My gaming tastes certainly run eclectic. From RPGs to Shooters, given even a slight prod I’ll at least take a look. Be that as it may, there are still some games I just don’t get. I don’t get why they exist or why anyone would like them — let alone in some cases, why on earth they are seemingly so ridiculously popular.
This time around, I took a look at PowerWash Simulator. As I write this, PowerWash Simulator is sitting at Overwhelmingly Positive (98% positive) across both overall and recent reviews. It even had a co-op mode recently launched! Although I couldn’t convince anyone it would be a good idea, so I went this alone.
Honestly though, coming from House Flipper and being surprisingly engaged by it — I thought I might actually be in for a bit of a fun time. But I’m getting ahead of myself!
What I Thought Before Trying It Myself
Apologies for the orientation flip on the screenshots there — I forgot to get a before and after shot of the side I was working on, so I went around to the other side to get the dirty shot… and then also forgot to get a clean version screenshot before hitting exit on the level. D’oh!
So like I mentioned, I came away from House Flipper surprisingly happy with the experience. I learnt it didn’t contain nearly the degree of tedium that I had anticipated.
I also learnt there was a degree of satisfaction in a job well done — even when that ‘job’ is virtual. But! But, I did also find that the majority of the joy (for me) was in the artistic expression the game provided a venue for.
Coming into PowerWash Simulator, I knew that last element wouldn’t be there — unless I suppose, you count making rude doodles in the dirt while you clean. *shrug*
I expected there would be some progression mechanics, although I wasn’t sure in what form they might take. House Flipper had turned my expectations head over heels around how much of a role tedium played, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect in that regard.
And After?
Well- I should start by saying I could only give PowerWash Simulator a little under an hour. So I can’t really give you anything remotely resembling a ‘review’ of the game. But it was more than enough to remove any shadow of a doubt that this was not a game for me.
Where House Flipper minimised much of the tedium, PowerWash Simulator revels in it.
To be fair, there is a small amount of grace in when an object is considered to be ‘clean’, I assume as a measure against turning the game into a pixel hunt if some small corner is hidden in the shadows, unable to be found or whatnot. But this also struck a little discordantly, as the game still expects you to get all the angles — from climbing up high to laying prone in a dirty pond pit. It isn’t enough of a grace to prevent people like me from getting irritated by it. But I also imagine for those who really enjoy the getting-it-all aspect to be quite put off by it. On some of the larger areas — such as the stone-tiled patio area in the screenshot above — the leeway it gives you is pretty significantly large!
There is a progression system — and from what I could tell, it was fairly detailed, too! More powerful power washers, extension arms, soaps and other fittings, etc. I didn’t even get close to interacting with the system though, as the income was dismal vs. the cost of the items on offer.
I suppose in that respect, it is probably a pretty close mirror to reality. lol
Ultimately?
For me, this does still fall into the ‘I’m unsure why people enjoy this’ category. You draw lines with water. Depending on the level of grime, sometimes multiple times on a spot to get the worst bits off. Sure, you can make choices like: a) Keep to a narrow spray / high pressure off the bat and get as close to a single pass in smaller increments, or b) Go for a wider spray / lower pressure but then have to go over 80% of it a second time anyway.
Also, I saw some of my tendencies in the real world come into action in this game too. Example: When mowing the lawns, I tend to segment areas off into rectangular areas and ‘finish’ area by area. Draw the outline of the area first, then perhaps go around it a few times before ultimately doing ‘lines’ to finish up the last bits.
It felt rather natural to do that here too.
So I dunno. Maybe someone out there, somewhere, is feeling down about not having more chores to do? If so, boy is this the game for them! More seriously, possibly, possibly it is the case that if you stuck with it long enough to get a few upgrades under your belt the tedium factor would be greatly diminished.
It just didn’t grab me firmly enough to give me any desire to stick around and find out.
I also thought I wouldn’t love it, but I’m 15 hours in & can’t stop playing it. I’m actually working on a post about it now.
Ooh, good timing then! I’m looking forward to seeing what has grabbed you about it! I just really didn’t get it — but I think House Flipper might still be my most played game this month so far. >.<
I always figured it was just a brain thing. Like some people are OBSESSED with popping the bubbles in bubble wrap and they have to pop ALL the bubbles. I figured something like Power Wash Simulator would be for that kind of person?
Also Angela was on a kick where she was obsessed with watching YouTube videos of a guy who washes rugs and carpets for a living. It was just really satisfying for her to see this brown mat become a colorful carpet. I just checked the dude’s channel and he has over 400,000 subscribers. Falls into that “strangely satisfying” category, I guess?
I’m hoping at some point Epic or Amazon or someone will give Power Wash Simulator away so I can try it. I don’t think I’d like it so I don’t really want to spend money on it. I’m cheap! :)
I get the sense it’ll be a long time before we see Power Wash Simulator turn up in any of the free locations, or even in the Humble Choice set. It seems to be selling incredibly well still.
re: The person who takes bubble popping to the level of 100% completion — yes; I think you might be onto something there.
But I think that person might also get irked at times by the fact the game says, ‘Good enough’ and marks a part done before this hypothetical person thinks they’re done. xD
I don’t have any difficulty figuring out what the appeal of this sort of game is. It gives you the sense of satisfaction that comes from completing a task without you actually needing to complete a task. I would contend that the exact same process is behind most of the success of mmorpgs. Whether you’re crafting imaginary armor or cleaning an imaginary van is just a skin of the same psychological experience.
The difference for me lies entirely in what that skin is. Many of the presenting processes in mmorpgs are either extremely difficult to achieve in real life or entirely impossible. I could learn to make real, metal armor and weapons but it would be expensive and difficult. I could go mining for ores and precious metals but it would mean changing every aspect of my life. Clearly, I’m not going to do these things so pretending to do them on a screen by clicking a mouse makes sense.
My car, however, is flithy. I could (and should) fill a bucket with warm, soapy water, take a sponge and a cloth and go outside to sepnd an hour cleaning it. If I was lucky enough to own a power-washer I could use that. I could even buy one! The level of satisfaction I, personally, would get from doing that would be orders of magnitude higher than pretending to do it on a screen. Even though I’m not going to go and wash my car, just knowing I could is more than enough to make the idea of a game like this unappealing. I’d be thinking every minute I was doing it that I should log out and do it for real.
I guess if you live in a pristine environment and have already done all of your chores this would seem like an entertaining diversion not an accusation!
I think this is likely to be a big part of it for a large number of people. Checking in on reviews after writing this — it seems to not be the only one of the big motivations though.
Another one I’ve seen a few times is that it makes for a good ‘low energy’ game — when mentally tired, can be a way of switching off.
I suppose for me, I don’t get that value out of this game — or rather, I can get that value from most games so this one doesn’t bring anything new to the table for me.
Pete spoke about Angela watching a bunch of cleaning videos and gaining satisfaction of seeing the differences — and I rather suspect the popularity of such videos is a large part of what this game is trying to capitalise on.
This one I somewhat get — I’ve enjoyed the odd video of this type when they’ve crossed my path as well. But I suppose that’s the difference — when they’ve crossed my path. And when they’ve been short. I’ve enjoyed them sure — but not to the point of feeling compelled to go look for more.
shrug
People certainly seem to love it in any case! Just… Not me. (And maybe what you’re saying is part of it- my car could certainly use a wash at the moment. ;))