At the Steam Next Fest, MeinMMO author Linda Knabe took a look at the Goblin Cleanup demo and immediately fell in love with the game’s concept. As part of Find Your Next Game, she wants to introduce it to you here.
Goblin Cleanup immediately caught my eye in the list of all the “Steam Next Fest” presentations. I generally like playing games in which I have to clean and tidy something – like PowerWash Simulator or House Flipper – or watching other players do it for hours.
Goblin Cleanup also attracted me with a fresh and fun concept that was something different than just cleaning or renovating. So it was clear that I wanted to give the demo a chance.
Goblin Cleanup is the perfect mix of cleaning simulator and dungeon exploration
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The concept behind Goblin Cleanup is actually quite simple: You play a goblin maid, also in the classic cute maid outfit, who cleans up her master’s dungeon after a few heroes have failed in it.
Before you start the game later, you can customize your maid, although the “standard maid” already looked incredibly cute. Customization is not yet possible in the demo version, but I was able to take a look at the possible options. For example, you can set the body type, hair and face or accessories. But you can also choose your “cleaning tool” individually for your maid.
Definitely much more fun in co-op mode
Then you decide whether you want to play solo or co-op. I’ve only tested the solo mode myself, but I can imagine that the co-op mode is a lot more fun.
So you rush into one of the possible dungeons and start cleaning. And this is where the real fun of the game starts. Your job is to prepare the dungeon for the next heroes and to remove the remains of the previous heroes. At one point or another I simply thought to myself: “You died here? Pathetic!”
Basically, as a goblin maid you have a few core tasks:
What sounds simple can quickly become dangerous for a goblin maid. I myself died a few times in my first round because I simply didn’t think properly. I should have known that this laser-eye ball would keep attacking me as soon as I repaired it. You shouldn’t get too close to the mimic chest either, because they don’t differentiate between friend and foe.
A goblin maid must clean, but also be able to survive
But that’s exactly what I love about the whole concept behind Goblin Cleanup. It’s not just about cleaning, I also have to survive myself – because if I die, I leave a mess behind that I then have to clean up. Because no, you don’t just die and the round is over. In the dungeon there are altars that you can activate and then respawn at.
This is also the point that is definitely more fun in co-op. Seeing how your colleagues might suddenly get impaled because they step on a hidden button or get eaten by a chest.
At least then you know where you should be a little more careful. Sending someone else ahead or pushing them into the trap to trigger it first and move on safely could also be a tactic.
In the end, a few small details in the game also convinced me. For example, when you wipe up the blood with your impaled, little blue slime, it looks sadder and more desperate the redder it gets.
I always felt a little sorry to feed him to the chest afterwards, but the work has to be done. After all, I am an exemplary goblin maid and I don’t leave any dirt behind. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus tested a game at the Next Fest that isn’t really his thing and it still convinced him: Steam: I played a survival game that is way too cute for me and still had fun