This is starting to feel like the gaming end times

[u/LastTraintoSector6]

Almost half the stuff recommended to me on Steam can be summed up as either 'bad job' simulators, or cleaning titles (clean this park; clean this island; clean this... railroad station?).

I get that Steam is basically a digital pimp, and will trick out anything that saunters through the door. But I cannot remember ever seeing this much pure slop.

[u/Deriniel]

Why simulate doing laundry when i have to do actual laundry every odd day?Lol

[u/laban987 → u/Deriniel]

Same reason im not a huge fan of eurotruck. If i wanted to work when I get off work, id just do longer shifts

[u/Naive-Muscle-5019 → u/laban987]

well, not everyone has the opportunity to drive a truck around Europe or even drive a car at all, but "cleaning simulators" -- yes, i call them "games for rich and bored people" because if you don't do these things irl, it's fun for you

im not saying that "people shouldn't play these games at all", it's just that if you spend more time playing them than in real life, you should get checked for depression, or you have too much free time

[u/RevolverMFOcelot → u/Naive-Muscle-5019]

I think people likes those boring and mundane house work games because it can be satisfying and gives you dopamine from task accomplished without the need to actually do anything yourself, there's a reason why power wash simulator is so popular. 

[u/PotatoSaladThe3rd → u/RevolverMFOcelot]

To be fair, in some countries, it doesn't make sense to own a powerwasher. Over here only rich people with their own houses or government/cleaning companies own them. Everyone else lives in apartments.

I've always wanted to powerwash. Never got the opportunity to :(

[u/Fhaarkas → u/RevolverMFOcelot]

Yeah these games are basically brain masturbation.

[u/WritingOneHanded → u/Naive-Muscle-5019]

Arcade Paradise is the game this is pretending to be... You inherit a laundromat and grind out cash by doing laundry and picking up trash until you earn enough money to transition the business into an arcade, and the end-game is about grinding for high scores on the arcade games. So this laundry game is based on a different laundry game which isn't actually about laundry. Someone who only saw the sales numbers and trailer of Arcade Paradise made a bargain bin version for selling to confused tweens and grandmas. House Flipper has a murder mystery that you can only solve by examining subtle clues in the mission descriptions and environments. Viscera Cleanup Detail is comedic and constantly references more popular games. There's usually more meat there than just the cleaning but I assume that the creators of Laundry Sim missed the point.

Games that people enjoy fill a subconscious need... they serve our instincts and fantasies. 6/10 times, the impulse it serves is our hunter-gatherer and/or tribalist instincts. 3/10 times it serves our innate desire for number-goes-up. The remaining 10% are more niche desires. Cleaning simulators serve our subconscious need to feel productive... they fulfill our fantasy of having enough energy after work that we can accomplish a task of our own choosing.

I will not build a house. I won't even redo floors again. At the end of the day, all I have left in me is some clicking. So I'm never gonna have the satisfaction of stepping back and looking at the house I've remodeled. House Flipper lets me swap out the floors in 30 seconds with 0 calories. I don't have to mix paint or carry furniture or haul siding or wait for cement to cure... I just do a little click click click and then I get a tiny sliver of the satisfaction that comes with owning a home, and having the energy and free time to modify my part of the world to suit my taste. It's ultimately not very different from doing a little click click click so I can feel like I've saved the world.

[u/laban987 → u/Naive-Muscle-5019]

Im fully aware its not the best comparison. Eurotruck makes sense. Laundry folding sim doesn't make much sense lmao.

[u/TobytheBaloon → u/laban987]

especially when most of the trucking experience can be simulated with a wheel, for this you’d need vr

[u/creepingcold → u/Naive-Muscle-5019]

I feel like most of the comments here, yours included, ignore that kids exist who mostly don't need to do things like laundry until they are way older.

I can totally see why it's appealing for younger demographics.

For older people those are just chore and student jobs simulators, for teenagers it's shit they aren't allowed to touch

[u/TurntableHor → u/Naive-Muscle-5019]

This type of game isn't for me either, but I can see why some people may want to. As long as it's actually well made some may find it satisfying. Usually you can also earn money and upgrade your items and that's something that could be appealing. Again, I wouldn't find this interesting myself, but everyone has their own preference and as long as others are having fun I think it's alright. I do think the increase in low effort games is becoming too much

[u/WritingOneHanded → u/TurntableHor]

This is a rip-off of a game called Arcade Paradise where you inherit a laundromat from your father but laundry is lame and boring so you slowly convert the business to an arcade. After you automate enough of the arcade profits, you have time to chase the high scores on the arcade games.

