Genre: Mopping Simulator (the world’s first and only); or, if you prefer, Space-Station Janitor Simulator 
Release date: October 23, 2015

The aliens came and started shooting and slicing up anything that moved. You did the only reasonable thing under the circumstances and hid in a garbage dumpster.

Then the Marines showed up and proceeded the blast the aliens. The sounds of frags, missiles and automatic weapons came from every direction.

Then it became strangely quiet. A very human voice projected itself from a dozen loud speakers: “This is Col. Ram Rod, head of Special High Intensity Tactics. The invaders have been neutralized. We will now pursue their ships and make sure they do not return. It is now safe to come out and resume your lives.”

As you cautiously climb out of your smelly shelter, waves of emotion flood over you. First, the euphoria of realizing that it is safe and you are still alive. Second, disgust as you take in the blood and body parts flung everywhere.  

And finally, unbridled horror as you realize that you are the janitor and everyone will expect you to clean up this mess. 

Welcome to Viscera Cleanup Detail, the world’s first and only mopping simulator.

At first glance the game appears very simple – throw out the trash, mop up the blood and repair the bullet holes. But it is a little more involved than that.

Mopping is straightforward, at least for the first few stains. Then the mop gets too dirty and it just pushes the blood around. So you must rinse it off in a bucket of water. Just be careful because if you try to thrust your mop into the bucket and don’t hit the opening dead center, you will knock the bucket over and create a whole new mess. Also, as with the mop, the bucket of water gets dirty after so many rinsings and must be replaced. Fortunately, your Slosh-o-Matic can dispense an unlimited number of buckets of clean water.

Getting rid of stuff is easy -– just drop it in the furnace. If you can pick it up, you can burn it. The only wrinkle is that you can only carry one thing at a time and there may be dozens of spent rifle cartridges and body parts at each location. So to make life easier, the What-a-Load can dispense an unlimited number of Bio-hazard Disposal bins. You can fill these up with body parts and trash and then just take a single trip to the furnace. Buckets can also be used for small items.

But be careful! These areas can be cramped and it can be real easy to knock stuff over and create a bigger mess. Also, body parts will leave blood stains on everything they touch. It is interesting to note that on many open world games you can hold down the shift key to move faster. But here holding down the shift key makes you move slower and more carefully.

Cleaning up is your main task, but there are plenty of other things to do. You must repair bullet holes. You can stack or remove crates. You can resupply the first aid stations. There is so much to do that it is a shame you aren’t given any instructions. It would have been nice if RuneStorm had created an in-game training manual so that you would know what to do with crates, but fortunately the user community has posted a good one in the Steam forums.

But wait, there’s more!

Games can be timed and you race to see how fast you can clear an area, or the clock can be turned off for a relaxing session of body part disposal.

Also, you can declare your machine to be a server and other players can then connect for multiplayer action. Just watch where you point that arc welder. We have enough trouble here without getting OSHA on our case.

All of this and eighteen episodes. The game says that each episode takes 1.5 hours on average, but I have been taking my time and spending about five hours each. This makes the game a very good deal, easily exceeding the industry standard of a buck an hour.

Still want more? You can get additional levels to clean up after Shadow Warrior or The House of Horrors. And then there’s that incident at the North Pole which they managed to keep out of the papers…

The bottom line is that Viscera Cleanup Detail is one sick puppy and I love it! The game play does not require elite hand-eye coordination, only that you be careful. But even if you get carried away and make a mess of things, that just means more game play! You cannot lose. And you can save your game at any time, so play as much or as little as you want.

 Runestorm came up with an original concept and they nailed the implementation. My only criticism is the lack of instructions.

+ An original game concept -– strange, but fun + Non-violent game play + Optional timed games + Optional multiplayer games   +/- Lots of blood and body parts   – Physics engine a little touchy – Needs an instruction manual