Goblin Cleanup is a co-op cleaning game where players become professional goblin cleaners tasked to restore pilfered dungeons. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Goblin Cleanup
Goblin Cleanup Story Plot
As professional cleaners, players are hired by dungeon masters to restore their dungeons to its original state—no blood, no remains, with traps all reset so it’s ready for the next adventurer team to complete. Either powering through solo or with the help of three other companions, the dungeon isn’t going to clean itself, after all. It needs a special cleanup—a Goblin Cleanup!
Goblin Cleanup Gameplay
Goblin Cleanup’s gameplay revolves around restoring completed dungeons to its original form, using a variety of cleaning tools to get the job done. Players are equipped with a Slimop, a Levitation Spell, a friendly Mana-filled creature in a crystal ball called a Managon, and a Mimic treasure chest to put things back the way they were while cleaning up blood spills and getting rid of organic remains.
The game can be played either in singleplayer or in multiplayer co-op with up to three other players. Clearing levels will earn players Tickets, which can then be used in the in-game store to purchase cosmetics to make their own goblin cleaner stand out.
Goblin Cleanup Release Date
Released on September 18th, Goblin Cleanup is now available to be purchased in Early Access on Steam for $19.99. Early Access is projected to last for 24 months as the developer team Crisalu Games continues with polishing and further development.
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| $19.99 |
Goblin Cleanup Review [Early Access]
Wicked Fun Cleaning
A new-ish form of cozy gaming has taken over, tackling subjects that most people find considerably mundane and relatable—chores. It began with Unpacking back in 2021, a warm and fuzzy puzzle game where the player follows the life of the protagonist throughout the years and through different homes in different stages of their life journey. From there, it just…spiraled.
Followed by organizing game A Little to the Left, then full-scale renovating and washing through House Flipper, then cleaning up dirt and grime from houses in Powerwash Simulator, and my most recent favorite, scrubbing crime scenes until they’re spick and span with Crime Scene Cleaner. There’s something oddly comforting and refreshing about how ordinary they are (maybe except Crime Scene Cleaner, but I digress), which is why this genre just keeps continuing to grow. And boy, do I love those games. I’ve played everything I’ve listed at least once…twice. Okay, maybe thrice.
Hence, a game like Goblin Cleanup was a perfect fit for an enthusiast of the mundane and chill, cozy games. Although, I was quickly humbled by it not being as "chill" as I thought it would be.
Professional Cleaner to the Rescue
First things first. The basic premise of the game is all well and clear in its title—Goblin Cleanup. However, you’re not cleaning up after grimy goblins, but rather cleaning up dirty dungeons and castles as an adorably-dressed maid goblin. As a professional cleaner hired by the dungeon masters, you are tasked with cleaning and rearranging a cleared dungeon for the next troupe of brave adventurers. That means mopping up blood splatters, putting objects back in their rightful place, getting rid of organic remains from the poor chaps who perished too early, and even resetting traps and treasure chests.
Armed with your trusty Slimop, Mimic treasure chest, and little mana-filled creature friend in a crystal ball called a Managon, you will turn all that chaos and blood into a challenging dungeon, ready for the taking.
However, compared to other cleaner games like Powerwash Simulator, Crime Scene Cleaner, and Viscera Cleanup Detail (which is what the game is most like in scope), you can’t just walk up and clean everything spotlessly all willy-nilly. Remember that this is a dungeon, and a dungeon is full of traps and hostile creatures—they don’t differentiate friend from foe. Traps are often triggered by hidden buttons on the floor, which camouflage really well with the stone, and there’s the Mimic (that is actually yours, you can even personally name the cutely terrifying thing) that greedily eats the organic meat from you—provided that you feed it, of course. Be careful not to be its next meal though.
Cleaning is Fun, Better with Friends
Its gameplay loop is fun in its own right if you like simple games with not much complexity. With your tasks listed on the left side of the screen, you accomplish them one by one by cleaning, rearranging, restoring mana, and trying not to get killed by the traps and hostile enemies. It’s far from calming with threats lingering around you, but its simplicity and cyclical routine make it enjoyable. Clean, replace, reset, refill…it’s so mundane, but so fun at the same time. Play some music in the background if you want to, and let loose, cleaning and mopping and all that. You can also freely play either in first-person mode or in third-person, which is an added plus especially for those who may have a hard time with first-person perspectives.
And you’re not only cleaning—there is a bit of a puzzle mechanic to things in the form of mostly guides drawn amateurly with crude (but wholly cute) illustrations. There’s this evil tree trying to kill you in the middle of a garden you’d need to clean? Hmm, there’s a hint somewhere else telling you just how to make your life with it a little easier. Annoying laser eye grilling you with every movement? What if there’s a way to make it stop? Decent riddles like that also come with the whole Goblin Cleanup experience too.
