PowerWash Simulator Review: A Clean, Satisfying Way to Spend Your Time! (PS5)

With the clean inclusion of PowerWash Simulator into December’s lineup of the PlayStation Plus Essential tier, the game is one of this month’s most-played games on PS4 & PS5. I’ve been having a blast playing it myself (both solo and co-op), and despite how silly and simple it is I can assure you it’s a nice game to reduce the stress levels you build up from work or maybe even other games… So here’s my little review of it in case you want to know what to expect from this simple, yet strangely entertaining washing simulator!

PowerWash Simulator is available for $24,99 on PC, PS4 & PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Story – You Need It, We Clean It

The story of PowerWash Simulator is a mere excuse to get us right into cleaning everything around the fictional town of Muckingham. We just started our own power washing company, so our job is to go and help everyone who may need to clean their (usually very dirty) houses, backyards, vehicles… pretty much everything!

We will be able to slightly interact with our clients by receiving text messages to get a little bit of context of what we’re cleaning, and why they need us to clean it. Most of our clients are… weird, but hey, we’re getting paid to clean, not to judge!

There are also many fan theories surrounding the unexplained lore of the game (like alien invasions and stuff) but there isn’t anything explicitly shown to the player in the game other than obvious hints and silly little easter eggs. The most commonly accepted fact about the story is that because there is an active volcano in the town (which is visible on many of the levels), the ash in the air is probably what causes everything to be so dirty. I guess our entrepreneur protagonists took advantage of that with that famous shark mindset everyone talks about.

Gameplay – Leave No Dirt Uncleansed

The wash and clean mechanics of PowerWash Simulator are simple, easy to understand, and moderately addictive.

We will be using our power washers to clean everything there is to clean at every level. We have different types of nozzles at our disposal to get rid of the dirt. The smaller the nozzle, the more precise and stronger it is. However, bigger nozzles allow you to clean wider areas, so you have to choose wisely depending on what you may need at the moment.

You can check the remaining dirt by pressing a button so you don’t have too much trouble finding it. In case the remaining dirt is not too easy to spot, you can also press the pause button to check the cleaning progress of every part of the level. This way you can have a better understanding of what you’re missing so you can move on to the next level.

Adjust the nozzles to optimize your cleansing.

The career mode takes us to several locations and has the most amount of content in it. Once you clean a specific amount of dirt in a level, you will unlock the next one. It’s that simple. This mode can also be played with another player, making it a nice and chill 2 player co-op experience. It’s also recommended to spend the money earned on this mode on better equipment since this will help with the bigger levels of the game.

The special jobs are simply bonus jobs that aren’t tied to the main story, but you can tackle them with up to 6 players in total, and the more stress-inducing challenge mode where you have to clean a level under certain circumstances can (sadly) only be played solo. There is also a free play mode in which you can play however you want and clean everything you want for no reason!

As you can see, there are many game modes to have a good time, both solo and with friends. The game might get a little boring after a couple of levels, but it’s easy to simply just leave it there and come back when you have more interest in playing again. It has a constant autosave feature so your progress will be (mostly) unharmed if you leave at any time.

Bonus jobs give you larger objectives to tackle them up with up to 5 friends!

Graphics & Sound – Suitable for the Occasion

PowerWash Simulator doesn’t have perfectly clean graphics (enough with the cleaning puns already), but they’re acceptable and they’re honestly enough for the almost non-existent skill level this silly little game demands from the player.

The game also lacks a full soundtrack. I’m pretty sure there’s only one song in the entire game, and it plays at the very end of it. But I really adore the fact you can just choose to turn up your Spotify playlist and jam with your favorite songs while you clean thoroughly. The overall sound effects of the game are also highly appreciated, as they favor the addictive part of the game by playing that “ding!” whenever you completely clean something.

PowerWash Simulator was reviewed on PS5.