| Quick Verdict: Monster Mop Up is a cleanup game that should have been a satisfying play, but the mechanics and ragdoll physics made it impossible to enjoy the process. You basically start on hard mode and are your own worst enemy in the early stages. |
| Game: | Monster Mop Up |
| Developer(s): | Terahard Ltd |
| Publisher: | Yogscast Games |
| Review Score: | 6 |
| Cozy Score: | 5 |
| Price: | $14.99 |
| Pros: | The ragamuffins are cute and there’s a co-op function to play with friends. |
| Cons: | The physics on nearly all the objects is frustrating, and the difficulty upfront keeps you from enjoying things early on. I actively made things worse just by walking through a room. |
| Platforms: | PC |
| Genres: | Simulation |
Monster Mop Up is a game where you’re tasked with cleaning up areas after they’ve been imploded upon by Ragamuffins. These creatures not only excrete juices that coat floors and walls, but they also leave behind little poop gifts that will explode into smaller chunks if you walk over them.
As you can imagine, walking into a room that Ragamuffins have made their den is tantamount to walking into a filthy hellscape. This game is comparable to other cleanup games like Viscera Cleanup Detail, but unlike those games, Monster Mop Up seems unfairly skewed toward chaos.
Not only do you have to contend with the destruction done by the Raggamuffins, but you have to deal with the mess you make along the way as well. Every movable object, which is basically all of them, is a victim of physics. You only need to brush by something, and it could be enough to have it tip over.
It’s pretty overwhelming to walk into a room and make things worse just by navigating the space. And, to make matters even more chaotic, the Raggamuffin needs to be caught. This means that you’re running around after a creature that is making even more filth, and you’re contributing to it by stepping over poop bombs.
I’ll be honest, I went into Monster Mop Up expecting it to be cozy because I’ve played other games like this and had a lot of fun with them. This is not a cozy game. It has the capability of becoming one with upgrades, but we’re talking about hours and hours of gameplay before you can really walk into a space and make a positive change rather than contributing to negative ones.
This game has multiplayer functions, and I can’t even promise that it will help in the early stages of gameplay. That’s just adding another person to mess things up worse.
Watch the trailer for Monster Mop Up!
I wish I were waxing poetic, but I’m serious when I say that you can and will create a bigger mess of the room in trying to navigate the space and catch the Raggamuffins. If chaos is the aim of your gameplay goals, then by all means, grab the game and all your gremlin friends and go to town.
However, if you’re looking for the satisfaction of improving a space, then skip Monster Mop Up. It’s not designed with the cozy gamer in mind. It literally starts you out on hard mode, and you have to slowly upgrade your way to some semblance of positive function.
Additionally, there are a few sizes of maps, and as far as I can see, there are only a few smaller “easy” maps. Going up to a medium map damn near quadruples the space. The scale of difficulty is kind of busted, in my opinion.
I was cruising through a medium sized map, and there were several rooms and stairs. I got so overwhelmed that I gave up trying to make it work.
Monster Mop Up is an overstimulating nightmare.
Things start to get marginally better once you open up the vacuum, but the fact that the vacuum will suck up all items, not just the trash, means that even after you’ve finished cleaning a room, it still looks like a disaster area.
Unfortunately, it’s just a wholly unsatisfying design that, I believe, will only appeal to those who are in it for the multiplayer aspect.
I wish I’d had a better time with Monster Mop Up. It was on my radar long before it released, and I had such high hopes for it. It reminded me so strongly of Viscera Cleanup Detail, but had the addition of cute animals.
All I can say is that I spent more time picking up my water bucket than anything else. It’s one of the unfortunate victims of ragdoll physics and would tip at the slightest brush.
I didn’t particularly feel as if the controls were very fluid either.
Sadly, this is one that I just can’t recommend, and it doesn’t appear as if I’m alone if you judge the mixed reviews on Steam. Do yourself and your wallet a favor by skipping out on this one.
If you’d like to brave the dumpster fire of Monster Mop Up, you can grab it for $14.99. Otherwise, treat yourself to something else and check out some of our other reviews, like Henry Halfhead or Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game.
