Dishwashing Simulator

Dishwashing Simulator hides a genuinely inventive premise behind a deliberately joke-sounding title: players wash dishes as an imprisoned worker in a dystopian, eldritch-tinged facility, exploring procedural dungeons and building small-scale automation between shifts while a real mystery unfolds around them. This review's sample confirms that premise lands as a real, pleasant surprise for many players — and identifies an almost comically consistent complaint about how the game chooses to end.

A joke title hiding a real surprise

Reviewers consistently describe discovering something more substantial than the title suggests. "The name is a total bait and switch that almost caused me to miss this gem. It is not a 'simulator' game like the normal shovelware you would see on steam but rather an immersive sim more in line with games like Voices of the Void," one reviewer writes. Another agrees directly: "As bizarre as it sounds, but it's not all about the dishes... There's a mystery to solve about your apparent enslaved situation." That consistent framing — genuine surprise at unexpected depth — recurs across the sample regardless of overall verdict.

An almost universal complaint about the ending

The single most repeated criticism in this review's sample is unusual for how consistently it appears across both positive and negative reviews alike. "Why would you put a platforming section at the end of your game?? Could there be some kind of precedent set up during the main game, so that the ending isn't a frustration fest?" one reviewer asks. Another, giving an overall positive recommendation, still flags the same issue directly: "really fun game but object get stuck inside each other a lot. Also, the parkour ending DOES NOT WORK with the slippery controls." A third reviewer sums up the tonal mismatch precisely: "Im supposed to be washing dishes not making pixel perfect jumps with sluggish controls." This review's own check of Steam's achievement data supports the scale of that wall directly: even the most-earned achievement sits at just 11.9% completion, an unusually low ceiling for a game with this level of overall positive reception.

Specific mechanical frustrations beyond the ending

Beyond the finale, several reviewers raise a related, more granular complaint about the game's item-carrying system. "The gimmick being you can only hold one item in your hand at once, so you need to use a container to carry more. Except the container constantly decides it's going to turn upside down, or orient itself so [you] can't put your items in it," one reviewer explains in detail. That's a specific, checkable physics complaint distinct from the ending debate, and it recurs closely enough across reviewers to represent a genuine, addressable rough edge.

A serious, specific privacy concern

At least one detailed reviewer raises a concern distinct from gameplay entirely: "the internet part where you could look up stuff... has access to my personal browser, which means it has my data that I have input, therefore, personal info. I will not be finishing this game on stream, there was no reason for the game not to have a warning of pulling personal info." This review's sample could not independently verify the technical scope of that claim beyond the reviewer's own account, but it's specific and detailed enough to flag directly for privacy-conscious players, particularly anyone considering streaming the game.

What the update record shows

Steam's own partner-events feed confirms the developer directly acknowledged at least one specific bug reviewers raised — a dedicated "Save File Corruption Issue" post addresses exactly the kind of save-related frustration some reviewers describe — alongside patches continuing intermittently through 2027. That's real evidence of ongoing attentiveness, even though this review found no post specifically confirming the ending's parkour section was ever reworked in response to the overwhelming reviewer consensus against it.

A progression system some found disconnected from the payoff

Beyond the ending itself, several reviewers raise a related, structural complaint about how the game's automation and progression systems relate to its final challenge. "The most interesting part of the loop has you entering dungeons to collect randomly spawning items... However this cycle is rendered pointless if you hit the 500x Jackpot ONCE," one reviewer explains, describing how a lucky early find can trivialize the resource-gathering loop entirely. Another echoes a similar disconnect: "Automation was fun, The Depths is a cool idea and I enjoyed exploring it. I wish late game had an option" to meaningfully apply everything built up before reaching the ending. That pattern — genuinely enjoyable systems that don't meaningfully connect to the game's actual conclusion — is a distinct, structural complaint from the ending's difficulty itself, suggesting the disconnect runs deeper than just one poorly designed final section.

What longtime fans specifically want fixed

Several reviewers use their reviews constructively, proposing specific changes rather than simply dismissing the game, which is worth noting as a sign of real investment in the underlying concept. "This is such a good game in the way that it really is the first of its kind... This is really fun game. If tweaked a bit, it could become perfect. It needs a new ending. One that necessitates staying and upgrading," one reviewer writes. That kind of specific, constructive critique — asking for the existing systems to matter more, rather than for a fundamentally different game — reinforces the read that Dishwashing Simulator's core ideas are sound even where its current execution around its climax clearly isn't.

Final verdict

Dishwashing Simulator succeeds at delivering a genuinely inventive, atmospheric surprise dressed up as a joke, and this review's sample confirms real, consistent admiration for its concept and core loop. But an almost universal complaint — a punishing, poorly-controlled parkour finale that clashes badly with everything preceding it — undercuts that goodwill for a remarkable share of players regardless of how much they otherwise enjoyed the game. This remains a worthwhile purchase for the atmosphere and mystery alone, with a firm, well-documented warning about exactly how the game chooses to end.