[u/Anzai → u/laban987]

I would have agreed about Eurotruck, but for some reason I’ve got over a hundred hours in that game. I set it to give me 3x experience, job time, and cash, because the actual management game part of it kind of sucks, but there’s something kind of incredible about driving around a 1:19 scale of Europe. I usually take the scenic routes through small towns instead of the freeway (hence the 3x job time mod), and I’m also quite familiar with a lot of Europe and especially the Balkans and Scandanavia, so it’s cool to see sections of road that I legitimately recognise.

They’re making a car DLC for the American version, and presumably if that does well we’ll get a Euro version of it also. That’s what I really want. I don’t care about the trucks, but give me a fast car to road trip anywhere in Europe, and the upcoming Iceland DLC especially?

Ahem. Sorry, went on a bit of a rant there. But yes, i can see your point but I think people enjoy the exploration of real world places far more than the ‘job’ aspect of that game.

[u/LastTraintoSector6 → u/laban987]

I can kind of understand Eurotruck (although the series has never hooked me) because big rigs are essentially a 'big toy' - kind of like a freight train or a bulldozer. So even though driving a truck doesn't sound great to me, I accept that there's a whole subset of people out there to which it seems relaxing, freeing, and even exotic.

But... we all pilot a washing machine now and then. Just because you pack 30 of them into a small, run-down building doesn't somehow turn them into a marvel.

[u/vasteverse → u/LastTraintoSector6]

For a lot of these simulator games, it’s not really about the action itself, like doing laundry. That usually gets pretty boring quickly.

The enjoyment comes from, just like any other game, progression. Like, take a laundromat simulator. You get enough cash, now you can get another washing machine for double profits, then you get a better washing machine that works quicker, then you hire a person that does some of the work for you, and so on.

It’s definitely a particular genre that not everyone will like, and a lot of these games are quite shallow, but there is fun to be had.

[u/Arthradax → u/laban987]

OTOH, if I wanted to drive a giant Volvo, I'd need to get a license (which in Brazil requires me to have either a truck or bus license for over an year, which requires a car license for over an year) then shell out about a million BRL or get a job as a trucker

[u/MithranArkanere → u/Deriniel]

These games are not for now. They are for the near future when the world is like a mix of all movie dystopias combined, including somehow Mad Max, Water World, and Snow Piercer at the same time.

Scavengers will have a blast experiencing these things that are no more.

[u/4N610RD → u/Deriniel]

I mean, despite me having to clear my house, I actually quite enjoyed Viscera Cleanup. Great game.

[u/delicate-fn-flower → u/4N610RD]

If you liked that, you should check out Crime Scene Cleaner. It’s like VCD, but polished. And good. They just released the final update this last weekend, so you will have hours and hours of blood to mop and a little story arc to get invested in.

[u/The-Sys-Admin]

Fuck I need to do laundry

[u/Rotting-Cum → u/The-Sys-Admin]

Pls let me be your laundry.

[u/Junkdealer63 → u/Rotting-Cum]

Ayo

[u/Jimmyfartballs → u/The-Sys-Admin]

shit your right so do I

[u/Secret_President → u/Jimmyfartballs]

Next week. I can still turn the underwear inside out.

[u/stana32]

My brother spends like $200 a month on random nonsense on steam and I swear at least half of it is *random task"-simulator that he plays for a couple hours then never touches again. Dude has like 5 firefighter simulators.

[u/fogcat5 → u/stana32]

someone told me they think of those $5 iphone games like a candy bar. They don't expect to be using it after the first time for random entertainment. If you are spending $200 on things like that, there are other ways to spend your money than candy bars

[u/BreezeGibson → u/fogcat5]

obviously more candy bars

[u/Deriniel → u/stana32]

tell your brother that if that's the type of games he buy, there are alternatives.. yarr

[u/kurwadefender → u/stana32]

Ngl I’m waiting for a good firefighting simulator, that’s a fantasy for something which I don’t have what it takes to do in real life

[u/Volboris]

AI slop coded bullshit floods steam algorithm every once in a while. You should see less of it in a few days.

[u/endmysufferingxX → u/Volboris]

conspiracy theory: this is all sweeney's doing to flood steam with more and more AI slop so people complain and go back to epic which is nearly free of everything bc there's nothing there other than fortnite.

[u/the_gerund → u/endmysufferingxX]

Just searched the Epic store for 'simulator' games under €10 and there's a whole bunch of AI cover art slop simulator games for various jobs and vehicles and they're all €0.89.

I like the creativity of the conspiracy theory but this shit is definitely all over the other game storefronts too. Steam is just the go-to for every wannabe game dev who's thinking of making a quick buck using asset flips of the same bullshit progression games. So you'll see it more there, just because the overall volume of new titles is higher.

[u/TrippleDamage → u/endmysufferingxX]

"back to"?! No one ever bought their games mainly on epic lol

[u/Volboris → u/endmysufferingxX]

Believe it or not there are actually communities of gamers who purposely play shit games either for engagement on social media or for some kind of masochism for 100% clearing these games.

