Futurlab’s mission is to be the studio best known for making soothing, satisfying games. For my money, I think they smashed that goal with PowerWash Simulator, but I’m also extremely grateful they didn’t stop there. After a couple of hours with its sequel, PowerWash Simulator 2, I’m confident the team has evolved the series in some smart and subtle ways while still giving everyone more of what they loved so much the first time round.
Before diving into some of the bigger new features, I wanted to highlight some of the more subtle changes. I’ve played hundreds of hours of the first game across Xbox, Switch, and then again on Xbox in co-op, and I know I’m not alone. PowerWash Simulator has a huge, hardcore following who I think will be really pleased with the quality of life improvements Futurlab has made.
For starters, the controls are all far more logical this time. They feel closer to a standard FPS, if you were focused on scrubbing and soaping rather than shooting and sniping. It did admittedly take me most of my two-hour session to rewrite my muscle memory, but the controls definitely make more sense now. It just makes the game more user-friendly which should hopefully help more people enjoy it.
There are other minor gameplay enhancements, like making it easier to highlight the outstanding dirt on the level, or adding a ladder to the side of scaffolding so you don’t need to use the stairs. The post-level GIF of you cleaning the level is much clearer now too, which I was very pleased with. Improvements also come in visual form too: water runs down surfaces realistically, and dirt flies off the surface as you clean it. It’s not a generic effect either, it’ll match whatever you’re currently cleaning, which is a nice touch. I also noticed a lot of stuff just floating in the air, such as dandelions or leaves. It did feel like these were maybe a little too frequent, but it was never distracting.
Alongside those nice quality of life improvements, PowerWash Simulator 2 comes with some really interesting new gameplay mechanics. You now have new tools in your arsenal, with my favourite being the scrubber which resembles the kind janitors use in American TV shows. You can clean flat surfaces quickly and efficiently with it, saving yourself the time of going up and down with a regular nozzle. It even gets the corners perfectly, despite it being round, which was very handy. This got plenty of use in the preview session, unlike the new extendable nozzle, which I didn’t find much use for. This gives you manual control over how wide your nozzle is, rather than toggling through the standard white/green/yellow/red nozzles. I’m sure there’ll be opportunities in the full game to make good use of it, but in the levels I tried I was more than happy with the scrubber and my classic selection of nozzles.
Speaking of levels, I tried three. The first was a filthy billboard on the side of a dusty highway. I’d beelined straight for this one as it was the level that contained abseiling equipment, which makes it easier to clean high up surfaces without any scaffolding. Getting on and off the seat was a little finicky, but once you’re on it you can fly up and down the billboard with more or less complete freedom. As with the previous game, Futurlab has done a wonderful job of designing the levels and the elements within them, and this billboard wasn’t just a flat surface but had all sorts of letters and shapes protruding from it. Being able to get up there with the abseiling kit made cleaning the hard-to-reach areas much easier than trying from a distance with a long nozzle.
I then went onto the Art Deco House, to try out the new scissor lift. This level was the one that most reminded me of something from the previous game, but there were plenty of nooks and crannies that were very satisfying to clean. The scissor lift gives you quick access to higher parts of the map, but I found myself defaulting to trying to parkour my way around, out of habit. I did notice an ethereal light in the sky stretching in an arc between two houses in the distance, so I expect we’re in for another bizarre sci-fi tale with PowerWash Simulator 2.
The final level, the politely-named “Public Facility”, was my favourite of the three as it’s got multiple stages. The oval floor panel you’re asked to clean initially turns out to be the roof of a hidden public restroom that rises out of the ground once you’ve cleaned it. Scour the filth off the exterior of this toilet block and the door opens for you to then deal with the (frankly obscene) mess inside. It’s a great way of breaking larger levels into smaller progress checkpoints, and it was the level I enjoyed the most.
As I mentioned, all the levels seemed very well designed, as you’d expect from the team that’s already had us fixating on scrubbing every last speck of dirt from trains, playgrounds and treehouses. Knowing the direction the first game went in its final act, I’m excited to see what combination of mundane and fantastical the levels in PowerWash Simulator 2 are. When you’re not out on a job, you operate out of a base complete with map board for choosing jobs, trophy room, and at least three cats (all of which you can pet). It’s a nice way to tie the jobs together and should give you something to spend earnings on outside of new equipment.
Two hours with PowerWash Simulator 2 has only made me want to play more. If you were one of the strange people who just didn’t get on with the first game then this isn’t going to be for you. It hasn’t changed any of the things you didn’t like. For newcomers though I think it presents itself more approachably and seasoned scrubbers will appreciate the multitude of improvements and new features.
PowerWash Simulator 2 releases in 2025 for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Xbox Series S|X and Playstation 5
