PowerWash Simulator 2 is proof that virtual cleaning is the ultimate calming experience

For the last week, I’ve been completely checked out of reality at least 75% of the time. Not because I’m going through a period of bad mental health or something terrible happened, but because my fiancé bought me a game and I have become unhealthily both addicted and obsessed with finishing it: PowerWash Simulator 2.

Developed by FuturLab, the second installment of the cleaning saga comes after years of themed DLC that was potentially only made possible for this team of indie devs by the fact that the initial game was published and funded by Square Enix. Thankfully, FuturLab has now gone fully indie and is publishing the sequel all on their own, so that qualifies the follow-up as an indie game that I can write about here. 

(Honestly, even if it didn’t, I’d still want to… I love this game.)

Welcome to Muckhingham

Muckhingham is equal parts eerily familiar to my British side, and strangely out of place to my American side. It is a bizarre combination of things from both sides of the Atlantic with an emphasis on Americanisms, while still paying homage to all things British. You go from washing what can only be described as the Hindenburg with a better color scheme, to hosing down a rural gas station straight out of the kitschy 1950s Deep South.

You never quite know what’s going to come up for cleaning next, and that’s half the fun of the experience, but the true joy is seeing the state that something is in before you begin versus how it ends up once you’ve washed away the grime. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it a bunch more times, cleaning in games is far more satisfying and less irritating than cleaning in real life, and PowerWash Simulator 2 is the epitome of this. 

As you wash and spray and generally clean up the town (because apparently nobody else is capable of doing so), a story slowly begins to emerge that’s as bizarre as it is irritating. It’s pretty much entirely told through a make-believe social media forum that pops up in the bottom left corner, so it’s easy to ignore if you want to focus on the cleaning aspect, but it’s worth checking in on every now and then for the oddities you’ll see. 

Seeing things differently

Have you ever played a game so obsessively over a short period of time that, when you eventually venture out into the real world, you find that you’re at least partially stuck in gameplay mode? It’s not as insane as it sounds (I promise), but that’s the experience I’ve had over the last week whenever I’ve been forced to leave the house, because I’ve suddenly noticed that the world could do with a good power washing.

That bus that just drove by? Imagine how much better it would look if you blasted the dirt off with high-pressure water! The phone box that hasn’t been used in years and is covered in bird poop and grime? Brand new again if you took a hose to it. Most of all, Lincoln Cathedral or the nearby castle would make one hell of a level in this glorious little game, and I want to clean them both. 

How does one even begin a career as a pressure washer? Do you just pick up a hose and start offering your services to neighbors and businesses with dirty premises? How do you do that without accidentally (and understandably) offending them? I know this is a bit of a tangent, but I have questions. 

Bending reality and logic

Look, I’ve argued the finer points of PowerWash Simulator 2 with my fiancé ever since he bought it, and I have so many questions that I probably shouldn’t even think about considering the fact that this is a game. I’m definitely thinking about things far too logically and in a too-real sense, but some things just don’t make much sense. 

For starters, this pressure washer doesn’t have a hose, so I have no idea where the endless supply of water is coming from, and the only answer I can realistically give myself is “magic”. Clearly I am part of the water tribe and have the power to conjure a never-ending supply of water regardless of physics or pesky reality. 

On top of that, I’m using this pressure washer in situations where, realistically speaking, it just wouldn’t make sense. The next level I have available to me is inside a skating rink. Let me reiterate, it’s INSIDE – where exactly is this constant stream of water (both clean and dirty) going? Is it just sitting on the floor, soaking into the carpet and soft furnishings? That’s just a recipe for an eventual issue with mold and mildew. 

Leaving logic behind

I know it’s pedantic to think of those things, and honestly most of those points have led to friendly debates and lots of laughter as we try to come up with plausible explanations for them. None of those game versus realism things ever comes close to impacting the enjoyment experienced while playing, and that means that no level ever gets boring or tedious. 

The original PowerWash Simulator further removed itself from reality by offering up a long list of DLC packs that took you into a bunch of fantasy worlds, like Shrek’s swamp or Bikini Bottom from SpongeBob, and I’m hoping that the sequel will end up doing the same, because I desperately want more things to clean and I fear I’m reaching the end of what’s currently available. 

PowerWash Simulator 2 is available to purchase now in full, and is absolutely worth playing if you find virtual cleaning as relaxing as I do. If you want to get a feel for it before making the commitment to purchase, there’s also a demo available that let’s you play through the first two levels.