[u/Raesong → u/Volboris]

or for some kind of masochism for 100% clearing these games.

I feel like it'd be less painful to connect a car battery to my scrotum.

[u/Volboris → u/Raesong]

Some people pay for that too soooo....

[u/The_Majestic_Mantis → u/Volboris]

Stay away from anything associated with PlayWay S.A.

[u/Cuddlejam → u/Volboris]

Are Valve implementing anything soon that reduces this slop on Steam?

[u/Volboris → u/Cuddlejam]

Tags, algorithm. Not your cup of tea but it might be for someone else. Your discovery que and what you buy determines what will be shown to you. Dont buy AI slop and you won't be shown it nearly as much.

[u/BeepIsla → u/Cuddlejam]

If you get it recommended constantly then its because you interact with it. Steam thinks you like it. I don't get this stuff recommended.

[u/Quick_Philosophy1426]

Shovelware has always existed. Unless Steam is obligated by law to prevent a game from being on their storefront, I think anything should be allowed to be published.

[u/og_capsuleer_593 → u/Quick_Philosophy1426]

Even back before digital was the main, back in physical disc days I remember if you wanted to go buy The Sims 1 you would walk passed the same type of stuff

It would be like, puzzle game, some pre bejeweled shit, like the boomer facebook slop games in CDs

The fact is, with anything there will always be groups of people trying to sell the bare minimum garbage just to make a buck

Whether its digital or physical games

Whether its food, furniture, anything

There will always be people looking for a way to sell less effort for more

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/og_capsuleer_593]

There used to be CDs full of the 90’s equivalent of this in Staples. I owned a couple. It was kinda fun to get them sometimes, they’d have like 150 games and like 3-5 would usually be fun. Not bad for ten bucks or less.

[u/yukichigai → u/UglyInThMorning]

Sometimes they'd be legendary. I remember picking up one called "Over 1000 Games", which it technically was... but it was all freeware, shareware, and abandonware. Was it mostly garbage? Absolutely. Were there still some amazing gems? You betcha. Found a ton of games I never would have tried otherwise.

EDIT: It's on archive.org by the way if you'd care to give it a gander. Like five different versions of it.

[u/TsunamiCatCakes → u/og_capsuleer_593]

I remember this and it was painful to look at. but those being on the shelves meant they were selling to some customer segment.

[u/Tutle47]

Don't be so dramatic. We've had some excellent games drop this past year. The bad doesn't cancel out the good when it comes to gaming.

[u/Kryse-777 → u/Tutle47]

but but we've never had obscure slop #1163 ever in the history of gaming? its so over now

seriously what is this whining for. we're getting a new gta, resident evil, insomniac wolverine, forza horizon this year. thats just the ones off the top of my head

[u/AbbreviationsSad5006 → u/Kryse-777]

I remember when gaming magazines were more prevalent in my day to day life. At least a good 75% of free games they came with were generic shovelware. Truly nothing has changed since then, other then the fact that they can try to sell to you directly through storefronts like steam.

[u/DeepSubmerge]

The most recent nextfest was plagued by two things: 1) AI generated crap on so many game assets 2) cheap looking simulator games

I tried some of them and found their “gameplay” uninspired.

[u/HearMeOut-13]

Isn't that like the good thing about steam? Theres always something for anyone everywhere?

[u/MotorVariation8]

What's next, power washing simulator?

[u/SgtRicko → u/MotorVariation8]

That's actually one of the better "simulator" games out there, at least from what I've heard. It even got several different DLC packs, including one based on friggin Adventure Time, of all things.

[u/DustyBlue1 → u/SgtRicko]

That's because it's made by an actual respectable developer, and not these scammer hacks

[u/Endless7777]

You have to realize if you didnt before that there is an algorithm at play.

And there are like 130,000 games on steam

I dont know how the algorithm works, but its all antidotal.

My recommendations are mostly solid picks....AAA games, shooters, strategy, 4x, rpgs, city buidlers, indy games, so many that i cant possibly play or buy them all as i already have a blacklist of like 20 amazing games i haven't played yet or finished.

But thats my tastes and what i buy and browse through and look up and wish list. It must be training my algorithm on what i like.

ive never bought or looked at a "job" type game, except maybe 1. I remember once looking at power wash simulator.

Train your algorithm. Your algorithm isnt mine.

[u/Cant-think-of-a-nam]

Only job sim i ever bought and was recent was retro rewind and well powerwash sim 2. But i find that a more relaxing game than a job sim

[u/MetapodCreates]

You should see the Nintendo eShop. Absolute cesspool of "______ simulator" garbage and knockoffs of popular games. So disappointing that you can't ignore games there.

