PowerWash Simulator Switch Avoids Port Pitfalls

When a Switch port of a game originally designed for PCs arrives, there can be all sorts of issues. The font size could be a problem. It might not run properly. The controls might not adapt well to a controller, due to being made with a mouse or keyboard in mind. A lot can happen! With PowerWash Simulator, we have a once-PC game turned Switch title that does function quite well! Which is great, as it means there’s a new relaxing option for people to play.

If you haven’t heard of it, the concept is simple. You just opened a powerwashing business. Your first task is to clean off your van to take you to jobs. This is a tutorial, as you’d imagine, to prepare you for different sorts of surfaces and dirt. From there, you take on other jobs, like cleaning off homes, playground or park equipment, and vehicles. Free add-ons are also appearing, with the first sending people to Croft Manor to clean up Tomb Raider heroine Lara Croft’s place. Your sprayer has different size nozzles, each with its own degree of intensity. You can spray vertically or horizontally. There are various cleaning liquids. You can pick up and place certain items in the environment. There are also accessibility measures, like the ability to keep a crosshair “on” or lock in place to dissuade motion-sickness and a button to highlight dirt still on surfaces.

Which is the first reason why all this works so well on the Switch. The button mapping is impeccable. Every toggle or option gets to be second nature. It’s quite intuitive and easy to play. Yes, there are certain times when I could see PC control options being helpful. For example, getting the pond liners areas hidden by the rocks in the second mission or certain statue segments at Croft Manor, would probably be easier with a mouse around. But it is admirably handled on the Switch. It isn’t like the Switch port of House Flipper, which left me sometimes fumbling to find the right area to click or address to perform certain actions or finish a painting job.

Speaking of which, that brings up another thing that is good about PowerWash Simulator on the Switch: the font. Now, it is still small. Don’t get me wrong. Trying to read some things for too long will get to you. But it isn’t entirely illegible, which can be a problem in so many other Switch ports. I don’t feel like I need to be like my older relatives, who keep magnifying glasses next to their tablets or laptops so they can read the things on-screen. I feel it is on the right side of the cusp of being “a little too tiny,” which is appreciated.

Also, and this is a big one, PowerWash Simulator ended up being a Switch port that works well. Given the constant streams of water and the sizes of some spaces, I expected lag or hiccups. But no! It just works. There are no delays when seeing water rinsing away dirt. It’s fine. Which is especially a relief after what I experienced with Wobbledogs. I only cleaned the playground and the golf cart with another player, but even co-op seemed like it functioned well enough.

It’s always reassuring when a game that started out on other platforms heads to the Switch and is not only functional, but works really well. That’s the case for PowerWash Simulator and its Switch port. It might cut it a bit close with some font sizes, but it really is a good adaptation and still a relaxing diversion.

PowerWash Simulator is available on the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.