What in the world have I gotten myself into? I was a messy kid when I was growing up, something that continued into my college years. When I got married and had kids, that all changed. Once you face a constant mess that is caused by tiny tornadoes that keep going like some weird never-ending storm on Jupiter, you begin to change your tidy ways quickly. For the last 20 years, I have prepared myself for PowerWash Simulator, where perfection in cleaning up messes is key to success, even if it gives you anxiety.
Let’s get to this beautiful mess.
Spraying
What’s remarkable about FuturLab’s PowerWash Simulator is that it’s just simple to pick up and go. There is literally no real wrong way to play this game. It’s either succeeding slowly or succeeding quickly, but you will be succeeding, nonetheless. The only real obstacle is your patience and how much you can tolerate a mess. The game lays out the controls, the goal, and a tinge of goofiness to keep you enjoying the process.
The controls are simple, you spray back and forth, up and down, and in every direction in-between. How you spray is related to what base and nozzle you’re using on your power sprayer. In the beginning, the game provides you with the basics, where the nozzles are far more important than anything else. It also focuses on easy tasks related to getting the player used to the gameplay design. The first big task is cleaning a fan that doesn’t have too many nooks and crannies to worry about, rather it just wants you to get used to the accessories. Those accessories are easy to pick up on. The basic nozzle allows for a wide spray while taking most dirt off whatever object you’re cleaning. For example, the second stage of the game has you cleaning a backyard that features a couple of ponds, a set of fences, a shed, a doghouse, a swing, a lawnmower, a birdhouse, and a whole bunch of brick and rock. The middle-of-the-road nozzle allows you to take most grime off whatever object you’re cleaning. You can get a more direct nozzle on the hose so that you can fire a more purposeful stream at grime. There is also a nozzle that lifts mold and destroys pond yuckiness that the middle-of-the-road nozzle can’t remove. The basic variety of nozzles and what they’re used for in the first two stages of the game make for an easy way to understand what you should be doing when messes become more complicated. The game really does want you to relax and have a good time cleaning. It works in a wonderful, almost relaxing way in its design. I can appreciate its simplicity, directness, and its somewhat mesmerizing fun.
The complication in the gameplay comes in two forms: choosing your accessories and approaching your mess in a logical way. The former is easy to catch on to and works in a balanced way with the latter. As you complete jobs in the game, you earn money that you can spend in shops for accessories such as liquid soap, nozzles, and extensions to make your job more efficient. This adds a bit of variety to the gameplay style and design, as well as the flexibility to how you approach your messes. It makes it just a bit more than a point-and-shoot type of game by adding a strategic approach with these accessories. Does it propel it to new heights and create such diverse tools to make the game play out of this world interesting? Not at all, but it’s not trying to do that, which is fine. This game is made to be relaxing fun and nothing beyond that promise. By mixing and matching accessories in different ways, you create a more robust gameplay world in PowerWash Simulator, but it’s finite in how far that goes.
On the messes side of the tracks, they’re the target for your accessories of choice. For example, I drudged through the second part of the campaign with basic soap and nozzles. There was nothing fancy about the approach, I was more concerned with shoot and spray. The entire stage took me over an hour to complete. It was fine, but honestly cleaning something for an hour is exhausting for the eyes and patience.
When the third stage arrived, I went shopping and bought appropriate accessories for a dirt bike cleaning. The entire process of cleaning that bike took me less than 20 minutes. I bought appropriate soap for metal and plastic, and I bought a long neck for my sprayer with a nozzle that could spray effectively from a longer distance. It didn’t take long at all to clean the bike, and the accessories aided my mess, which has led me to the conclusion that they are important but not necessarily required. That does diversify the gameplay process, but again it all depends on your amount of patience with the mess at hand.
While simplicity is the driving force to the gameplay, there is some complication to the process. The liquid soap is finite in its usage. I think my dirt bike escapade used up my shop bought soap within 60 seconds. The soap choices make the cleaning easier, but they run out so quickly. Stocking up on soap is important for speediness but grinding out the game for money is the only way to stock up on a large number of soaps that do the trick quickly – and it should be noted that soaps have a limited stock, so it’s not always easily available. This is as strategic and complicated as the game gets. That isn’t a bad thing, but it isn’t a game you’re going to continually play for hours upon hours because some of that simplicity can spill over to boredom if not spaced out.
What might keep you playing, and what interested me, are the additional modes. The game offers up challenges, co-op, and free play. These modes will give some variety and kick to the gameplay and offer up a good time. Ultimately, the game is what it advertises to be, and there is nothing at all wrong with that entrée. The challenges are nice, some of which are clever and insanely difficult, at least for one’s patience. The full package of the game has a lot to offer, but the gameplay style isn’t one gigantic meal to consume at once.
Other odds and ends
Another big feature in the game is customization. While you’re not going to find Skyrim-like customization in this game, you will be able to customize your character and personality through the shop. It does help with adding some panache to the process and gives the user a more personal experience.
The other addition, at least for the future, is that there is room for expansion to this gameplay. While the whole is worth the price of admission right now, future DLC could make this game even more interesting than it currently might be to some. Maybe special events, celebrating holidays, or whatever might add some additional value to the overall package. I’m not sure that FuturLab is quite done with their unique experience, so it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for PowerWash Simulator.
Let’s wrap this sucker up.
Conclusion
PowerWash Simulator is fun, ridiculous, and engaging but also a game that could run out of steam quickly when played too much.