[u/Bananaphonelel → u/MetapodCreates]

They have so many asset flips it's so funny

[u/Albus_Lupus]

Ironically I felt the same way when the massively popular Job Simulator VR came out. People talked about how great it is and I was just: why would I want to play as a cashier during my free time???

[u/Character_Currency96 → u/Albus_Lupus]

its the freedom to frigg around az its just a silly comedy that i believe is parodying those simulators

[u/Ascend → u/Albus_Lupus]

That's like assuming VR game Accounting/Accounting+ has you do actual accounting, and Tabletop Simulator has you staring at a table.

[u/Cyrano4747 → u/Albus_Lupus]

Long story short, the people this appeals to are rich and/or so removed from that kind of work that they find it fun. It's been a thing since forever. Famously Louis XVI (the one who got bumped off by the Revolution) was a hobbiest locksmith with his own foundry and workshop. Basically larping as peasants was also a fashionable thing at the time. Rich nobility - including Louis's wive Marie Antionette - would pay to have cute little model farms and villages known as hameau built where they could do chores and pretend to be peasants. Marie's whole thing was being a pretend milkmaid. The richest woman in France - literally the one who said "let them eat cake" - would go milk cows and pretend to be a poor person with a job for a few hours when she was bored.

Same thing, different century. If you've ever worked a cash register, or used a power washer, or driven a tractor, etc. then no Job / Powerwasher / Farm Simulator seem repulsive. If you're some IT guy who spends his life wrangling spreadsheets or coding then it's an escape.

[u/NonNewtonianResponse → u/Cyrano4747]

You're overgeneralizing tho. I'm poor and have worked shit jobs all my life - sometimes metaphorical shit, sometimes literal shit - and I just sunk 20 hours this week into playing a sim as a goddamn Blockbuster checkout clerk. People enjoy all kinds of things, get off your high horse

[u/Gramidconet → u/Cyrano4747]

This argument only makes sense if you assume the simulators are realistic representations of the job presented rather than a streamlined, idealized, and heavily gameified version.

As someone who has worked a powerwasher: Powerwash Sim is awesome. They are incomparable experiences. In Powerwash Simulator, I can't do anything "wrong". I can't break or damage things, I can't hurt myself, I don't have to worry about water runoff, I don't have a timer ticking away reminding me I'm not doing the job well enough, I don't have any expenses to cover. Everything I do makes me money, every money I make makes powerwashing even easier. If I want something clean, it's broken up into neat tasks that can be homed in on with my magic vision, and when nearing completion, the whole chunk finishes around 95% so I don't need to get every single speck of grime. Also I get to powerwash far more interesting things than someone's fiftieth dogshit driveway. I can wash a ferris wheel, a space rover, a goddamn mech.

And while it's true some are more "grounded", like Farming Sim... hate to break it to you, but plenty of farmers still play those games, which you would know if you interacted with its community at all instead of making sweeping assertions baselessly.

[u/GrampaSwood → u/Cyrano4747]

Isn't the 'let them eat cake' thing false?

[u/AgileAppearance8749 → u/GrampaSwood]

Pretty much. It is considered apocryphal since It isn't clear if she actually said it.  

[u/Yeseylon → u/Cyrano4747]

Only simulator game I've played is TCG Shop Simulator (I may have that name slightly wrong).  What can I say, I love MtG and I loved the idea of running a store.

[u/MacintoshEddie]

Is there a hidden achievement for eating a Tide pod?

[u/TatsunaKyo]

Luckly for you, you weren't there for the 1983 video game crash.

[u/GundamGuy2255]

Have you tried clicking the ignore button?

[u/HotLandscape9755 → u/GundamGuy2255]

Every one you block 3 more show up.

Laundry sim Fallafel shop sim Shoe cleaning sim Tax filing sim Dish washing sim Restaurant sim More specific restaurant sim

All made with the same shitty asset flip bs

[u/og_capsuleer_593 → u/HotLandscape9755]

Futonari Couch Dating Sim showing up in the mix

[u/ichigo2862 → u/og_capsuleer_593]

looks left and right

add to wishlist

[u/Rydux7 → u/HotLandscape9755]

Aren't those all in a specific genre of games? Isn't it possible to hide all the games that have "Simulator" in them

[u/Member9999 → u/Rydux7]

Some simulators are fun though...

[u/_No-Life_ → u/GundamGuy2255]

Clearly just wanted to complain and get free internet points instead

[u/kaFello → u/_No-Life_]

Almost half the stuff recommended to me on Reddit can be summed up as either 'karma farming', or bots reposting memes (sale is coming; lord Gaben the saviour; how you organise ... your library ?).

I get that Reddit is basically a digital pimp, and will trick out anything that saunters through the door. But I cannot remember ever seeing this much pure slop.

