Why are "Chore" Games Enjoyable?

Today on Twitter, I saw a post about an upcoming game where you clean a library. My initial reaction was confusion and bewilderment, but as I watched the trailer embedded in the post, I quickly realized that I would actually love to play this game, despite it essentially being a chore simulator. As I watched the books slot perfectly into shelves in correct order by volume, and the messy, crowded floor slowly opened up to create a ton of new space, this game has joined my list of anticipated games. Why am I so compelled by such a concept? I’m not a particularly organized person, and other games that I enjoy feature intense combat, deep storytelling, and addictive game mechanics. But I, as well as many others, seriously enjoy these types of games, so I decided to explore that concept in this blog post.

This isn’t a new phenomenon for me. Last year, I played Power Wash Simulator, it’s DLC, and Power Wash Simulator 2, and had an excellent time with both, I have over 60 hours in them combined. These two games play on one specific sensation: Satisfaction. I imagine the game was inspired by existing powerwashing videos, washing as dark concrete is instantly cleaned by the powerful blast of water. Levels in the PWS games involved spawning in next to something filthy: a car, a backyard, a house, a gas station, and everything in between. Gameplay then revolved around picking the right nozzle and soap, and cutting away at the dirt until your target doesn’t have a speck on it. It’s extremely repetitive, but remains satisfying throughout. This is for many reasons, and I think those reasons apply to many of these “chore” games, but I’ll keep using Powerwash Sim as an example, as it’s my favorite. One reason, in my opinion, is the sense of escalation. PWS level 1 asks you to clean your own van. It’s probably a 5 minute process once you get your bearings with the controls. Getting the sides and roof is easy enough, and with a little more effort you can get some of the more challenging-to-reach areas. Thirty hours later, you’ll instead be cleaning The Lost Palace, a huge structure with multiple floors, interior and exterior. This process might take 2 or more hours, and it often helps to separate it into chunks to give some sense of progress in such a monumental task, like doing the first floor’s exterior before using a mechanical lift to reach higher points.

Another reason I think this works so well is how it compares to the real-life act of cleaning. Worth asking is, are these just fun tasks in general? Why don’t I clean my own disorganized kitchen instead of spending more time cleaning a fictional, virtual Motel? Is the virtual version that much better? In some ways, I would argue no, and in fact it can occasionally be more enjoyable to complete these tasks in real life, because of the tangible impact. Using your newly cleaned kitchen to cook feels great, because you are actually reaping the benefits of your effort, and your effort to create delayed gratification has paid off, because you can find ingredients easier and the like. However, cleaning in real life is oftentimes more inconvenient than the virtual counterpart. Going out to buy tools, physically putting in the effort, bending over to pick things up. None of that is to mention malfunctions and that kind of thing. In PWS, your power washer will never break, and will never need to be replaced. In fact, it only gets better over time with upgrades purchased from completed levels. On top of that, PWS requires no physical effort. All of the satisfaction, none of the exhaustion.

The next point is how easy the game is. This might be more personal, but there are certain games I go to when I want to put zero brain power into playing and just relax by listening to a podcast or a YouTube video. Life is busy, and exhausting, and sometimes melting into a game with a predictable gameplay loop is more satisfying than getting through the next emotionally draining level of a horror game. Oftentimes, that means playing games I know really well and don’t require reaction time, like Balatro, Slay the Spire, Shogun Showdown, and other turn-based roguelikes. But PWS and other “chore” games fill the same niche. When I sit down to play, I know for certain that I will be cleaning some random environment, get paid by a client, and move on to the next, and I get to catch up on other passive media at the same time. I can’t imagine most PWS players are playing it completely locked in as they clean every flat wall, that amount of focus just isn’t necessary to get through the game successfully.

Chore games don’t feel the same as doing chores because they are an abstracted version of chores. The same way other games make you the coolest, hottest, best fighter of all time, this game allows a shortcut to all of the fun parts of chores and none of the boring, obnoxious, and frustrating parts. This genre is plenty successful, and clearly new games are being inspired by it constantly, but I think a lot of people who wouldn’t expect to enjoy it would probably get something out of it as well.