While there are quite a few subgenres that can be divisive, I’m not sure there’s one that can see such extremes on both ends as workplace simulators. On the one side you have people who absolutely wouldn’t want to spend their time playing at pretty menial task-based work without getting paid for it, but on the other there are people who just want to dial themselves in, chill, and get some sense of simple accomplishment without any real stress. There have been a number of pretty successful titles on the Switch that have scratched this itch, and now you can add Spray Paint Simulator to that list, though perhaps a little lower on it overall.

If you’ve played the popular PowerWash Simulator you’ll have a very good idea of precisely what to expect out of the gameplay… except this will be in reverse. Rather than cleaning complex surfaces and objects to get them sparkling clean, here you’ll be covering them with a good coating of paint. Each job pretty well works out the same way, regardless of the specific item you’re spraying or its scale. You’ll need to buy some supplies, set yourself up for success by prepping the object and the area with some paint and tape for surfaces you don’t want any paint on, and then simply go to town, painting away. There’s absolutely some technique to this, knowing how best to mix together your physical movement, the movement of your arm, and the right nozzle to get the most coverage as quickly and efficiently as possible, and that does take a bit of skill. Especially when working on some of the more outlandish projects, there can absolutely be a sense of satisfaction when you’re able to complete them.

The main issue is really whether or not this will be able to occupy your interest over the long run. Yes, it can absolutely be relaxing for a while, but the further you go some of these projects will continue to get more involved and time-consuming… so you’ll really need to be in it for the grind, because it is coming. I do think that the controls are a bit too sensitive overall, making it hard to move with more nuance and subtlety, but you will get dialed in to what you need to do. It would have just been easier if the analog controls were implemented more effectively. Absolutely a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, much like how opinions will vary wildly on what colors are best in a given space, not everyone will agree on the quality of a title like this.