The Muri: Wildwoods demo blends cute critters and the same satisfaction of PowerWash Simulator to create what might be my favourite demo from Steam Next Fest

I absolutely adore the satisfaction of virtual cleaning. I love scrubbing grime and dirt from structures in PowerWash Simulator, and especially adored cleaning up the ocean in Loddlenaut. So naturally, it's no surprise that Muri: Wildwoods, an adventure game set on a mysterious island where you embark on your first solo mission as a cleaner, struck a chord with me. Now, having made my way through the demo, I am more excited to continue cleaning than ever—a phrase I never thought I'd say.

At the start of the demo, you're introduced to Pelle, a mouse-like creature called a Muri who's also conveniently armed with a water gun and an almost incessant need to clean. After spotting a bird flying overhead that seems to be covered in a black mass, Pelle decides to chase after it, ending up on an entirely new island which none of the team has seen before. As you can probably expect, the island is doused in the same black substance as the bird—the corruption. It becomes our job to make our way around the island and bring life back to the world by cleaning up the corruption. Nice and simple.

However, it's not just rocks, shells, and coral you have to clean. Along the way, you'll meet a number of the island's wildlife, too, like Shruppies (my personal favourite, and a combination of puppies and shrimp), which have fallen victim to the corruption. After a blast with your water gun, their colour returns and they run up to you, which is particularly adorable. And yes, before you ask, you can pet most of the creatures.

As you spray and clean up, returning the world to its former glory, new pathways reveal themselves. You're not really told where to go, but the world does a fantastic job at getting you warmed up in a fairly empty area and giving you a few patches of corrupted land to clean before moving you onto the next. Before long, I was trusted with deep cleaning an entire ship, and with my new water gun skills, quite happy to accept the task.

Unlike games like PowerWash Simulator though, you're given a visual representation of your progress by the world literally springing to life underneath your paws once you've cleared all of the corruption from an area. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the time lapse at the end of a powerwashing session to show all your hard work, but being subconsciously reminded of why you're cleaning in the first place makes it a lot easier to want to progress through Muri: Wildwoods.

While you work, Pelle's team, appropriately called Teamsqueak, chats away via messages in the bottom right corner. For the most part, this chatter doesn't offer much outside of introducing you to the team, but it certainly helps you feel less alone. Occasionally, you'll be given a helpful hint toward what the objective for the area is, such as tracking down all of the corruption-riddled Squawk Birds, but for the demo at least, you can take it or leave it. I imagine the further you get in the game, the more interaction Pelle will need to have with the team, though.

I found myself utterly absorbed in the world of Muri: Wildwoods, as I made my way around the island and cleaned up both creature and environment. Before long, I was gently reminded that I was only playing a slice rather than the full game, but I can already feel myself keen to play through the demo again. You get about an hour's worth of content, but when you become so engrossed in cleaning like me, enough is never enough.

Watching the coral and grass spring up beneath you as you track down the last pesky bit of corruption really feels rewarding, and the creatures you find are so adorable it's hard not to want to spend as much time as possible rescuing them. I very much look forward to seeing what's next for Pelle, Teamsqueak, and my beloved Shruppies, but with only a "coming soon" label on Steam, I dread to think how long it'll be before we're reunited.