PowerWash Sim's SpongeBob DLC confirms it as the king of crossovers
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea and does not maintain his edging?
I only had four TV channels growing up, and thus do not knowing anything about Bob L'éponge other than what is required to understand Tumblr posts (and that he lives in a tropical fruit). What I can tell you is that the SpongeBob Squarepants DLC for PowerWash Simulator confirms that PowerWash DLC is now the only way I will consume content about pop culture I do not understand. The most elaborate Spiderverse-themed skins for Fortnite, with all the custom dances they can muster, are as shadows and dust next to methodically cleaning an orange submarine car while a fictional octopus sends you sad texts. I'm convinced PowerWash Sim could do a crossover with literally any intellectual property and make it work. Lego. Mad Men. The filmography of Nicolas Cage. Clean them all.
Said DLC is out now, and is PowerWash Sim's first paid DLC after several very good free ones, including one for Final Fantasy VII and one where you hose down Lara Croft's ancestral theft-shed. It'll set you back £7/€8/$8, and considering I was rounding the bend on 100 hours of PowerWashing before this expansion came out I consider it money well spent on a pineapple house that I have literally no nostalgic connection to. Because this game is very good.
Does any of this make sense? No! Does it matter? Also no! As I outlined in a previous supporter post along similar lines, I enjoy being able to roleplay as a solid, dependable small business owner - possibly called Si (we're still building out the character) - who is completely unphased by whichever fictional character is asking him to clean whatever fictional doodad. When confronted by an underwater building called the Chum Bucket or an invisible Car, Si's response is only to chew the inside of his cheek and consider what liquid cleaner would work best.
The SpongeBob DLC facilitates this fantasy extremely well, of course, but deserves an extra special shoutout for the care and attention to detail that's a hallmark of the PowerWash Sim experience. The 3D versions of things from a 2D animation are beautifully rendered, there's a small but effective change to sound effects like your footsteps, and your gear is all slightly different to better suit the setting. It's great! And I don't even care about SpongeBob! If every game made me feel like it cares this much, I wouldn't have any money left.