PowerWash Simulator

Pros

• Relaxing gameplay. Just spray your day away.
• Simple, but fulfilling business management.
• Lots of replay value with different dirtiness problems to deal with.

Cons

• The business side could use more things to buy, or a challenge mode to run a more competitive business.
• Still a bit buggy. The crosshair for spraying gets stuck while using the nozzle sometimes. Not so much a con as any game will have bugs.

What Is Power Wash Simulator?

There are a lot of games that are about hobbies or careers. Sometimes, they're jobs that people actually do. On the more mundane side of the house, there's Power Wash Simulator.

It's amazing.

If you've never played a game like this, or if you're wondering about why people would play a game about something they could go outside and do, there's one answer: It's chill.

People mostly play these games to relax at the computer, wind down, and complete a task. It's just satisfying to clean the side of a building, a statue, a memorial, fences, and other things.

More importantly, power washing isn't free in real life! Not everyone has a professional power wash setup. Water, fuel, or electricity aren't free, either.

There's also a lot fewer hazards with power washing indoors on a computer. No weather to deal with, no mosquitos or other insects. No actual people to bother you.

Basically, if you're looking at Power Wash Simulator and thinking "hey, I could recruit people to do this for cheap!", be ready for people who want nothing to do with standing up and going outside.

The gameplay itself is simple and smooth. There are different wash sensitivities, tools, and multiple areas for cleaning. You even need to manage money for upgrades.

It's not a full business simulator, so you can mess up a bit. The only problem will be taking longer to buy upgrades or enhance your spray ability, which is fine with this casual type of game.

What's the Appeal of Work-Based Games

The easiest explanation for these types of games becoming popular is what was mentioned earlier: it's just soothing.

It's not so much a market of people who have never had a chance to do the job, but people who either enjoy simulation games in general, started playing as a joke, or use the simulations for their real job. It accidentally turned out to be comfortable and chill.

There is another layer that isn't easily to copy in real life. In the game, the chaos of the real world is controlled. Bad coworkers or leadership aren't an unexpected problem; if they exist at all, it's a programmed challenge and doesn't affect real life.

You don't have real life people affecting your life, or more importantly, your livelihood. A jerk coworker in the game is just a part of the game, not someone who could make the real job hard for you or possibly get you fired with office politics.

The separation from not just in-person physical job problems, but the office politics and interpersonal drama is great. To some people, that takes away from the experience. To people who like these games, screw that experience; it's about spraying walls or driving a tractor with full farm management.

That's another layer of business simulation games. While Power Wash Simulator only touches on this part a bit, running the financials and marketing of a business are also important.

In a lot of business sims, you have to juggle different parts of paying for not just your upgrades, but the cost of maintenance, employees, contracts, loans, and other things that affect money going in and out.

When the system is really involved, there are real world economic challenges. Certain products sought after more than others, supply and demand changes that affect your bottom line, or headlines that help or hurt your products and/or services.

A lot can happen in these games, and you don't have to deal with it in real life. ...Unless your real life job is playing, reviewing, or commentating on the game.

Pros

• Relaxing gameplay. Just spray your day away.
• Simple, but fulfilling business management.
• Lots of replay value with different dirtiness problems to deal with.

Cons

• The business side could use more things to buy, or a challenge mode to run a more competitive business.
• Still a bit buggy. The crosshair for spraying gets stuck while using the nozzle sometimes. Not so much a con as any game will have bugs.