Game: Cleaning Up!
Genre: Puzzle, Adventure, Simulation, Arcade
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows, macOS, SteamOS + Linux), and PlayStation)
Developer | Publisher: Unbound Creations
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 7+
Price: US $14.99 | UK £12.49 | EU € 13,99
Release Date: April 15th, 2026
Review code used, with many thanks to Kyle Hovanec, PR for Unbound Creations
If you’ve played Just Crow Things or Rain on Your Parade, many aspects of Cleaning Up! will seem familiar, as they are all developed by Unbound Creations. SooziQ gave her thoughts on the Steam demo last year, and now it’s my turn to grab a broom and get Cleaning Up!
What Should I Do?
Choosing a career path can be a difficult decision, but for our Cleaning Up! avatar, being a Cleaning Gig Worker is the plan. There’s no starting customisation for your character, although you will be able to buy different skins and hats as you progress through the game. After downloading the Clyner app, you are introduced to Spongy, who guides you through the tutorial and pops up whenever there is something new to learn. I appreciated the humour of Spongy, but it might not be to everyone’s taste.
You are then tasked with selecting your first job, and you launch into Cleaning Up!
So Many Places, So Much Trash!
Although there is an implication that you will have a choice of cleaning jobs, in reality, you progress through the map in a sequential fashion (although you can replay any unlocked level).
At various points, you will unlock a new tool and receive training on it. Soon, you will have unlocked all five tools and be an expert Cleaning Gig Worker. Once the twenty levels are complete, you’ll be able to revisit the earlier levels, which will now incorporate extra cleaning tasks.
Each level consists of the cleaning tasks you have the tools for. There is a progress bar at the top of the screen showing how much of the individual task you have completed. On some levels, you can unlock secrets to receive bonus money, and likewise, there might be challenges which, if you fail, will incur penalties (luckily the penalties part can be disabled). Although repetitive, there is a satisfaction in cleaning each area.
Most levels are little dioramas, but there are a couple of scenes, like the campsite. Once you have vacuumed up all the trash, swept away the grime, mopped up any dirty marks or toxic waste, power-washed the gunky furniture and given a quick spray of air freshener, you’ll be rewarded with a confetti shower and some dollars. The diorama will spin in celebration, but this can be altered in the settings menu. The money can be spent on upgrades to the tools, increasing their range and power.
Each level takes around 5 minutes to complete, although there are a couple of more puzzle-based levels which will take longer. So in total, replaying the earlier levels once all the tools are unlocked will take around 3 to 4 hours.
Dressing Up whilst Cleaning Up!
At the end of each level, you’ll unlock a hat and skin, which can be purchased and worn via the avatar menu. There are some great looks. I particularly liked the witch’s costume.
Gameplay
The cleaning controls are straightforward, and by default are shown on-screen (although this can be altered via the pause menu). Oddly, I struggled with ‘look’ as it was directional, rather than rotational, so generally I wasn’t looking in the direction I was cleaning, but it didn’t matter. Moving around the avatar, tools and settings menu is cumbersome, but luckily not needed too much.
You can alter the ‘move’ and ‘look’ sensitivity via the pause menu, and both the pause and settings menus contain volume and some accessibility options. I really appreciated the ability to make the ‘use’ button a toggle, rather than hold.
Cleaning Up! played well in both docked and handheld modes, with the text large enough to be clearly read on the Switch Lite screen. There is no touchscreen functionality, though. There were a couple of frame-rate drops, but only when I was sweeping through piles of trash, which I really should have vacuumed up first.
Progress is automatically saved when you complete a level.
Conclusion
Cleaning Up! is a great cleaning simulation, and I really enjoyed my time vacuuming and sweeping around the delightful and varied dioramas.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot 
Do you like our content?
Subscribe to our daily news and never miss a review!