Leaf Blower Co. Review (PC)

I never thought I’d admit it, but the truth is, Leaf it Alone left a itch that I still feel hasn’t been scratched. I’m bewildered, truly, because while I do have a lofty backlog of RPGs and other strenuous games to chomp through, I still can’t help but feel that there are more leaves to de-clutter. No, this isn’t a jest; this is a truth that yearns to be expressed. Like PowerWash Sim, it brings “something” out in me that craves a simple and good old-fashioned piece of bottled therapy. It isn’t that l have to have it; it’s that I don’t know what to do with myself when I don’t have grit to scrub, lawns to mow, or, in this case, a playground of leaves to blow. A weird thing, true, but at least Leaf Blower Co. gets the gist of what I’m trying to say.

Ah, Leaf Blower Co. — a game that, quite literally, takes a leaf out of Leaf it Alone’s bale and adds its own rake to the mud cluster. To echo, it is, to some extent, the same game. Yes, there are leaves, and yes, there are contracts that require you to take your trusty leaf blower and, well, remove the leaves from the ground. And if you think that sounds a little too basic, well, that’s because it is. It’s PowerWash Simulator with fewer nozzles; it’s House Flipper with fewer bricks. And yes, it is as equally satisfying as both of the above examples. Go figure.

Leaf Blower Co. isn’t really a game that requires a formal explanation to be understood, as it is, in short, exactly what it describes itself as on its tin: a blowing experience that invites you to shovel leaves and earn a little bit of pocket money along the way. And yes, you will want to foot the entire bill to experience it, believe it or not. Why? Well, because it’s “cozy”—a word that, frankly, harbors its own cult following. This world just happens to capitalize on the mantra in a different way.

Have Blower, Will Travel

Leaf Blower Co. follows a similar path of progression as a traditional rags-to-riches business sim. Similar to most, if not all job simulation titles, you begin your career with a clean slate—a pocket-sized repository of leaf blowing tools and a handful of D-grade abilities. As you take on more cleaning contracts, you earn cash and the experience required to boost your equipment and unlock efficient techniques. Alas, the graft begins, and you, armed with the kit and patience of a saint, embark upon a drawn-out quest to complete a myriad of contracts and claim county-wide credibility.

There’s an incredibly simple loop here that, frankly, you would have seen hundreds of times over in other grind-focused job sims. However, contrary to what you might think, the rather primitive act of blowing leaves is a lot of fun. Sure, it’s pointless and without the added benefit of a juicy endgame. That said, it is an entertaining ordeal that takes the opportune time to fill your world with leaf-sized rewards to keep you plugging away from the moment you shuffle your first pile of leaves to the second you use your tools to score a hat trick with an inflatable ball. Don’t ask.

Thankfully, Leaf Blower Co. isn’t just about removing leaves from a few yards; it’s also about interacting with the world and participating in a series of peculiar odd jobs to help remediate your boredom. And by that I mean, ejecting a gust of air from your blower to hit a pretentious pigeon. Is there a point to any of this? Not really, no.

Blowing Off Steam

Sadly, the physics of the leaves and animations aren’t quite as satisfying as they are in Leaf it Alone. That isn’t to say that they’re bad. It’s just that, for a game that centers its entire existence on clusters of leaves, it doesn’t quite capture the look, much less the joy that comes with vacuuming them up and spitting them out around various yards and autumn plots. Don’t get me wrong, it still feels bashful and therapeutic, but it still seems to be missing a crucial ingredient. Maybe it’s the lack of leaves, I don’t know.

On the bright side, Leaf Blower Co. has plenty of decently-sized jobs and locations to explore and work through. Granted, it isn’t a game that keeps you guessing about what you are doing next, but it is one that offers just enough variety to keep things from getting a little, shall we say, boring. It’s still a rather pointless exercise, but at least it’s entertaining. Right?

The visuals are thematically on point here — and that’s great. As expected, it comes with a bloated Fall-centric palette and a ton of smooth textures and sun-kissed set pieces. I can’t bring myself to say that it’s teeming with realistic panoramas and crisp details, but to give credit where credit is due, it is in receipt of some surprisingly beautiful landscapes and yards. Is that enough to warrant your time and patience? The jury’s out on that one.

Verdict

Leaf Blower Co. might not be the “coziest” chore core simulator on the chopping block, but it is one that brings about a plethora of engaging activities and a genuinely enjoyable hook that feels awfully satisfying to blow through. Alongside its rather meaty contract-heavy career mode, it also features a solid selection of tasks and challenges to shovel through, which further enhance the overall replay value, warts and all. Sure, it still fall short of an entire stack, so to speak, yet at the heart of it is a rather enjoyable three-hour affair that should, with any luck, keep you entertained for a while between alternate jobs.

It’s safe to say that, as far as guilty pleasures go, Leaf Blower Co. makes for a pretty fitting candidate in the time-wasting field. With that out in the open, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll struggle to find enough material here to keep you mindlessly chomping and blowing for a handful of hours or more. More to the point, if you simply enjoy chore core experiences that lean on all of the traditional mechanics and values of a pulpy PowerWash Simulator clone, then there’s a good chance that you’ll get a kick out of Leaf Blower Co.