Doing virtual laundry with strangers in Roblox is thrilling and distressing

rockpapershotgun.com:

Today I visited a virtual launderette to do my virtual laundry in Roblox, lining up alongside online strangers who were also washing their virtuasmalls. After loading the machine, filling my powder, and carefully selecting then starting my cycle, I watched through the door for 12 minutes as my washing sloshed and spun. And then I watched another players's washing in disgust. Visiting this laundry simulation has made me realise I have strong opinions on how other people run their imaginary washes. You wouldn't believe the laundry crimes I've seen.

As lawless and predatory as Roblox is (see the People Make Games docu with former RPS man Quinns for more on that), it is an astonishing online space filled with such a wide range of strange and wonderful things. Not many games let you visit a virtual launderette to simulate laundry with other players but you can do that in Washware. You can play the current prototype version for free in Roblox now. I am delighted that it exists.

Washware starts you in your messy apartment (temporarily spread across the town square), surrounded by dirty laundry. Fill your pockets with clothes and soft furnishings, picking each garment up individually, and head to the launderette. Pick your machine (front and top loaders available), fill it with a load, select your detergent and optional softener (even as one of those millenials killing fabric softener, here I do chuck in a glug to admire the pastel goop), pick your cycle, then sit and watch it go through the full wash, spin, and rinse. Then you can put it in the dryer, and then you can put it in your wardrobe. Here's a trimmed-down video of the pleasing process of starting a wash:

I do wish it had more sounds, and louder. That real clatter,