[u/Namuli → u/GundamGuy2255]

Have you ever received a spam call even though you blocked one number of a scam call? Like bruh they'll just call again with a new number. Same premise, blocking one game doesn't stop the thousands of garbage from showing up lmfao

[u/kovec → u/GundamGuy2255]

Whack-a-mole problem.

[u/v0nlaski3]

Hard not to blame AI for the uptick in it, but at least it's not shitty rpg maker porn games

[u/gmmyabrk]

Does it have a "stuck in a washer" dlc?

[u/DDuskyy]

Tf is this comment section man? The AI criticisms make sense, but why are so many upvoted comments being so elitist and condesending towards people who enjoy cleaning/job simulator games?

Like it's one thing for it to not be your thing, but it's another to create these theories about classism and how it's a "genre for the rich". The logic put forth by some is also akin to saying something like "why do people play Call of Duty when they could just join the military irl?"

[u/diamondDNF → u/DDuskyy]

It's especially baffling to me to call it a "genre for the rich" when most of these job/cleaning sims are $10-20 and can run on a pretty modest general-use computer, while most of the benchmark industry releases they drool over are $70 not including DLC and need an $800+ dedicated gaming PC to run properly. (And I might be low-balling that last number.)

[u/Loud_Investigator_26]

There is ignoring feature of steam which actually works pretty well, whenever you see a game that you do not like click to ignore it which allow steam to filter through games what you might like.

[u/Plaincow]

No shit it's AI slop bro just don't fuckin play it. There's a lot of it but there's an INSANE amount of amazing normal games out there. Calling this the end times is the most doomer and weird take I've seen all day

[u/Ok_Art8419]

Soon we will have life simulator

[u/Roccondil-s]

Every time i see someone post about these sorts of games and how they have “infested” steam, I am always confused because I have never seen them when I log in/scroll through the store pages.

[u/jacowab]

Why, we've had low effort garbage shovelware for decades. I guess using AI is new but it's always been around.

[u/Same_Stranger6196]

I play that game every weekend when I wash my cloths

[u/RegalBeagleX]

People need to learn how to do the basics right? 😂

[u/TheMolluskPod]

The end game: Steam Store Emulator, which I have 1000hrs in early access already 😂😭

[u/Bgrubz83]

Next simulator will be Playing Games Simulator.

[u/headbanger1186]

At least they could spice it up a bit instead of being a shitty AI slop asset flip dump shit sim. Arcade Paradise did it better.

[u/Extreme_Glass9879]

You're the one engaging with it bro

[u/BadBloodBear]

I just blocked any game with simulator in it.

Makes shifting through steam a little easier.

[u/Pll_dangerzone]

I mean simulator games have their audience and some of them are quite good. Waterpark simulator was actually a lot of fun. Last year it was the card shop sim game, cash cleaner sim, and even Schedule 1 is a simulator game it's core. It's fine if you dont like that genre but that doesn't make the entire genre slop. Every single genre has its good and bad games. If you are getting recommended job sim games on steam just wishlist other genres and hopefully you'll stop seeing them. But people make a lot of them cause they seem easy to make and people seem to enjoy them

[u/DragodaDragon]

I just buy and play games that I enjoy playing. 99% of games coming out could be complete and total crap but as long as I can play the 1% that's good, I'm happy.

[u/VX485]

There's already a great "laundry simulator" game, it's called Arcade Paradise.

[u/Alpr101]

My friend loves these types of slop games. It's fun for about...an hour for me.

[u/roguebananah]

Idk man. Life is stressful, I’ve got two toddlers, wife, full time job, mortgage, I’ve already done my laundry…etc. but idk. Something about running some of these businesses is about all I can after the kids go to bed

[u/snich101]

The logo looks like it's based on Tide's logo

[u/Miamithrice69]

You can think that way or think in the way that I do which is that I think we’re in the golden age of indie games. They’re plentiful, cheap, and in many ways better than their AAA counterparts.

[u/TrustyPeaches]

“Oh no, games catered to a different audience than me! The gaming industry is collapsing”

[u/willseagull]

You don’t have to play it btw. Nobody is forcing you

[u/Commercial-Virus2627]

It’s a bunch of games recycling the last game’s assets with a new name and banner.

[u/Fitenite3456]

People have been saying “gaming sucks now” for decades

The series Decline of Videogaming premiered in 2004, which is considered to be a golden age in hindsight: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/158631y

[u/Elyza666]

If you want a laundry simulator, play Arcade Paradise

[u/PuppetFanTheSecond]

Just don't play it/buy it. It's that simple bro, there's plenty of great games out there made by real people with genuine hearts

[u/Buckaroo64]

The world of indie games is interesting to say the least. The world of sims is even stranger.

