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0 We check out the latest Simulator on the market. Developed by Rubens Games and FreeMind S.A. comes Pool Cleaning Simulator. Clean pools, take out the trash and watch for crocodiles? Fans like myself can pick up the game now on Steam for £9.99. If you want to test the waters first, a demo is available to download.
It’s just a summer job.
I always love checking out new Simulators, and Pool Cleaning isn’t any different. I enjoy seeing what tools and upgrades are available to help with the job and finding some gags. The screenshots show that we get to clean a nice variety of locations. Let me know in the comments below any Simulators you recommend and if you liked this review.
Gameplay
In Pool Cleaning Simulator, you get tasked with. Well, cleaning pools! Before the player dives into a level, they will have an email from the client. The email explains what they would like done and what equipment to bring to aid with the job. Tools that you may be missing become highlighted in red.
You can check out the store tab to purchase any gear you might need for the current or future jobs. Some tools at the player’s disposal are a Sponge, Chlorine tablets, and, most importantly, a Pressure Washer. Before starting a level, you can sell any tools. However, I found there isn’t much point to it.
Cleaning the pool and side tasks.
After selecting the job you wish and loading in, the player is given a display box with a list of tasks they must finish. Almost all the levels ask you to empty the pool for cleaning and remove some debris around the area. To start cleaning, you’ll have to go and get your desired tool for the job. I ended up using the sponge most of the time. A bar in the top left of your screen will start to fill up as you gradually clean up.
In addition to cleaning pools, the client usually asks you to complete a specific task. Some of these tasks are fun. For example, the player searches for a hidden treasure in the level, while others become tedious, such as finding ten blueprints. When finishing a job in Pool Cleaning Simulator, the player will receive a payment and tip depending on if they did the side task.
Some tools you’ll be using.
Though I used the Sponge a lot, you’ll need other tools in the Pool Cleaning Simulator. One such tool is the Underwater Vacuum Cleaner. To use this, simply take it to a corner of the pool and place it down. The game will change your perspective of the Cleaners, and you can then move it around the bottom of the pool to clean. Some trash still floating around in the pool will need picking up with the Landingnet.
If you don’t like using the Sponge, then the Pressure Washer is there instead. You can blast away muck in a small straight line or purchase the Wide Nozzle modification from the store. The Nozzle will increase the Pressure Washer’s cleaning radius. On one level found in the game where a murder has happened, the player can buy UV light. The UV light is handy when locating the blood scattered around the pool.
Graphics
There isn’t much to capture the eyes or ears in Pool Cleaning Simulator. The graphics look about what you would expect for a simulation game. The best graphical detail I found was how the water physics looked, particularly how it flowed when filling a pool.
The way some textures looked made it tricky to perform objectives more often than not. For example, sometimes the pool grime would look like a slightly lighter or darker shade of the pool’s colour. Without a torch or in-game indicator to help you find remaining dirt, you potentially spend upwards of half an hour looking for missed grime in a seemingly spotless area.
One particular level when this happened was very dark. The dirt was black, and the floor colours were dark red and navy, which left me circling repeatedly with the sponge and power washer, trying to identify what I was missing. Adding a wearable torch or radar to help guide you to where the remaining grime is would be a good quality-of-life update for the game. Many levels went from fun to downright infuriating quickly because of this issue. There is a blacklight, but it only detects blood. A nice feature for more squeamish players was that the game would provide a pop-up warning before a level containing blood, allowing you to censor the area before entering.
Longevity
I found the Pool Cleaning Simulator surprisingly short. I finished all the levels in just under six hours, though two hours were because I spent an hour cleaning a water slide. And the other hour, trying to find a smidge of dirt on a brown floor.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed the Pool Cleaning Simulator until I reached the fourth level in the game. The tasks at the beginning were simple and didn’t ask much of the player. It quickly took a nose dive with having me clean pools in an Aqua Park. It wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t for the Pressure Washer being terrible for cleaning. I found it infuriating how little the Pressure Washer does, even with the Wide Nozzle mod equipped. Instead, I used the Sponge for most jobs and spent an hour cleaning a water slide.
While playing, it felt like the developers forgot a game is supposed to be fun. It is ridiculous to ask the player to pick up and sort two hundred ducks. There are no upgrades apart from expanding inventory, which is useless and the one Nozzle mod. The game could do with some quality-of-life improvements, such as a highlighting mechanic to show any mess the player may have missed. Letting the player hold more than one item would help since going back and forth collecting your tools or trash gets very tedious.
I say there are better Simulator games out there than this one. I give Pool Cleaning Simulator the Thumb Cultures Bronze Award.
If you enjoyed this review then check out Iain’s PS5 Review on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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