The world is a beautiful place. Of course, pollution and trash can do a lot to ruin that impression. Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator is a game borne from a desire to restore nature's beauty from the aforementioned trash.

Before I begin, some background. Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator is a mix of two genres. First is the "walking simulator", or a game where you do a lot of exploration to advance the story and complete objectives. It's also a "simulation", namely the simulation of trash removal and cleanup. It's not totally realistic on the latter side, as it plays more like an arcade game. Regardless, the two genres combine into a simple-to-learn and easy-to-master game.

You play as someone who is given missions from various real-world locations that are covered in trash, have broken or ruined buildings and landmarks, and the areas in question lack greenery or other natural beauty. Armed with a combination of a vacuum cleaner and a pressure washer, you have taken up the mantle of someone trying to restore some beauty to the world.

The gameplay loop is as follows: Upon entering an area, you will see huge piles of trash in what should be an orderly outdoor space with lots of thriving natural beauty.. The pressure washer you can use to wash away excess dirt. The trash can be sucked up with your vacuum cleaner. You will occasionally have to refill your pressure washer from nearby water sources to keep using the water sprayer. There are also certain items you will need to collect to repair certain landmarks and buildings that have fallen into disrepair and/or ruin. As you commence the cleaning, nature starts making a comeback until the area you have worked on looks pristine once more.

There are a lot of cute little touches in this title. As nature returns to various areas, lots of cute animals will show up in joy. You can even pet many of them, complete with petting animations and their clear appreciation. A fun running gag is how each level tends to have one cat and how you can find a silly-themed hat for them to wear. You only have to get each map to a minimum of 95% completion to progress to the next, but it can be fun to track down everything to get that 100%. Usually, you do this by watering every withered tree and plant shoot until it vibrantly flowers or spreads its leaves. This last part is optional if you aren't a completionist, but it does tie into the game's theming nicely enough.

Like similar games in the cleaning genre (i.e., Powerwash Simulator), there is an option to upgrade your cleaning tools to make them more effective. You earn points by disposing of the trash you find and otherwise restoring nature. There are several objectives in each level that will always give a lot of upgrade points. Since they usually need to be done to complete the level they are worth the effort. The upgrades range from increasing the amount of water you can retain for the pressure washer to automated sprinklers you can deploy to do some of the hard work for you.

Graphically, the game uses a cartoony, cel-shaded look viewed in a first-person perspective. The art style is both cute and colorful as you start cleaning up all the trash piles and brown mud everywhere. The end result is that levels will reflect your hard work in restoring the natural beauty that was being choked off by all the grime and trash.

Sounds and music lean heavily into the nature theme. You'll hear rustling leaves and twittering birds alongside various lighthearted music tracks that set a relaxing mood. With that said, this game plays just as well if you set the game on mute while listening to a podcast. That doesn't mean the game sounds are bad, just not exactly its best draw.

This title can be played with a keyboard and mouse or any Steam-supported controller. Both are viable, but I found the keyboard and mouse super easy to learn. You really have only three different actions you can do (pressure wash, vacuum cleaner, pick up items/interact with items), and it's super simple to figure out.

Stability is excellent. This game runs natively on Microsoft Windows. While not rated for the Steam Deck, it runs perfectly on Linux and Steam Deck via Steam Proton.

Morally, there are hardly any issues. There is no violence, harsh language or sexual content. It's set in a contemporary real-world setting, albeit in a cartoony style. Morally, you are just trying to clean up nature, and there is nothing objectionable about that.

If you want a laid-back, casual game with a cleaning motif, this will satisfy. Technically, it's solid enough, and morally it's clean (pun not intended). It isn't the deepest game, but it's good for a casual, laid-back adventure.