When I first played Super Mario Sunshine as a kid, I always made sure to clean up all of the paint in every level, down to the last pixel, beyond whatever the amount of cleaning any episode required was. It just felt nice to do, the game is about cleaning Delfino Island, so why not actually do that, even if you get almost nothing for it. Maybe the game doesn't notice when I leave a spot on the floor unclean, but I do, and if I'm the only one who notices it, I guess I just have to clean it up. It was like this satisfying little side-job I had while also being Mario and doing the usual bing-bing-wahoo stuff, something just for me.

And now they made a whole game about cleaning stuff with a water gun, so you could probably guess that I'm totally hooked on it. It's a lovely idealized version of a mundane task. No outside distractions or real-world costs that come with actual power washing, just you, your tools, a constant stream of water, aaaaand dirt. Put on music, a podcast, or just listen to the sound of your power washer, and lose a couple of hours cleaning a lawn so dirty you swear someone is just shitting on the patio furniture or something. It's a version of work where the results are instant, satisfying, and immediately fulfilling, the perfect escape from my current state. Wondering if I'll be able to pull myself away from this soon to finish something else before the year ends, we'll see.