PowerWash Simulator is an early access first-person game where players will be able to expand their power washing business by cleaning client’s houses, cars, and decks with high pressure water. By cleaning up other people’s messes players will be able to upgrade their equipment making those tougher stains get blasted into nothingness leaving a shimmery shine. With enough time players will learn how to efficiently manage all the tools at their disposal including nozzles, extensions, and soaps to complete jobs quickly and more efficiently allowing them to grow the business via the cash collected for their work.
PowerWash Simulator is straight forward in nature, with the fun of gameplay not found in any complicated sub system of leveling up your power washing abilities at the moment, but instead in just the act of power washing itself. In the satisfaction of carving through all the dirt and grime to bring a playground from looking like the city dump back to its original colorful form with the purple stegosaurus slide no longer being brown. In essence, the game is replicating the satisfaction that many find with watching clips of power washers making a driveway go from black to concrete gray, but instead of players going outside and using a power washer so long that their hands won’t stop buzzing, players can spray that highly pressurized water all day without having to change out of wet clothes. The focus of the game at time of writing is on the act of cleaning itself and the enjoyment found is similar to the satisfaction of seeing something completed. Recently, an update has allowed players to connect with other players to complete the game co-op meaning that players can either go it alone or bring in some business partners to speed up the process.
It Looked New When I Got It
Though the game is in early access, the gameplay of spraying all the dirt off an object is a smooth experience that provided a relaxing gameplay loop of turning something disgusting into something shiny. The player has a little to no difficulty curve in learning how to operate the pressure washer in game. Controls are limited to basic movement (walking, running, crouching, going prone, and jumping) and controlling the washer (turning on and off the water, changing nozzles and extenders, and rotating the nozzle). The only technical thing that players may develop at this time is the ability to spray clean, straight lines while maintaining a constant speed. With simple controls implemented currently, picking up the game is an easy task, and what would differentiate the experienced player from the new one would be their efficiency and knowing what tools work best for the job in any given scenario. So, while any player can learn the game in a minute or two technically, it takes longer to develop a workflow and to learn to pick the right accessories for the job.
Levels have a simple goal to achieve in order to complete a job and earn a paycheck, and that’s to get the object or area 100% clean. There is a progress bar in the top left of the screen that tells the player how much has been cleaned in a percentage. The object or area cleaned is subdivided into different areas and assists the player in knowing if something is 100 percent clean. For example, if a player is cleaning a car each general part of the car will have its own level of cleanliness. If the player sprays the wheels of the car, they will know when they are one hundred percent clean when a notification shows that that section is completely clean. This can be difficult to discern as some dirt will be hidden from the player and can only be sprayed from certain angles, making them hidden from the player.
This is accounted for through the mechanic of highlighting dirt. By hitting “show dirt”, the dirt that hasn’t been cleaned will be highlighted in bright orange making it easier to see. This is especially useful in low light conditions such as the underside of an object. But once the player has reached 99% clean while on the job a small list of what the remaining dirty parts of the area or object making finding that last nasty spot to clean easier to find. With the current system implemented in this early build It was never frustrating and often running around for the last spot took less than a minute.
You Have to Use the Right Tools for The Job
The power washer and the ability to spray in a straight line are not the only areas where players can increase their efficiency in this early access build. Players are equipped from the start with different nozzles that change the way the water sprays. Nozzles change how wide the spray is, and the wider the spray the less power the stream will have. Ranging from widest to smallest sprays, there is the 40 degree, 25 degree, 15 degree, and 0 degree nozzle (just a straight beam), with the 40 degree nozzle being the weakest in terms of power and the 0 degree nozzle the strongest. The only other nozzle available is unlocked by purchasing it in the store, the turbo nozzle. This nozzle retains the qualities of the zero-degree nozzle where it’s a straight beam of water, but this nozzle spins making the beam spin in a circle increasing the area of affect. Often for large areas with weaker stains, the wider nozzles are preferable, while tough, nitty gritty stains are best dealt with skinnier nozzles. The turbo nozzle is noticeably useful for the larger areas of tougher stains with the spinning action giving it a larger area of effect without sacrificing power.
Other accessories include extension wands and the soap nozzle as well, enabling the player to become even more efficient in their cleaning process. Extension wands are self-explanatory in nature with longer wands providing more range for the power washer, enabling the player to clean the roof without having to climb up it. Yet there is a disadvantage to longer nozzles as the length of the wand can make it difficult to get into smaller spaces. Thus, switching between wands for different areas is useful in staying efficient with the player’s time. The soap nozzle along with the numerous kinds of soap are useful in helping clean areas much faster than with high pressure. Most soaps have a specific surface that they work best with five out of the six soups being dedicated to a material. These 5 specific soaps are glass cleaner, metal cleaner, plastic cleaner, wood cleaner, and stone cleaner and each of them makes cleaning that particular surface much easier and can be useful if you have a large amount of one particular material. To speed up the process regardless of material, the multi-surface cleaner can assist the player in getting rid of large swaths of light dirt covering an object or area.
These tools though still can’t solve all the players problems, as roofs are still going to have to be climbed in order to completely clean them and tall buildings can extend the reach of the power washer. The best way to scale these structures is with the use of different climbing tools. These tools include things such as a step ladder, a regular 12ft long ladder, and even a movable stair tower. With this equipment available the player will be able to scale anything to get every last bit of dirt. With the tools currently available in this early access build, it makes for a fun gameplay loop where a player can solve any strange challenge with some creativity and some knowledge.
Gotta’ Spend Money to Make Money
In this early access build, after a hard day’s work scrapping moss off the sides of houses and cars, players can use the money they collect to upgrade their equipment. Money in turn is used to better your arsenal against the grimy, bacteria filled brine. New power washers are available for purchase allowing the player to upgrade the raw power of their power washer and the range of the power washer as well. Each different power washer includes their own range of accessories that the player will need to purchase such as the turbo nozzle, extension wands, and soap nozzles. Also, soaps are bought as well, and are not unlimited. Soap bottles will run out and often it is useful to stock up on soaps to get through levels as efficiently as possible. These purchases often scaled naturally with the complexity of the objects presented and the size of buildings and areas. Bigger jobs will pay out more money to the player enabling them to pay for the next upgrade and to be able to handle these big jobs more quickly in the future.
Other than just upgrades and accessories for the player’s power washer the shop has cosmetic items that the play will be able to grab as they hone their skills and reach either maximum upgrades or have a healthy amount of savings willing to spend. These cosmetic items have no impact upon the gameplay itself and are purely for looks. Players can customize what color suit their washer can wear along with what kind of glove, and even a skin for their power washer.
Clean Freaks Got an Early Christmas Present
Though this game may not be for everyone, it is a game that demonstrates a clear level of quality though it is still in early access. With a clear focus upon the smoothness of gameplay, anyone who wants to feel the euphoria of a clean deck should keep an eye out for PowerWash Simulator. Though it’s still in development, the gameplay loop that is currently present within the game is well done. While not an exceedingly complex game it does accomplish its main goal so far in its development, which is being a satisfying simulator for people who think deep cleaning once in spring is far too little.