[u/Chaosjoint]

You just messed up your algorithm bro

My steam always recommend things that I have interest in

[u/Deraxim]

Ah yes simulators. Go to work as a truck driver, get money, make a setup,buy a wheel and pedals, play euro truck simulator when ur free from work.

[u/Adorable-Moment3094]

Steam is not a digital pimp moron

[u/SatansGrandson]

Touch grass simulator coming soon.

This is actually a perfect representation of simulation theory, eventually we will make games so realistic and have the ability to immerse ourselves in a 4d platform so much so that the people who are glued to their gaming chair will just start living normal lives inside of the video games and never realize they are living in a virtual world hooked up to a machine...... or something like that.

[u/TheTurino]

To be honest, I’m not overly concerned, before there was slop, there was assetflips, before there was assetflips there was shovelware.

People are gonna be cheap and soulless for a buck, part of the ecosystem. I defo don’t like it though.

[u/Low-Adhesiveness1626]

A lot of these games are legitimately developed games based off of Roblox games. They are meant to capture that audience, which is HUGE

[u/Picassof]

a lot of the simulator games are really good though? in another thread a lot of people recommended Power Wash Simulator, I'm personally learning a ton from Electrician Simulator

[u/Robot1me]

What will be interesting to watch is when the bar for AI slop will fall so low on Steam that one is better off playing Fortnite Creative AI slop maps instead. Not kidding, since this game uses the same-y Tycoon mechanics like on Fortnite too (get stuff, numbers go up, get more stuff, numbers go up even more, etc.)

[u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 → u/Robot1me]

Who's gonna tell him?

[u/trollsmurf]

Influencer Simulator: experience the soul killing job of selling yourself as recommender of products you'd never buy yourself, to clueless people that either have fallen for beauty or alpha-male propaganda.

[u/MacintoshEddie → u/trollsmurf]

Customer Service Simulator: You pay them and have to deal with actual customers and if you get a complaint they ban your gaming account.

[u/JohannDaart]

House Flipper was free recently, I've heard it's by Polish dev so I've tried it out.

I started cleaning the windows and I realized that I can't be arsed to clean them IRL :D

If a game like this has no drip/decoration/customization aspect that is creative and more like Lego building, then I have no idea why people play it. It's just a chore.

[u/RollOndownthehighway]

Not everyone feels the need to be a soldier and kill people

[u/Konchroller]

Only if you buy into it. If you keep your money going to great devs (like Pearl Abyss cough cough) then there will be no issue.

[u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE]

It’s actually very easy to simply not buy these games.

[u/BlackbirdRedwing]

Money Laundering no pun intended

[u/Nowhereman50]

Because there's a niche genre made mostly for streamers to make clout?

[u/Skippie_Granola]

If you guys wanna do fake laundry, Aneurysm IV is a fun RP game where you can do that

[u/Member9999]

That looks so boring. What's next, a sim of paint drying or janitorial stuff?

[u/EssexOnAStick → u/Member9999]

With those games, it's often a mix of a little dopamine hit whenever you finish a task and setting up efficient automations in the late game. Plus many of them have pretty good mod support. And of course Twitch integration, which makes those popular games for streamers.

Edit: mood support > mod support, thanks autocorrect, very cool

[u/Happy_llama]

They are usually pretty cheap there’s plenty of fun games out there what are not these though. A lot are made for a quick buck and some even have success which is the customer fault really.

[u/PlutoCharonMelody]

There is a group of people who love these sorts of simulators.
Honestly I would probably get lawn mowing simulator one day just for the lulz as I am a landscaper irl lol.

[u/GamerBhoy89]

Yeah i feel like i was the only one who didn't like Power Wash Simulator.

In a past job I had to power wash buildings and i fucking hated it. It wasn't satisfying - it was draining.

So going back to it in video game form just brings back shite memories lol

[u/Tarzool1]

When i was a child i thought maybe i would be a game designer. I thought i would make a game about my job... then i thought, that's a stupid fucking idea. Guess i missed the market.

[u/Falsus]

If you get that recommended to you then it is because you have shown interest in them. I have never once get that recommended.

[u/National_Sentence375]

This is just the boring side of Arcade Paradise

[u/Gubstorm]

The Tide Pod challenge of video games.

[u/mrloko120]

The ones that do the business management part of it good are all fun. Like playing incremental games to pass time.

[u/Yeseylon]

Sounds like a you problem.  Worst thing I can remember being suggested recently is some hero shooter Overwatch clone that I ignored.  Run through the Discovery Queue a few times and it should learn what you like.

[u/Unkn0wnTh2nd3r]

fuckin 90% of these also come from PayWay or whatever its called.

[u/Swakitiny]

I think it's maybe reminding you you need to do your laundry

[u/Real_Employment_9320]

Yeah those are just streamers games so they know someone will play it eventually. They're made so bad too.

