There’s something funny about video games that emulates the most mundane tasks a person can do. Truck driving, farming, an𝔉d, of course, power washing are some of the most popular examples. It’s even funnier when these games are released on one of the most immersive gaming experiences currently possible: virtual reality.

PowerWash Simulator VR converts the low-key indie gem into a three-dimensional, hands-on cleaning extrava🔥ganza. Like in the original game, you’re given a power washer, a handful of different nozzles, extensions, and soaps, and are let loose on the city of Muckingham to power blast away grime, algae, rust, and more. You take completely covered caravans and meticulously spray it all away, one line at a time. It’s the epitome of ‘oddly satisfying,’ making each row of sludge wash away for a crisp, clean sidewalk just as satisfying as the last.

There are numerous levels, ranging from golf carts to ancient statues. If the higher-level power washers and various upgrades in the shop don’t give you a sense of progression, the oddly ominous plotline that occurs through♏ text messages and environmental cues will. All of this combines for ꦯa hard-to-put-down gameplay loop that will always spit you back out at least 30 minutes to an hour later than when you intended to stop.

Some graphical fidelityꦆ is lost with this version of the game, with distant objects becoming low res, lighting dynamics being a bit toned down, and objects being a little bit simplified. But this was hardly noticeable. There were fewer splash effects from the water, but this just meant I could see the dirt and grime disappear behind my jet stream better, which I consider a plus.

The freedom of control that VR allows does amazing things for PowerWash Simulator. You’re not swerving a mouse or fiddling joysticks to aim; you're holding the power washer in your very hands, allowing you the articulation, precision, and accuracy that only shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers combined can achieve. There’s no need to violently shake your entire screen to wash away a large wall or limit yourself to special view modes.

You can even achieve things that aren’t possible in the vanilla version♑ of the game. By holding the power washer off to the side and pointing in, I was able to spray the sides of things beyond rooftop ledges or other high spaces. Holding the washer high above my head helped me reach upper shelves and corners when a stepladder wouldn’t work. There was even a time or two when I could reach my arm into tight spaces and sprayed back towards me to clean the opposite side. It’s a level of dexterity that brings PowerWash Simulator VR up to a level that the base game will never be able to achieve.

But the immersion and control come at a price: comfort. My greatest enemy throughout pressure washing the entire city was time. The more you progress through the game and clean the various locations, the larger and messier these locations become. What began as a quick ten-minute water blasting against a van evolved into cleaning an entire fire station. These levels take a lot of time to complete, time that you won’t normally notice. It’s easy to lose a good six hours to this game without realizing it whe꧃n you’re sitting down. Not in VR, though.

PowerWash Simulator VR is exclusive to the Meta Quest line of headsets. You’re limited to the headset’s level of charge, which, for me, was about two to three hours at a time. While this may be enougಌh time for most vehicles, it won’t be enough time to complete most building levels after the second level. Being forced by technological limitations to stop most levels part-way through goes against the easy satisfaction PowerWash Simulator thrives on.

Sure, I could extend my potential play time with things like external power packs or by playing while plugged into a power source. Butꦕ that only opens the door to the next issue: eye strain.

I consider myself a veteran of VR gaming. I’m more or less immune to ‘motion sickness’ in VR; I prefer to play with smooth turning and smooth motion over snap turns and teleportations, and I don’t enable comfort vignettes. But even that doesn’t make me immune to the strain of havi❀ng a ton of powerful LEDs inches from my face, intelligently directed to blast directly into my retina. Two hours of VR is enou💖gh.

It’d be half that time if I didn’t get a comfort strap, since the default Quest 3 head s🍰trap is terribly uncomfortable - not a mark aga🍸inst PowerWash itself, but a notable factor given i💝ts exclusivity.

But let’s say that🤪 I kept playing anyway. I had a power cord plugged in and used some eye drops because I really wanted to get that playground level done (or maybe you’re more reasonable than I am and play the game in smaller, spread-out sessions). That’s where the final issue crops up: VR demands focus.

PowerWash Simulator VR is a very chill, casual game. You clean at your own pace, there’s no music, and there are little to no surprises. On traditional screens, this means it pairs amazingly with side content. 🐷Maybe that’s a Netflix show playing on your second monitor. Maybe it’s a Twitch stream off your phone or tablet while you play on Xbox. Maybe it’s just music. Maybe this is more of an indication of my own personal ADHD problems than anything, but the game is best played with a little something else also going on. In VR, you can’t do that. There are no side screens or options to look away; you are in the game exclusively. Fortunately, the open-ear speaker system of the Quest means I can play music off of a nearby speaker with little issue, but it’s not quite the same.

These were all issues I was experiencing. And while it may have taken a lot of words to articulate these ꦛproblems, they’re not so drastic or severe that they stopped me from enjoying this game just as much (o꧂k, maybe a little bit less) as the original game.

Just like its PC and console versions, PowerWash Simulator VR is a bizarrely enthralling game. The to-the-point gameplay loop provides the perfectly formulated dopamine drip feed to keep me going longer than I ever actually plan to. It’s refined, calming, and super satisfying to see an absolutely ruined skatepark become squeaky clean. Compared to most games on the VR market, it provides an above-average level of polish and content. The biggest disclaimer I can give is that if you’re someone who wants action-packed gameplay with linear direction, you might find this game a bit underwhelming or directionless. For everyone else, i✃t’ll have you putting power washers on your Amazon wishlist before you know it.

Score: 3.5/5. A copy of the game was provided for the purpose of this review

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