Powerwash Simulator (PS5)

Last summer I borrowed a powerwasher from a friend and blasted the grime and dirt off the vinyl siding of the home I bought the year prior. After years of renting, it was surreal being responsible for a home’s upkeep without having to depend on an unreliable landlord.

It appeared as if no one had ever washed the building before. Streaks of green from countless mowed lawns lined the bottom. Dust and debris caked on with a thin film. Strange dark spots I didn’t understand peppered the entire length. Not entirely gross but not appealing.

Untold gallons of water later, my first powerwashing journey was complete. A warm summer day had transitioned into a cooler evening. I was drenched in both sweat and water. My eyes and face flecked with gunk from the gutters I had also blasted.

During those hours I didn’t necessarily understand the best method of eliminating the numerous eyesores off the house. I thought sweeping over the sections with the heaviest grime was tantamount to success. Then, as whole parts of the house became stripped of their imperfections, I noticed the smaller ones even more. Those smaller blackish-grey dots that seemed to be more permanent stain than removable grit required me to harness the strength of the water jet, inching it closer as a concentrated force until the offending spot was eliminated.

Truly I thought it was a task that would take a half an hour, maybe an hour tops. But as I tackled each section, I began to revisit earlier ones to make them look better, noticing how my skill and attention to detail had been optimized with every few square feet.

Initial bliss had swept over me when I compared the clean part of the house to the dirtier parts. I glared at the stone foundation that was slick with a greenish-black mossy grime, not the color it should have been. Often the wooden steps leading out the backyard would become gooey with slime after rain because the planks hadn’t been treated, at one point leading me to fall and a broken toenail–that had to be taken care of. The lining around the windows wasn’t white, instead transformed by a silvery tone.

Little projects began sprouting up in my mind, each needing their own care and attention to detail. Eventually it would all be clean, right?

And yes, it did become clean. The powerwasher, a simple model that came with two attachments served its purpose. Managing a step ladder for height and an electric cord to keep the thing working, I put my body through the ringer. The constant stretching and holding of my arms in an upright position to reach the top of the house left my muscles aching the next day. My skin felt like it would never be dry. I worried what the water bill was going to look like. Hopefully it wouldn’t be dirty again in a year’s time.

But damnit, the house was clean.

After realizing I didn’t want to wear headphones because they would likely get damaged, I let the churn of the powerwasher’s motor keep me company. The controlled bursts of water played out differently on the few surfaces it shot into. While I never felt powerful, I felt in control.

Those wooden steps signified a halfway point to one side of the house, the dirtiest side. I couldn’t wait to reach them, a space where the true nature of this machine would be palpable. Yes, the vinyl siding was coming into its true beige color, parts no longer marred by dirt. But the dark colors of slime and grime masked the bright wood of those steps. When they were cleaned, oh boy, that would be where the difference was truly noticeable.

The untold muck was no match for the concentrated bursts of water. The hum of the powerwasher’s motor accompanied the stripping of imperfections, revealing a light-colored wood underneath that truly hadn’t seen the light of day in quite some time. The constant moistness of the algae and other elements was a safety hazard. Soon I would be able to trot down the stairs after a rainy day and not worry about slipping.

Buzzing over the stairs, I would do a quick sweep from a distance with the water, removing the loosest layers from a step. Then I would get closer until I saw the wood clearly. I attacked the stairs one step at a time. Then the handrail and the supporting beams. Occasionally I would hit the door just to give myself a taste of what cleaning adventures were to come.

Moment by moment I felt empowered with the new quality the house was taking on. Sure it wasn’t just built but it was taking on a fresher character, cleaner by the moment and less marked by time.

But good things never last.

Eventually, the monotony of the task at hand and my ability to observe how much was actually left to do began taking a toll. But I didn’t want to wait until the next day, despite the sun hovering closer to the horizon. Plus I had to get the powerwasher back to my friend. My body hurt. I was over stomping through the wet grass and feeling soaked. Yet I trudged on.

Those final moments of washing were a mixed bag of elation, frustration, exhaustion, and satisfaction. It was almost too dark to appreciate what I had accomplished and I was too tired to really care about anything but powerwashing my skin with a hot shower.

The next day with a renewed feeling on life, I was able to celebrate my first powerwashing experience. Maybe in the future I would buy one myself, keep up with cleaning so I wouldn’t have to spend exhausting hours toiling away like the day before. Ultimately, I didn’t hate it.

Powerwash Simulator encapsulates most of that experience–emotions and all–condensed in a game.

In Powerwash Simulator, players don’t need to worry about a water bill or a pesky electrical cord. There need be no concern over an exhausted body and slipping and falling.

Here in this simulated world, like other games of this type, the rules are a bit looser and the stakes significantly lighter. When you’re simulating farming there’s no risk of a failed harvest. When you’re simulating trucking, no one will die from a jackknife on a treacherous road.

