Moldwasher Review

Developed by Rubel Games and published by Anshar Publishing, Moldwasher is a cosy cleaning simulator where players embody a brave nigiri protagonist as it goes to some of the yuckiest places in the name of cleanliness. As someone who has played PowerWash Simulator, I was very intrigued by how it would feel different to do a similar job in a pixelated 2D game. It didn't take me long to find out, as Moldwasher throws players straight into it with nary a tutorial since there's no narrative!

As the little nigiri, players begin with only a simple powerwashing tool, which helps finish a couple of jobs to get enough currency to buy something else. Most jobs will offer money in two ways: cash and coin; the former is used to buy and upgrade tools, and the latter is for the gacha furniture (don’t worry — it’s with the in-game currency; no real money here).

While the beginning levels offer bonus things to clean, this slowly fades away as the game continues. Instead, the areas get bigger and more complex, and they introduce gimmicks to keep the job interesting. These include a gust of wind that you have to fight against and a roaming fly that's spreading the dirt all around the places you just cleaned.

Moldwasher’s arcade genre made it stand out as more than just a cleaning simulator and grew into its own unique style when they were introduced, as I had a lot of fun encountering the new weird scenarios. The other way it sets itself apart is through the tools, which feel wacky and odd: a blowtorch and a pickaxe. I can't say I've ever used either of those to clean dirt before!

Throughout some of the jobs, there are special drops that the nigiri can take home and clean up to use as decoration; more of them can be acquired by using coins in the gacha machine. I spent a good amount of time customising the basement to make it feel like home, and I was shocked that there was more to get past the achievement to buy 25 of them.

The decor is just as humorous and peculiar as the game's premise, with most of the items being memes or silly things (like a banana taped to the wall, which I later found out was a reference to a multi-million-selling art piece by Maurizio Cattelan). This was on par with the jokes and overall gameplay design, as I unlocked an achievement for using my powerwash tool on the fly, and it was called "Waterboarding". The chuckle it induced made me feel better about having done it!

It turned out that cleaning in 2D isn't as satisfying as in first-person with realistic graphics, but it was charming nonetheless. The only nitpick I had about it was that the dirt would grow back if you left even a pixel of a spot, which made it a tad more stressful and a lot less fulfilling.

The last thing I want to mention is that I never got the ick while playing PowerWash Simulator, but Moldwasher made me feel yucked out several times. The areas that you clean aren't anything crazy (dirty sinks, vents, behind the fridge), but there was something about the mould, broken food, and massive dust bunnies that didn't sit well with my brain. Take that as a warning if you are squeamish!

Moldwasher remained the same throughout the entire experience: weird, funny, and very ick-inducing. The cleaning is satisfying, the levels are unique, and I enjoyed the tools that we were offered! If you enjoy this sort of simulator title, you're sure to find something to appreciate here.