Spilled! takes players to a captivating but polluted world that they need to clean up to watch it come back to life. It taps into the pleasure of frictionless ‘cleaning’ that a small but growing number of game are catering to, both with and without an explicit environmental subtext (like e.g. Powerwash Simulator). Spilled! is creating a wholesome atmosphere as players attempt to clean up water. The game’s creator has lived on a little boat, possibly giving the game an autobiographical aspect.
Within the game, players drive a small boat around different areas, cleaning up oil spills, rock sides, and garbage that has been dumped into the water. This is done through a bar at the front of the boat which can suck up oil into a storage tank on the back of the boat. Oil on the sides of the cliffs around the player need to be blasted down with water before they are sucked up by the boat, and garbage needs to be pushed to the recycling plants that are floating in each area. At these plants players also exchange oil so that they can empty out their storage container. Finally, there are animals stuck along the way that players can save and collect.
Coins are awarded for these actions which can be used to upgrade the boat, e.g. more storage for oil, a larger sucker at the front of your boat, or faster movement. Players need to clean up a large part of the area before they can move onto the next. The main appeal comes from seeing the world transform, most notably the water. Animals and plants are gradually shining through the surface and eventually, following seemingly ecosystemic interactions. The music adds to the calming atmosphere and there is no timer or urgency to accomplish anything quickly.