Powerwash Simulator allows players to zip up ladders and awkwardly stand and jump over buildings and fall with no broken bones or equipment. It is a simple game, perhaps one of the simplest. But it also may be one of the more satisfying if it tickles that specific part of your brain that loves watching transformative things.

With barely any story outside of random text messages informing the player that people have locations that are dirty and in need of cleaning, Powerwash Simulator is all about the clean.

Clean a van. Clean a playground. Clean a backyard. Clean a train. Clean the Mars Rover. Clean a house. Clean with other players online.

Sound terrible? Then this isn’t the game for you.

Players start with a basic powerwasher and a few nozzles. Each nozzle can rotate for a horizontal or vertical spray and deliver increasingly concentrated blasts of water to tackle tougher spots like mold and lichen. Soaps can be purchased for specific materials like wood and metal that melt through layers of stuff.

Each location players are supposed to clean has a percentage that slowly ticks up the more that’s cleaned. Once a specific section like a floor or ladder or window is completely spot free it will flash and give off a satisfying “ding” indicating it’s complete. Money is rewarded for each thing that is completely cleaned and a useful list can be accessed during a level at any time. Money is used to buy stronger powerwashers, new attachments, soaps, and cosmetic items. And at the end of a complete clean, players watch a sped-up replay of their actions.

There’s no business side to be concerned with, no water thresholds to worry about. Just the incessant hum of the powerwasher as it cleans.

Players can turn the sound off and listen to a podcast or watch videos on the other screen. Or they can just become enraptured by the rewarding monotony. A person’s tolerance for Powerwash Simulator will rely on their ability to sit for potentially around an hour until a level is clean, deciphering their preferred way to tackle a task. At the playground I started by cleaning off benches and trashcans. Then I moved on to the outer rings of the playground floor. Then the dinosaur slide. Then the colored flooring. I saved the wooden towers for last because they were exceptionally complicated.

I’m sure there are players who will wildly run around a level spraying water and worry about the finite details later on. I can’t say there is a true “strategy” to Powerwash Simulator, just an expression of the player and their preference for an optimal clean. Players will learn what dirt can be quickly washed away with the nozzle that has the widest spread and race around surfaces with speed and ease. Then there are the big tasks that require more dedication and attention. Thankfully a button can be pushed to highlight remaining dirt. Players also have the option to activate a constant spray rather than always holding down the trigger.

My gripes with Powerwash Simulator extend to the actual act of powerwashing in real life. While I’m sure few customers would notice the minuscule spots the game requires players to clean for 100 percent, a person cleaning their own home might have more attention to detail.

Because Powerwash Simulator is not a technical showcase, there can be issues when attempting to discern what’s dirty and what’s not. Overall, the game’s stylized visuals work to express what’s sparkling clean and slick, and what’s covered in filth. After cleaning the plastic dinosaur slide and the entire floor of the playground, I was taken aback by how bright and colorful those surfaces and objects looked, a reflection of the time it took to get all that digital dirt off.

However, darker surfaces and other materials can be a color or texture that masks the amount of dirt still remaining on them. Additionally, trying to peek underneath certain objects or washing in between tights spaces is an imperfect science. I spent ten minutes trying to clean a greasy, scummy grill because I could barely position my character in the right places to blast away parts that were hard to get to. There are moments where Powerwash Simulator becomes a matter of constantly tapping the button to highlight dirt because it becomes nearly impossible to tell with the naked eye.

And if I’m being honest, there is a point where the levels take on the peaks and valleys of actual powerwashing. There will be those times of satisfaction where a large swath of brown and black will no longer mar a beautiful surface. Then come the low points where you glare at the rest of the level and know it’s going to take a lot of time and overblown precision to get things perfect.

That, in essence, is the gamified nature of these simulations. You’re playing them because you want the experience without truly having to do it in real life, or maybe you do these things in real life and want to goof around in a digital recreation of them with specific rules. Eventually the realism and the simulation may form cracks because it’s too much like the real thing and not fantastical or goofy enough.

More importantly, I understand the zen-like nature of Powerwasher Simulator. There are points where those barely discernible sounds of water spraying and hitting a surface blend with the idle rhythms of your brain. You barely begin to notice or pay attention to the fact that you are literally powerwashing in a game and doing just that. Strangely, it felt like ticking boxes or checking off icons in an open-world game to have all these gross surfaces suddenly clean. At one point, I went to go get food and my girlfriend took over for awhile, transfixed by the game while also taking some of the burden off me.

Powerwash Simulator does not try to hide its true nature. What might barely feel like a game is more of an expression of that part of the brain that just wants to feel some kind of satisfaction. Whether it’s watching a person peel a large part of dried glue off their hand, seeing a massive pimple being popped, or using a controller to wash off an unrealistically dirty suburban house, there’s an audience here. Those who have already played Powerwash Simulator won’t find anything particularly special about the PlayStation 5 version. Undoubtedly, there’s varying levels of reward here but if you’re looking to relax, this may just be the ticket.