number of similar games (my Steam library's size may be slightly excessive... I'll blame that on the "bundle" habit that I used to have) - I've also been involved in testing some of these types of games ("Tank Mechanic Simulator", and "WW2 rebuilder" are a couple of the more recent ones).

For me, I think the appeal of these games comes from having a goal, but no time limits or "interuptions" inserted into the game. This allows for you to do things at your own pace\order you want, with the satisfaction coming as you complete individual goals\tasks. They have a similar appeal that "open world" type games have, where you are free to do what you want, while limiting the size of the world so that you aren't "overwhelmed" with options and so lose interest because you can't decide what to do.