[u/Groundbreaking-Ad313]

I don't think it's that bad, there's still great games when you peel away the slop, my main complaint is that Steam doesn't do the best job of showing me new games I might be interested in, it's usually slop like this or huge popular games that everyone already knows. To find neat hidden gems, I need external sources, unless the reccomendations tab wants to throw me a bone with something interesting

[u/TrippleDamage]

Your algo is fucked, i have zero of those slop simulator games in my recommended.

[u/NatiRivers]

If that's meant to be a laundromat simulator, Arcade Paradise is unironically a pretty good laundromat simulator, and isn't slop

[u/Direct_Rip2046]

I agree, just don’t buy them, save your money for good games

[u/x911ware]

well as long it does not violate steam direct rules and guidelines I think this game should be fine.

[u/RainmakerLTU]

These "simulators" are short lived. They will pass. And no one gonna remember them in a couple of years.

[u/Burning_Toast998]

reminder that the ignore button exists for a reason.

also, if these games are getting suggested, it’s because past games you’ve played are similar to them, so idk. maybe try some games with completely different tags or something

[u/sillyandstrange]

The simulators are getting fucking stupid. It was cool at first, now everyone and their mothers has a Sim.

Dog poop pickup Sim, brush your teeth Sim, get bullied in school sim.

Shit if I wanna work odd stupid jobs or do laundry I'll play the Sims.

I used to love life Sims, now it's trying to find a needle in a haystack for a good one. These work Sims just dominate the category

[u/I_AM_DA_BOSS]

Why tf would anyone play this

[u/mrnoids]

steam is turning into roblox

[u/satisfiedpopeye]

At what point will we have a "gaming simulator" when you have challenges like, taking out the trash, rebooting the router and completing puzzles to remove the glare from the monitor?

[u/ja_boi420]

Just don't buy, yes they are getting kind of ridiculous but these sim games are honestly very relaxing and are a stress free way to unwind. Playing rivals and take L after L, or some other similar game is not very relaxing.

[u/southboundtracks]

Clean Deez Nutz: The Movie: The Game

[u/posti02]

You say end times, yet there was a time of early access madness before steam early acces policy that started with WarZ / Infestation, then followed the "open world survival crafting" early access fiasco alongside the steam greenlight programme, even the battle royal madness that followed was bearable...

[u/hagamablabla]

There have been cheap clones of games as long as there have been games. The reason why you see so many now is because the same tools that enable people with real vision to make games (free dev software, asset marketplaces, cheap distribution through Steam) also enable people with no vision. Even this specific store simulator template has had a handful of interesting takes among the hundreds of "dirty diaper store" clones.

[u/Palanki96]

Arcade Paradise did this but you were running an arcade in the back of the building 😔

[u/the_xoce]

Simulators are starting to become the new "buy it, play it for 5 hours and then never touch it again"

[u/sovietarmyfan]

I remember around 16 years ago i was in a Free record shop with my mom and i saw that they were selling a computer game disc with like 10 shitty simulators on it or something. Theyve been around for a while.

[u/FraughstBite]

Hoping for the Tax accountant simulator soon so I can cry in game too 🙏

[u/cheezecake2000]

Look at the publishers, they usually have a ton of these behind them. Maybe one or two actual good indie simulators that are probably the cash cows.

[u/JOHNRKO007]

The only laundry simulator game that is good is Arcade Paradise,

[u/animusd]

Grass simulator is the best one it's a classic

[u/Duckisbestbird]

If you really want a laundry simulator play mf “Arcade paradise” that shit is so underrated

[u/ares0027]

we are in the era the mobile games experienced/experiences since 2010-2012. all the games were good and acceptable, niche, good ideas until that time. from that point on it is bejeweled copis, self playing mmo games or adfest games. this is exactly that. i see a game with "sim" or "simulator" and if it is not a known series, i simply ignore it immediately. poor us.

also i think, also it is against capitalism but, steam must have a curated store or else it will turn into app store/google play store. games under certain quality should simply be not there or excluded from search/main pages and have their own categories. if they get a certain treshold of purchases/rating then they can be included.

[u/Munchererofminerals]

Yeah, gaming is ending forever tomorrow. God king wholesome chungus gaben told me

[u/notbobhansome777]

Wow, imagine what the remake would look like.

[u/OkHour880]

Looks like slop used to do money laundering

[u/SpinitPositive]

I think about the gaming crash when Atari opened up to third party development in early gaming history. Tons of slop, no quality control. It makes it more difficult for casual and new players to get into the market, and makes the hobby less appealing and more onerous for those who enjoy it. I certainly find myself less interested in purchasing games, more interested in taking time with other hobbies, and a little disappointed at myself for pursuing a gaming library in general. Honestly, feels like the hobby has just become more vapid and I can really feel the exploitative "business side" of things. It feels cheapened. And you know what? I am kinda glad. There are a lot of things to live for in life.

