Games like PowerWash Simulator and House Flipper offer a delightful invitation to unwind. They are all about creating order out of chaos, and it’s truly enjoyable to see a trashed house or a messy garage transformed into its former glory. But what if the stakes were higher? What if instead of simply getting rid of an old, rusted-out vehicle, we had to deal with hauling dead bodies? What if our primary concern wasn’t just grime and soot but blood and forensic evidence? Crime Scene Cleaner dares to explore these intriguing questions, and the result is surprisingly satisfying.

In Crime Scene Cleaner, we play the role of Kovalsky, a down-on-his-luck janitor with numerous financial woes, including a sick child. A friend offers him a lucrative opportunity to help him deal with a major mess – a murder. It turns out that cleaning crime scenes can be far more profitable than scrubbing toilets. And there’s a bustling mafia scene in town, ensuring a steady stream of work.

Crime Scene Cleaner presents some ingenious yet grisly scenarios. There’s a mass murder at a pizza parlor, with a guy half inside the pizza oven. One particular death brought an unexpected chuckle to me: a young man, killed while playing a Soulslike game, complete with the “YOU DIED” screen on his monitor. How ironic!

No matter what challenges we face, we have the necessary tools to clean it all up: mops, sponges, a step ladder, a pressure washer, detergents, and plenty of trash bags. And here lies the meditative aspect of the game. Whether we’re cleaning up old boxes of pizza or the splatter pattern from a body falling from a great height, our brains are rewarded with those feel-good chemicals. We can even indulge in a bit of theft from the dead, selling a bit of coke on the side or dropping fancy statues at the pawn shop.

If there’s one thing I wish were a bit more emphasized in Crime Scene Cleaner, it’s the auxiliary aspects. Once I complete a job, I return to my home. I can read a couple of emails, which often shed light on the protagonist’s dismal financial situation, and pet my dog, but then it’s time to hit the hay. And when I wake up, it’s back to work. It would be nice to have a bit more control over where that money goes, but at the end of the day, I’m simply there to haul bodies and scrub blood.

Another charming aspect is Kovalsky’s constant commentary. The voice acting may not be the best, but it adds a certain je ne sais quoi. He has a witty line for every death. Upon discovering the gamer mentioned earlier, he quips, “Just imagine playing some FPS and ending up with a bullet in your head. Now that’s what I call immersion.” The voice actor’s flat delivery is quite amusing in its own way and helps break through the morbid atmosphere of each crime scene.

Crime Scene Cleaner initially launched on Aug. 14, and I came across it while browsing the Steam store. I’m glad I took a chance on this title and bought it without much research; cleaning crime scenes definitely scratches a certain itch. The fact that I can stuff $100 bills and bricks of cocaine into my in-game pocket is just an added bonus.