TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 2,013
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Hoarder is a bit like Powerwash Simulator, except you might be in a sort of Cthulhu-esque hell.
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The 2017 survival horror game Darkwood is really good and creepy as hell, an accomplishment that's doubly impressive because it's played from a fairly distant top-down perspective: There's no up- gore or monsters jump-scaring into your face, but hoobie-doobie is it intense. A sequel is in development, but it's not being made by original developer Acid Wizard Studio, which went on hiatus in 2023; instead, it's being developed by Pathologic squad Ice-Pick Lodge, which is honestly great—it's a perfect matchup.
But one of the co-creators of Darkwood is up to something new, which also looks like it might be great: Brought to my attention by RPS, it's called Hoarder, and it's a cleaning sim, a bit like the Powerwash Simulator games.
Well, maybe not entirely. As you can see from the trailer, it's a dark, grim cleaning sim in which you're not so much cleaning as excavating an old, ramshackle house packed to the ceiling with junk. It looks bad in there, although maybe not quite so awful when the sun comes up and you can properly get to work digging, scrubbing, hauling, dumping, listening to weird recordings, opening doors you maybe shouldn't, discovering something in the basement, and, well, you know. Stuff like that.
From the Steam page: The goal is simple: declutter a house abandoned by a hoarder. Start with the comfortable hand-holding of a job simulator: checklists, quest markers and clear goals. But beneath the trash lies a basement that defies geometry. As you descend, the game strips away this support system. No one is coming to save you.
What to make of all this? I'm not much of a horror game fan, really, but deep creepo games with very occasional jump scares have been worming their way into my psyche. Darkwood is brilliant, as I said, and I also recently finished the bite-sized Iron Lung, which I loved even though it made me scream like a schoolgirl. Creature Kitchen fits the bill, although it's definitely more weird than horror (a raccoon scared the absolute hell out of me once, but that was my own fault) and also an utterly transfixing, beautiful experience (there's a demo, try it), and the pre-release build of The Lift I played last year is similarly more spooky than scary, but offers a Hoarder-like focus on mechanical tasks. And I almost f...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
The 2017 survival horror game Darkwood is really good and creepy as hell, an accomplishment that's doubly impressive because it's played from a fairly distant top-down perspective: There's no up- gore or monsters jump-scaring into your face, but hoobie-doobie is it intense. A sequel is in development, but it's not being made by original developer Acid Wizard Studio, which went on hiatus in 2023; instead, it's being developed by Pathologic squad Ice-Pick Lodge, which is honestly great—it's a perfect matchup.
But one of the co-creators of Darkwood is up to something new, which also looks like it might be great: Brought to my attention by RPS, it's called Hoarder, and it's a cleaning sim, a bit like the Powerwash Simulator games.
Well, maybe not entirely. As you can see from the trailer, it's a dark, grim cleaning sim in which you're not so much cleaning as excavating an old, ramshackle house packed to the ceiling with junk. It looks bad in there, although maybe not quite so awful when the sun comes up and you can properly get to work digging, scrubbing, hauling, dumping, listening to weird recordings, opening doors you maybe shouldn't, discovering something in the basement, and, well, you know. Stuff like that.
From the Steam page: The goal is simple: declutter a house abandoned by a hoarder. Start with the comfortable hand-holding of a job simulator: checklists, quest markers and clear goals. But beneath the trash lies a basement that defies geometry. As you descend, the game strips away this support system. No one is coming to save you.
What to make of all this? I'm not much of a horror game fan, really, but deep creepo games with very occasional jump scares have been worming their way into my psyche. Darkwood is brilliant, as I said, and I also recently finished the bite-sized Iron Lung, which I loved even though it made me scream like a schoolgirl. Creature Kitchen fits the bill, although it's definitely more weird than horror (a raccoon scared the absolute hell out of me once, but that was my own fault) and also an utterly transfixing, beautiful experience (there's a demo, try it), and the pre-release build of The Lift I played last year is similarly more spooky than scary, but offers a Hoarder-like focus on mechanical tasks. And I almost f...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?