Pool Cleaning Simulator レビュー (Xbox Series X/S & PC)

Pool Cleaning Simulator is a bit like swallowing sea water and washing your eyes out with chlorine: painful, avoidable, yet, even when combined, two mistakes that you would naturally repeat time and time again, if only for the sake of waxing that curious itch that craves a glimpse of the world beyond the shoreline. Unlike PowerWash Simulator, a game that feels oddly satisfying to slug through, Pool Cleaning Simulator lacks that much-needed sparkle. But of course, I get it. FreeMind S.A., too, understands that, if you put a grubby tile in front of someone, then there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll snatch a mop from your hands and start scrubbing it. That’s essentially all that Pool Cleaning Simulator is: a thunder-stealing udder that, similar to its gluttonous kin, enjoys bleeding the cash cow dry.

Unsurprisingly, Pool Cleaning Simulator is everything that you think it is: a PowerWash-like chore core experience in which you meticulously scrape and squeegee the filters, the tiles, and the inflatables of various pools. It says it all on the tin, and at no point does it pretend to be anything greater, either. It is, quite simply, a game that only a select few will dive straight into without thinking twice about the caveats. For the average consumer, though, it’s a hard sell that you need to experience for yourself to truly understand. And no, it isn’t a game that gets more exciting as you wade through deeper waters.

If not for its concerning amount of technical bugs and game-breaking glitches, I probably would have enjoyed Pool Cleaning Simulator. Like PowerWash Simulator, I understood the assignment, and I was more than happy to bypass the jargon and jump straight into the deep end. Given that it was a harborer of simple gameplay facets and therapeutic progression tropes, there was never a lot that I needed to wrap my head around. I was never going to drown in complex mechanics, and I was never going to lose my sense of purpose in its transparent bath sphere. I was, quite simply, scrubbing grime from the tiles of pools. It should have been an easy job. Hell, I wanted it to be an easy job.

The problem with Pool Cleaning Simulator is that, unlike your plain-sailing chore core sim, its negatives far outweigh the positives. As you have quite the niche experience here, you would need a solid hook (or at least an airtight gameplay experience) to dispel the mid-game jitters. Unfortunately for Pool Cleaning Simulator, it lacks both. The gameplay, for example, while satisfying in short bursts, is incredibly buggy. Even in the opening tutorial—a section that is designed to ease you into the shallow waters—the game prevents you from making any progress. Collecting trash, for example, is a roadblock that you can’t ever seem to vault over. Elsewhere, you have minor annoyances that, unlike House Flipper, demand that you scrub every nook and cranny in a linear fashion in order to move on to the next contract.

In theory, Pool Cleaning Simulator should be a relaxing game. The issue is, it make it so darn difficult to enjoy it for what it is. The hub, for example, is a place where you should be able to wipe your feet and revitalize between jobs. In reality, though, even your own home can be a pain in the neck. Unlocking items requires an unnessasary amount of legwork, and earning fresh contracts requires you to complete previous jobs in full. But, therein lies one of the biggest problems: the lack of transparency. Unlike House Flipper, a game in which you can complete a portion of the work and then simply move on to the next, Pool Cleaning Simulator demands that you scrape the barrel. And in any other case, that wouldn’t be a problem. The thing is, some stains are an absolute nightmare to spot.

Speaking of stains, most of Pool Cleaning Simulator is, true to the nature of a PowerWash clone, reliant on the usual gameplay tropes. With a power washing machine, you can remove grime, whereas with a utility belt, you can clean filters, drain pools, or unclog various pool appliances. Again, it’s a simple routine that you more than likely would have experienced thousands of times over. The only difference between this world and PowerWash is that you jet wash tiles. But other than that, it’s essentially the same basic gig.

Don’t get me wrong, Pool Cleaning Simulator does have its moments. While the general clunkiness of the gameplay is something of a burden that you’re sadly forced to bear, the game does feature some light rewards that, if you can stick around long enough, might just persuade you to shovel through the technical clutter. The levels, for example, each have their own distinct styles and challenges. In one moment, you could be sweeping debris from a family pool, whereas in another you could be dousing the filter of a lavish estate with freshly-minted chlorine tablets. There’s even an aquarium for you to squeegee your way through, too. A minor incentive I’ll admit, but one that adds a good amount to an otherwise shoddy product.

If Pool Cleaning Simulator didn’t have quite so many technical faults, then I’d probably have a lot more to say about it. The truth, however, is that I struggled to work through a lot of its textbook campaign. It wasn’t due to boredom, or even that I couldn’t be bothered to finish each job. In all seriousness, it was mainly due to the fact that it made everything a hassle. If, say, I wasn’t able to finish a job due to the completion rate being too low, then I’d be thrown out of the game and forced to start the contract from scratch due to a save-manipulating glitch. Again, it wasn’t the presentation that led me astray, but the frequent bugs and lack of polish.

With all of the above said, Pool Cleaning Simulator could be a good addition to the PowerWash circuit. At the time of writing, though, it just feels like a tough one to recommend. In time, perhaps it’ll emerge from its shell to declare its identity in the chore core genre. Again, though, the lack of sparkle is what dampens the overall experience.

Verdict

Pool Cleaning Simulator could be a brilliant addition to the PowerWash circuit, yet it sadly fails to capitalize on the core principles of a cozy chore core sim, mainly due to its lack of technical polish, in-game annoyances, and satisfying gameplay. In time, it might just emerge from the bathtub as a squeaky clean, souped-up inflatable. As it stands, though, I’d say that it doesn’t do enough to stay afloat in a pool that is, quite simply, swimming with far greater alternatives.