Ophelia Payne

I don’t know about you, but I do not enjoy cleaning up. I should clarify, I do not enjoy cleaning up in my real life, but I adore games where I clean up. Power washing, house flipping, decorating…I love it all. Next on my list of cleaning titles comes from Unbound Creations with the straightforward name, Cleaning Up!

We start Cleaning Up! by downloading the Clyner app, “the world’s number one app for cleaning!”, where you also get to meet your guide, Spongy, your AI assistant who heavily reminded me of the old Clippy assistant from Microsoft. Aside from the little bits of dialogue you get from Spongy, there isn’t much in the way of story from Cleaning Up! You take on different cleaning tasks that become progressively more complex. Starting with a simple dorm room and moving through levels like a coffee shop, haunted mansion and even on the moon.

You start with a broom and vacuum, but will eventually open things like a mop, pressure washer and air freshener. Tools are used with the R2 button, with the vacuum being the one you’ll use the most. You scroll through your tools using the R2 button, and I would have preferred a weapon wheel for this task, as I think it would have been faster than scrolling through all the tools each time.

Picking up items is done with your vacuum, and when it’s full, go over to a trash can and empty it with L2. Make sure you are lined up properly, or you will deposit all your trash back into the space you are trying to clean.

At the top of each level, you’ll find the progress meters for each tool as well, so if you’re not completing a level, you can scroll through your tools and see what you were missing.

Some levels have secrets or puzzles to discover; these will give you bonus cash. Things like watering plants are common bonuses you will find. Others include not being hit by traffic or avoiding spraying the cat wandering around the coffee shop. Be sure to not knock the vases over in the museum (and then replay it and knock them all over for the trophy). None of these tasks is difficult, but they add some interesting gameplay components to an otherwise straightforward game.

There are upgrades to be had, of course, making equipment more powerful or making it more efficient. These are all purchased with money earned from cleaning. I am happy to report that you can purchase all upgrades without grinding too much. I replayed a few levels after completing the game just to grab the last couple. The same goes for all the outfits and hats you can purchase. I loved playing this dress in Froggy overalls and a matching hat. All in, I platinumed the game in about 4 hours.

This is a cozy, stress-free game, with delightful audio and visuals. It’s cute in its simplicity and utterly charming. I think this would be great for gamers of all ages. 

Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.

**Special thanks to Kyle Hovanec, PR from Unbound Creations, for the review code. Reviewed on PS5**