Survival horror is in line with brand marketing

When I sat in front of silent cleaning, a free cleaning/survival horror PC game developed and published by Japanese chemical company Kao Corporation, I didn’t expect much. I’m not afraid of cleaning, and chemical companies are not known for their video game development arrangements. Anyway, I turned off the light and loaded it, ready to scrub myself in horror, and no doubt I’m going to be on some kind of interactive sale.

However, despite my preconceived ideas, I found that it is actually a pretty good little game.

A terrible house

The concept of silent cleaning is simple: the player finds himself in a broken state Ryokan (a traditional Japanese house) aimed at cleaning up all kinds of chaos throughout the property. We’re talking about dirty stove tops, crusty sinks and toilets, and we won’t send anyone even with a smile. For some, this alone can constitute survival horror. Perhaps it even triggered some inadequate memories. But this is just the beginning of evil, waiting for the players in silence to clean.

Handwritten notes and documents scattered throughout the game suggest that the dirt and molds in the house have become sensual (classic molds), taking a bipedal form that makes the corridors and tatami rooms of this forgotten family wander around. These turquoise creatures are invisible and react primarily to sound, meaning players must move quietly while also using kitchen timers and other noisy artifacts to distract them as they set out to restore the building to its former glory.

Dirt-filled gameplay

No matter which way you rotate, the whole process is an advertisement for bones. The cleaning products featured in the game are actually the same as the KAO brand found on supermarket shelves in Japan. However, unlike the average product placement you see in other games, a sincere idea has entered the fact that the product affects gameplay.

As you walk through the house, the mini map in the lower right corner shows how clean each room is, and ends up turning green when there is no longer a mess of clutter. However, what players will soon realize is that they do not have the ability to handle all the stains they encounter. You have no strength, young janitor.

To solve this problem, as the players clean, they will discover mysterious clues. The code section that can be used to unlock cabinets and safes housing instructions or can resolve new cleaning products you encountered earlier but don’t know what to do with.

Inspired by many great survival horror titles like Resident Evil and Silent Mountain, players can merge and modify the products they find to deal with specific situations. Are there any stains on the screen doors in the corridor? Kao thick wet wipes attach to your adjustable Kao Quickle mop, just shorten the handle for use in tight space. Too easy!

Intensifying tensions, some cleaning products need to be soaked before washing them away, which is not a problem in normal daily life (actually, I welcome it). But waiting for your chemicals to make things in the toilet in a silent cleaning, while giant mold monsters stomp up and down the corridor outside can be one of the more unique pressures humans have created for themselves. It’s not entirely terrible, but it’s undeniable that it’s smart.

Without giving up the entire game, knowing what product cleans what stains really work in the last scene, during which time you don’t have time to think about which spray is on which surface. It’s not the craziest survival horror finale out there, but to some extent, if you have any hope of escape, it has to be a chemical.

Not just advertising

I’m usually the first to keep talking about how overbearing advertising is, but the silent cleaning gets a pass (except for the occasional AI toilet art that appears on the walls of the house). It’s a curiosity, like a sales pitch, and only those who are looking for it can find it. It didn’t spend anything to play it, and while it certainly won’t break any new stance, some real thoughts and developments were put into this hour or such a long experience. I didn’t get a single error while playing the game, which is more to say than most titles today, and I can honestly say that I beat the game too.

Of course, articles like this may be the result Kao is looking for while making the game, and that is not lost. Any ads that are talking about are obviously a good one. But even so, I’m still betting on the gap I write about it and you’re going to and buying some toilet cleaners still haven’t changed. Either way, I think silent cleaning shows that sometimes it’s about cleaning chemicals and more about the stains we encounter in the process.

If you want to check the game, it is free to play on your PC via Steam, but it is available in Japanese only.

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