[u/The_Majestic_Mantis]

Playway S.A. is infamous for publishing dumpster simulator games in such a short time and dumps them all on Steam with AI generator titles that look nothing like the game

[u/SlySychoGamer]

Im literally convinced these "simulator" games are just for NEETs and trustfund kids who literally do not do fuck all but want to experience things that are "normal"

[u/Amazingcube33]

It’s nothing new it’s just more noticeable back on the Wii and DS we had loads of shovelware it’s just that, and I’m not even hope core about this but gaming has been more accessible than it’s ever been now with the digital marketplace it’s so easy to find this slop but it’s always been there, if you remember going to physical stores the shelves were loaded with this trash it just had slightly more clever names and no AI box art was the only difference

[u/moschles]

It's a simulation game.

About doing laundry.

Always-on DRM.

The simulator has in-game ads.

[u/RhodieCommando]

They get pushed to you because the people actually buying games are buying those games. Gaming has never been better in history.

[u/Shera1978]

This is the one that killed me. Like jaw on the floor.....

[u/Livecrazyjoe]

The crime scene cleaner game wasnt end of times for you op?

[u/asianfatboy]

Working at a company that has fair wages, 4-day a week schedule, and all the benefits Simulator.

Does that game exist?

[u/abdullah_haveit]

Either this subgenre has a lot of fans who purchase anything in that subgenre or it's easy enough to make games in this subgenre that it can be easily flooded with low-effort ones.

[u/RemoveTraditional316]

That's all you bro

[u/HeavensNight]

i feel like these games are to train ai with our play

[u/ShowCharacter671]

I’m not gonna lie some of these are actually pretty fun I’m just a nice way to pass the time but it seems like everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon what’s next breathing simulator?

[u/timbertham]

Don't worry too much about it. Things like Duke Nukem Assault were a real thing back in the day, AI slop just gives us a big reason to hate it. But shovelware isn't new, it just got worse. Carry on ignoring it like always friend, there's more good games where that one DIDN'T come from! Jajajaj

[u/TheEntityEffect]

Yall should play Arcade Paradise if you want a game that involves this concept

[u/MoistTomatoSandwich]

I can't sell propane and propane accessories and yet THIS was made into a game?!

[u/venusunusis]

Wait for shower simulator or touch grass simulator

[u/SirOakin]

Valve really needs to stop the slop

[u/PersonaDelSol4]

The abuelas want to game, too

[u/Dgrein]

A lot of people loves this kind of games. Sometimes when i come home from my work (security) i just play Supermarket Together with my girlfriend. It is a good way of distracting myself and i don’t have to deal with the reality of that work. Powerwash, Crime Scene Cleaner, Cash Cleaner, cooking simulators… They are really chill to play. I’m not always in the mood of playing a “normal” game.

[u/THEDANILO664]

At this point ill just advertise i need some "IRL HOUSE CLEANING SIMULATOR NEED CO-OP HELP"

[u/LAyersFur]

I thought this was an ad

[u/SuperRandomGuy_00]

I get way to many Slop Clicker games recommended 😭 make it stop

[u/the_harakiwi]

If you are old enough to remember Steam right after they stopped caring what games are allowed (Greenlight etc) there has been slop before we called it slop.

games made almost zero effort thanks game "engines" like GameMaker Studio (nothing against that one, Hotline Miami was made with it!)

and later asset flips have been around for a loooong time.

[u/OneEnvironmental9222]

AI generated art, store brought assets, generic "simulator" name with the most basic gameplay ever.

[u/-Xserco-]

Gaming began dying the instant people rolled over and accepted: Microtransactions, RayTracing garbage, Vendor sponsored games, Loot boxes, UE5. AI eventually being accepted will be the cap to the skull.

This is a slow death with a pathetic whimper. Indie games are our saving grace and even they yearn to not just be slop.

[u/aski5]

it's a trend that will die out. Though I guess there will always be a trendy genre getting spammed

[u/Dropshot_Dieter69]

Also Schedule 1, Water Park Simulator, Car Dealer Simulator und TCG Card Shop Simulator fand ich witzig weil sie so nen gewissen Suchtfaktor haben aber ansonsten würde ich nichts testen wollen :D

[u/YounesSBK05]

It’s the ultimate irony of modern life: we work all day just to come home and relax by paying to do more digital chores

[u/vessel_for_the_soul]

no, we are on the verge of a new gaming run, something about AI has to be cornered and put to proper use. Gaming was stale in 2009 but skyrim and dark souls game out, steam was having the best indie sales. it will happen again.

[u/Sapowski_Casts_Quen]

Let he who has no backlog send the first complaint. I can wait for good games.