PowerWash Simulator is reminiscent of the oddly satisfying YouTube videos featuring people deep-cleaning rugs, driveways, and old electronics. This video game version allows you to tackle various power washing jobs around the town of “Muckingham,” gradually eliminating grime from different objects in each task. There are no time constraints or scores to achieve, and each dirty item has a corresponding progress bar to fill.
PowerWash Simulator has more depth than you might anticipate. You can earn money to invest in upgraded power washing equipment, and the narrative mode takes you to various locations both physically and metaphorically. While it may not need to do as much as it does, the game’s pleasures are multi-faceted: the immediate gratification of transforming dirty objects into clean ones, as well as the overall satisfaction of systematically working towards a job well done.
Number 9. Please, Touch the Artwork
Please, Touch the Artwork comprises three sincere puzzle games, each inspired by abstract art. While the games’ specifics differ, they all draw from artistic inspiration. One game requires you to replicate Mondrian-style paintings mechanically, while another transforms Broadway Boogie Woogie into a love story. The third game recasts New York City as a metaphor for adapting to life in a big new city. While the first game can be somewhat challenging, the game informs you upfront that it is intended to be a low-stress experience, with no timers and hints and redo buttons available if necessary.
What fascinates about Please, Touch the Artwork is not what it reveals about De Stijl and abstract art (since such works can never truly be “solved”). Rather, it conveys the experience of engaging with art and how it brings you closer to the game’s lone developer, Thomas Waterzooi. The entire project has a deeply personal vibe, allowing you to peer into someone’s mind and see how this type of art speaks to them. While some may interpret this as excessively pretentious, Please, Touch the Artwork is inviting, daring, and heartfelt even at a mechanical level.
Number 10. Zen Bound 2
The premise of Zen Bound 2 is straightforward, much like many other games on this list. You are provided with a rope and a sequence of 3D sculptures, and your objective is to wrap the rope around each sculpture until it is completely covered in paint, although the sculptures themselves may be more difficult than they first appear, with several hidden gaps and sharp angles.
Playing Zen Bound 2 necessitates a slow, contemplative approach, similar to meditating on the object you’re binding. This may encourage you to think about the physical subtleties of the objects you tie yourself to in real life. However, even if that appears to be pretentious, Zen Bound 2 provides a reflective and immersive method to zone out.
