This science-fiction game crosses relaxing power-washing with dark contemplation — and I can't stop thinking about it

Even when you get used to your work, sometimes there are some shocking surprises. Maybe you didn't realize there was an explosive fruit in the fungus you're aggressively spraying off the walls. Maybe you turn off the anti-gravity controls while temporarily forgetting how far up you are.

That's just another day in the life of Dalia, a Scarab — think a quasi-space witch crossed with a power-washing expert — the protagonist of Soft Rain's debut game, Ambrosia Sky. Assigned to clean out derelict spaceships and abandoned stations near the planet Saturn in the far future of 2240, Dalia is also working for the Ambrosia Project, seeking to unlock the secrets of life and death for humanity's future.

I've recently been playing through Ambrosia Sky, and while I previously went hands-on with a demo at Summer Game Fest (as well as a more extended demo that added voice acting), I've been extremely impressed with the game's first of three planned acts.

In space, nobody can hear you clean

As a game, Ambrosia Sky plays as something of a cross between PowerWash Simulator and Prey (2017). Dalia is equipped with a sprayer that can cut through an extremely virulent fungus, and much of the gameplay revolves around learning how to do that carefully.

It's one thing to just spray and pray through a wall of twisted growth blocking my path, but as fun and relaxing as that is, if I want to carefully procure special fruits also grow out of the fungus, it requires a more delicate touch. I have to harvest those fruits with precision in order to unlock Dalia's more advanced kit, as well as avoiding being shocked or setting off a comical chain of explosions.

Methodical pruning means having access to more special sprays, with one basically functioning like a flamethrower, while another (my personal favorite) can be used to guide electric currents in order to give power to deactivated doors and other devices.

All of that in turn plays into the immersive sim-lite structure of the game. While the cleaning jobs are fairly straightforward at first, later missions introduce some fun variables, such as electrical puzzles that block off progression or spitting alien creatures that can pose a threat if they aren't disposed of.

Dalia can also use a grappling hook to latch on to various points or snag nearby items, which never gets old. Physics are taken into account here, and whenever gravity is turned off, it makes movement interesting in a manner reminiscent of Blackbird Interactive's Hardspace: Shipbreaker.

That's not too surprising, considering Blackbird provided support work to Soft Rains on this game, but it was a pleasant discovery all the same.

All of this gameplay is the guiding vehicle for the quiet, reflective tone of Ambrosia Sky, with the game's story focused on clean-up while sorting through the shards of lives from so many people who have died.

Emails about food, logs about technical problems, requests for co-parenting; Dalia is given a window into the past and isn't afraid to voice concern or even anguish at everything that has transpired.

Actress Bailey Wolfe does a phenomenal job giving life to those woes, and hearing Dalia voice these thoughts always pierced through the quiet at the right points. Any more, and it might've easily been overbearing or distracting from actually solving problems and cutting through fungus, but it strikes the right balance.

"Are you yearning toward a god you hope isn't indifferent?" one email reads. I'm still wondering.

Indeed, the only real criticism I can muster for Ambrosia Sky at this time is the fact that it is incomplete. While there are so many fascinating aforementioned questions raised, you shouldn't expect answers right now.

That's hardly a legitimate fault, considering the developers have been more than clear about what to expect, but it bears mentioning if you happen to be the type that would prefer to see a complete story through in one go.

Even then, there's still more than enough here to justify the asking price. It'll take a few hours to go through the available missions, though there's some flexibility depending on exactly how thorough you are when looking for collectibles.

At just $15, Ambrosia Sky is well worth grabbing, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what awaits with the second and third acts sometime next year.

Ambrosia Sky: $14.99 at Steam

Soft Rains' debut adventure is being split into three parts, and you can dive into the first act right now. Wash away aggressive fungus, harvest dangerous fruits, stalk through vents, all while pondering the meaning of life and death in Ambrosia Sky's first handful of missions.

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