Everyday Boring Jobs in Video Games Conquer the Market

An increasing number of video game players do not wish to be thrilled by the game, but rather play to calm down and relax. This trend seems to be affecting a growing part of the gaming population. American YouTuber Markiplier is known for his streaming videos in which he performs mundane tasks in games. At one point, he was followed live by as many as 7 million people while he held a virtual pressure washer or hose, as some might say here, washing a space rover on Mars.

The game PowerWash Simulator was launched in 2021 and since then has been played by thousands of people on the Stream platform. As the name of the game suggests, all that is done is washing certain objects, buildings, vehicles, and the like with a jet of water. And this excites people; they watch it. It seems to me that there is no escape. Just the other day, we could read how a team in the metaverse buys virtual grass to get virtually ‘high’; the situation is getting even worse. Instead of washing their cars in the real world, the team watches someone do it in the virtual world, with virtual water and virtual objects. We really have no escape. However, the team that plays and watches such wonders on the vastness of the internet says that such games provide mental peace and satisfaction that comes with completing a task, albeit a virtual one. Many of them probably have their wives (if they have them) nagging them about doing this or that around the house, but no. Wife, first the virtual Rover, and then everything else.

The creator of the game James Marsden says that the idea came to him when during the lockdown days, his partner spent hours on YouTube watching videos about washing with pressure washers because it calmed him down. This led to the idea of games that mimic everyday tasks that, we must say, no one likes to perform in real life, but in the virtual world, it seems to calm them down. Thus, games like the gas station simulator emerged, where you stand at the counter and work as a cashier, then games where you perform simple tasks on a conveyor belt, and so on. Jobs that are avoided in reality become a hit in the virtual world, and why, probably no one can decipher. But in the last two years, we have seen and heard all sorts of nonsense, so this is not surprising either.

Work Without Deadlines – Therapeutic

Andrew Eiche, Chief Operating Officer at Owlchemy Labs, which created the game ‘Job Simulator’, says that these boring jobs are known to everyone and that it is part of the fun.

– When we started developing the game, we tried to simulate astronaut jobs, but that was not convincing, nor were the locations familiar to people. The jobs are ordinary and often in rigid environments, and people recognize that, so it entertains them – says Eiche.

Meanwhile, ‘Gas Station Simulator’ gives the player control over a gas station somewhere in rural America. At the beginning of the game, the station is little more than a shack, but by diligently serving customers and repairing cars, the player can earn enough income to turn the business into a success and personalize the gas station to their liking.

Karol Sasorski, brand manager at Drago Entertainment, which stands behind ‘Gas Station Simulator’, says that, like many other games, players enjoy solid goals and personal autonomy to achieve those goals.

– In real life, managing a gas station is not fun and is probably stressful. But this game gives players the opportunity to enjoy the best parts, which is being their own boss, personalizing their workplace as if they choose how they want to run their business – says Sasorski, adding that the next simulator will be a truck driver simulator.

The willingness of users to spend their free time performing tasks they would otherwise avoid is indeed strange. However, gaming companies have identified the best part of work – creative achievement – and placed it in the context of reliable gameplay styles such as shooting, strategy, or just manipulating objects. The concept recognizes that working without deadlines or a boss can be very fun and even therapeutic.

In turbulent times, people seek comfort in simple things. When you are overwhelmed with terrible news every day, it is easier to become a virtual chef in a silly virtual world, conclude the creators of such games.

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