Playing ‘PowerWash Simulator’ is good for you, says academic study

30 September, 2024

PowerWash Simulator screenshot

A new academic study has proven that playing PowerWash Simulator is good for you.

Released in 2022, PowerWash Simulator encourages players to “wash away your worries with the soothing sounds of high-pressure water. fire up your power washer and blast away every speck of dirt and grime you can find, all with the simple satisfaction of power-washing to a sparkling finish.”

The same year, FuturLabs released a special “education” edition of the game, to help with a research study that the University Of Oxford and the Oxford Internet Institute were doing, which was “centered around the well-being of PowerWash Simulator’s players and also aims to deliver insights into the larger discourse of gaming and mental health.”

Now the results of the Oxford Research Study have been shared, with 72 per cent of players reporting an uplift in their mood after playing PowerWash Simulator. “This change is comparable with changes seen in other leisure activities such as reading, shopping, or listening to music,” say FuturLab.

“Players consistently reported a higher mood after the first fifteen minutes of the play session compared to the start of each session,” continued the study, which featured over 8,695 players from 39 countries.

Speaking about the study, lead author Assistant Professor Matti Vuorre, Tilburg University and Research Associate, Oxford Internet Institute said: “At present, short-term changes in video game players’ moods are poorly understood. Gameplay research frequently relies on artificial stimuli, with games created or modified by academic researchers, typically played in a lab environment rather than a natural context. Instead, we wanted to know how real play in natural contexts might predict player mood on short timescales.”

Earlier this year, a report led by Japanese scientists found that playing video games can relieve stress as well as improving mental health but only if use is limited while the next update for PowerWash Simulator is due for release October 10 and will see players able to clean up Shrek’s swamp. 

In other news, Hideo Kojima has confirmed that Death Stranding 2 has a release date – but he’s keeping it secret for the time being.

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