Cleaning and video games can both be therapeutic, and sometimes you can sort of do both at the same time with games likePowerWash Simulator. Cleaning Up! kind of does the same thing with some Overcooked / Tools Up! charm.
Unlike those games, though, Cleaning Up! features no multiplayer. The game begins by equipping you with a vacuum and letting you figure things out.
The Steam Next Fest demo, which you can play now, features four levels that provide just enough to get your feet wet (or should I say hands dirty?). There’s an apartment, a castle, a museum, and a cafe, each providing a new gimmick to differentiate themselves. Only one of these levels qualified as challenging, but again, it’s a demo.
The first level, the one-bedroom apartment, puts you in the middle of a trashed apartment with garbage all over the place. Your job is to vacuum it all up and empty it into a nearby trash can by blowing it using the reverse suction. It’s all extremely simple, but the controls felt pretty clunky, especially if you’re used to vacuuming in Luigi’s Mansion.
This one wasn’t in the demo, but we’re down to see if the protagonist can die.
You tap the right shoulder button (I played on Steam Deck) to turn the vacuum on, and you tap it again to turn it off. I found myself awkwardly holding the button and seeing nothing happen. To turn on the reverse suction, tap the left shoulder button. You’ll only want to do this in front of a trashcan, but I also had trouble with this because for some reason the hitbox for the trashcan wasn’t working right. In my playthrough, I corrected this by flipping the switch on and off again. Go figure.
The second level was the castle. In addition to vacuuming all the trash, which is still the main goal, I was also now equipped with a broom, which was for both sweeping (of course) and breaking down big dirt clods into pieces small enough to suck up. The castle resembled a dungeon more than anything, and it also required you to jump to various ledges to reach other areas filled with dirt and garbage. Breaking down the dirt was self-explanatory, but sweeping ended up being a problem in the next level.
The next level was a filthy museum. While we weren’t given a new tool here, one added gameplay wrinkle was the addition of valuables on the map. The museum had vases and other exhibits on tables that could easily be knocked down by your vacuum’s suction. When you break a valuable, you’re penalized. There were five or so valuables in the museum, and I ended up knocking two down due to how hard it was to sweep because of the character’s back and forth motion when using the broom. On top of that, I had the same issues with the trashcan’s hitbox from before when trying to throw all the garbage out.
Rachel worked here?
After that level, I was given a sprayer that’s used to clean green gunk off furniture (ah, getting closer to PowerWash Simulator, aren’t we?). After learning how to use it in a short tutorial, the next level was a cafe that resembled Central Perk from Friends (you also get a Friends-inspired achievement after finishing the level). Of course, there was trash everywhere, including those pesky dirt clods and now the nasty furniture. Despite all these annoyances, it was an easy level because there were no valuables to bring your score down.
After these four levels, I honestly feel like I’ve done it all and don’t need to play it anymore. The clunkiness of the controls didn’t really help matters either. However, after learning the game was developed and published by Unbound Creations, the same folks who brought us Just Crow Things (which I loved), I’ll at least have this on my radar when it comes out on April 15 for PC and both PlayStations and Switches.
The Steam Next Fest demo of Cleaning Up!, which you can play now, features four levels that provide just enough to get your feet wet. There’s an apartment, a castle, a museum, and a cafe, each providing a new gimmick to differentiate itself enough. Only one of these levels qualifies as challenging, but again, it’s a demo.
Cleaning and video games can both be therapeutic, and sometimes you can sort of do both at the same time with games likePowerWash Simulator. Cleaning Up! kind of does the same thing with some Overcooked / Tools Up! charm.
Unlike those games, though, Cleaning Up! features no multiplayer. The game begins by equipping you with a vacuum and letting you figure things out.
The Steam Next Fest demo, which you can play now, features four levels that provide just enough to get your feet wet (or should I say hands dirty?). There’s an apartment, a castle, a museum, and a cafe, each providing a new gimmick to differentiate themselves. Only one of these levels qualified as challenging, but again, it’s a demo.
The first level, the one-bedroom apartment, puts you in the middle of a trashed apartment with garbage all over the place. Your job is to vacuum it all up and empty it into a nearby trash can by blowing it using the reverse suction. It’s all extremely simple, but the controls felt pretty clunky, especially if you’re used to vacuuming in Luigi’s Mansion.
This one wasn’t in the demo, but we’re down to see if the protagonist can die.
You tap the right shoulder button (I played on Steam Deck) to turn the vacuum on, and you tap it again to turn it off. I found myself awkwardly holding the button and seeing nothing happen. To turn on the reverse suction, tap the left shoulder button. You’ll only want to do this in front of a trashcan, but I also had trouble with this because for some reason the hitbox for the trashcan wasn’t working right. In my playthrough, I corrected this by flipping the switch on and off again. Go figure.
The second level was the castle. In addition to vacuuming all the trash, which is still the main goal, I was also now equipped with a broom, which was for both sweeping (of course) and breaking down big dirt clods into pieces small enough to suck up. The castle resembled a dungeon more than anything, and it also required you to jump to various ledges to reach other areas filled with dirt and garbage. Breaking down the dirt was self-explanatory, but sweeping ended up being a problem in the next level.
The next level was a filthy museum. While we weren’t given a new tool here, one added gameplay wrinkle was the addition of valuables on the map. The museum had vases and other exhibits on tables that could easily be knocked down by your vacuum’s suction. When you break a valuable, you’re penalized. There were five or so valuables in the museum, and I ended up knocking two down due to how hard it was to sweep because of the character’s back and forth motion when using the broom. On top of that, I had the same issues with the trashcan’s hitbox from before when trying to throw all the garbage out.
Rachel worked here?
After that level, I was given a sprayer that’s used to clean green gunk off furniture (ah, getting closer to PowerWash Simulator, aren’t we?). After learning how to use it in a short tutorial, the next level was a cafe that resembled Central Perk from Friends (you also get a Friends-inspired achievement after finishing the level). Of course, there was trash everywhere, including those pesky dirt clods and now the nasty furniture. Despite all these annoyances, it was an easy level because there were no valuables to bring your score down.
After these four levels, I honestly feel like I’ve done it all and don’t need to play it anymore. The clunkiness of the controls didn’t really help matters either. However, after learning the game was developed and published by Unbound Creations, the same folks who brought us Just Crow Things (which I loved), I’ll at least have this on my radar when it comes out on April 15 for PC and both PlayStations and Switches.
by Danreb Victorio
