So, you’ve very literally rinsed all the content for PowerWash Simulator 2 through and through, but still want a quick clean-up experience, though don’t want to do it in real life? There are lots of copycat versions out there, but how about one that is pixel art-based and features a pig? Sound good? Here’s a Pixel Washer preview. Read on.
I didn’t need any persuading to give this demo a blast after reading that the aforementioned is an influence. If I looked at the screenshots, that might have been a different situation, as the visuals don’t sell this alone, but the concept. It’s going to be clean(ing) wholesome fun, right?
As stated, in Pixel Washer, you play a pig. We all know from the Bricktop speech that aside from being cannibals, pigs are actually very clean animals and strapping a power washer on their tasty flesh makes a lot of sense. As soon as you jump on the office conveyor belt that’s facing the wrong way, you strap it on and set out to blast the dirt off cabinets, plants and rugs.
Because this is a pixel art experience and from a top-down perspective, it operates differently from PowerWash Simulator in that you have to place the cursor on the area you wish to blast (a little different to the second device you earn, which has a more natural feel). You’ll soon find lil’ piggy strafing back and forth to clean the kaitenzushi, or wiping down drones. A radar indicates if you’re missing anything, but what about the fine details? Like all the other simulators, you can highlight the bits you miss, and they quite literally are bits: this is pixel art.
Surprisingly, Pixel Washer isn’t hard to get to grips with at all and even on a Steam Deck screen, easier enough to make out those dirty pixels. Being a demo, there are some limitations, but a fair number of stages to try. The goal, besides 100% completion, is to use as little water as possible, but without any penalties, you may as well waste it willy-nilly. For that reason, there’s no real challenge until a card memory game, which, in truth, was a good decision to have, and I would like to see more of this in the full release.
Is Pixel Washer clean, wholesome fun? Yes – of course. However, stages are quite fast-paced (no timer), so it doesn’t have the same therapeutic vibes as the first-person benchmarks, nor does it have the gently humming of a power washer. Still, I like it, and looking forward to the full game in due course. Give it a blast on Steam now – there’s a demo up.