The enjoyability gets turned up when you play with others, allowing for a bit of mischief behind the scenes. Fail to tell your friend that there’s a trap right there? Watch the sparks fly as they (quite literally) get turned into meat.
With that said, Goblin Cleanup is obviously made for the co-op experience, and it's tailored that way. Single-player experience is entirely doable, but things get more complicated and tedious when playing solo. For instance, putting furniture back in their designated area is pretty frustrating when you’re alone—sometimes, the piece of furniture is in a completely different room from where it’s supposed to be, which requires a whole lot of backtracking. With other players, you can easily throw objects (thanks to the levitating spell) back and forth without issue, but alone…well, you have to drag those darn things around. Teamwork makes the dream work, I suppose.
Visually Dark, but No Horror Here
Visually, the game’s pretty easy on the eyes. It’s dark, gory (thanks to all the bloodsplatters), but all rendered in a way that’s more cartoonish than horrifying. Aside from the baddies like that evil-looking tree and some other creatures, everything else actually looks…pretty cute. Your adorable but feisty Managon grins in anticipation as it waits for you to use them, the Slime on your Slimop expresses joy at being chosen as your Slimop’s head, and there’s even that mana-devouring black cat that follows you into every level, who doesn’t bother to hide their presence by meowing every few seconds while it's out and about.
There’s nothing inherently scary about the game, and I appreciate it for that because I am an absolute coward. Don’t let the eerie looking areas fool you—no jumpscares, no frightening ghouls.
A Huge Map—Way Too Big Sometimes
One thing’s for sure, the map is large…very large. It’s both a blessing and a curse—a blessing that there’s a whole lot more to clean (you’re playing this game to clean, so the more content to complete, the better, right?) but cursed in a way that there’s so much…walking or running. So much so that there’s a need to trek from room to room way too often.
In correlation to the point above—it’s a minor thing, but some Slime Dispensers are way too far. Using a Slimop makes use of Slimes deposited from a slime dispenser, which are then impaled on your Slimop staff and their cute little heads are used to soak up dirt and blood off the floors. They get filled up pretty quickly, and must be discarded to a Mimic before getting a new one. However, while they are placed in a pretty centralized spot like an intersection room, sometimes it gets taxing to go back and forth.
An extra pocket to store a new Slime would help a lot. It’s like how you drag the mop bucket around in games like Crime Scene Cleaner—having to replace the Slime in a dispenser so far away every few cleanups ruins the relaxing cycle of mopping.
Where are the Male Goblins?
Maybe that’s just me, but I want to see male goblins all decked out in butler wear too. As it stands, players can only play as goblin maids in-game, yet the intro video clearly shows a fully-rendered and rather dashing-looking male cleaner as well, which probably means that it was (or is) supposed to be part of the game.
All the post-launch marketing has been for the adorable goblin maids, but I’m still hoping they’ll be part of the game in a future update, somewhere or somehow.
Early Access, Early Bugs
It’s in Early Access, so it should be expected, but be forewarned for possible random FPS drops that can disorient you for a bit. It’s not incredibly groundbreaking, but it has happened often for me despite having a pretty decent gaming rig. It has cost me a few runs of accidentally running into traps, so be careful when you’re trying to speed through areas.
Items also seem to disappear randomly—luckily, I’ve never lost an important item part of the tasks, but I’ve lost an entire four-piece blob of Slimes to the floor once. I’ve seen other players report that they’ve lost much more as well too.
Outside of bugs, but because it’s in Early Access, there are also only a total of nine completed levels at the moment, but more locations will open up over the next 24 months of development.
Cleaning Is Best Done Virtually
For $20 at Early Access, Goblin Cleanup at its current state is a decent co-op cleaning game with an extra edge, namely in the form of dungeons and creatures that are out for your blood (which takes out the "cozy" tag usually associated with these types of games).
The gameplay loop is solid, engaging (in a routine, cyclical way) and the mechanics are not at all complex to understand, allowing for more accessibility among the general public. Maybe you can even rope in some non-gamer friends to clean up a dungeon with you for the weekend!
It’s definitely more fun with more people, but it is also a fun experience doing it solo. Either way, you’ll find yourself pouring more than just a few hours into this game, all for the sake of getting these dirty dungeons spick and span.
Game8 Reviews
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Goblin Cleanup Product Information
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| Title | Goblin Cleanup |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 18, 2025 |
| Developer | Crisalu Games |
| Publisher | Team17 |
| Supported Platforms | Steam |
| Genre | Adventure, Casual, Indie, Simulation, Early Access |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Goblin Cleanup Official Website |
