Soothing Waters

The recent Steam Spring Sale offered the chance for players to grab a few wishlist titles for a discount.  Even though I've been trying to be conservative with my gaming purchases, I decided it was time to check a title off the list.  It was a tough choice--I'm definitely eyeballing Slime Rancher 2, but it's still in early access and I would rather just wait until the full release--but in the end I decided that I needed some blissful cleaning in my life and grabbed PowerWash Simulator.

An inexplicably gross playground that needs a clean.

What the heck is PowerWash Simulator?  Unsurprisingly, it's a game about using a power washer to clean various locations.  Sounds boring?  Well, you're totally wrong!  There's something strangely soothing and satisfying about watching a mucky path become sparklingly clean or seeing an entire house go from grimy to shiny.  There are multiple gameplay modes to satisfy all your power washing needs--in career mode you take on a variety of different jobs at locations that increase in complexity.  Each job pays based on how well you clean it up--a five star job requires some very attentive washing to make sure that you've sprayed every nook and cranny to eliminate any hidden grime.

For more competitive cleaners there's a challenge mode with timed challenges as well as jobs that limit the amount of water that you can use.  Or, if you're just in it for the soothing nature of spraying you can opt for free play which allows you to clean any of the maps/jobs in the game with no limitations.  Oh, and if you want to power wash with a friend there's even a co-op mode!  All-in-all, there's a little bit of something for everyone.

As you earn more cash you can purchase upgrades to help you better combat tougher messes.  There are special attachments and more powerful washers and there also cosmetic items to help make your rubber-clad cleaning figure into a unique hero of washing.  There are even cosmetic upgrades for your sprayer--all the hot skins for all the hottest powerwashing!

There's very little explanation about why this world you're cleaning is so filthy, but as long as there's more spraying...I'm happy.  And, they seem to be periodically releasing themed additional content such as a Croft Manor map (so you can clean up all of Lara's messes) and a Midgar themed pack with Final Fantasy VII themed items to make sparkly.  My one and only gripe is that unless I use the "target spraying" option (you press C and basically aim without moving) it does make me feel a bit motion sick.  This is weird because I've never felt even slightly motion sick from other games.

I'm looking forward to many more happy hours spraying away all the dirt from a variety of quirky objects.