Ambrosia Sky, the debut title from indie studio Soft Rains, isn’t just a neat mash-up — it’s a thoughtful, emotional journey wrapped in a first-person cleanup sim. At first glance, comparing it to Metroid Prime and PowerWash Simulator is accurate yet incomplete. This sci‑fi narrative-cleanup hybrid digs much deeper: it explores grief, memory, and restoration in ways few games dare. After playing the demo at Summer Game Fest, it’s clear this game is one to watch. Here’s why:
🌌 1. A Sci‑Fi “Clean‑Em‑Up” with Real Heart
Unlike typical shooters, your “blaster” in Ambrosia Sky sprays water to cleanse fungal overgrowth corroding a once-thriving colony. The fungal alien life resists traditional weapons, but it has a weakness — clean water. This disconnect transforms typical combat into methodical environmental restoration
But this isn’t just satisfying cleaning gimmickry. The game layers in memorial rituals: uncover the bodies of lost friends, perform rites, and reconstruct their stories—including emotional audio logs and environmental clues that hit deep What begins as a tidy job becomes an intimate act of grieving and remembrance.
🧠 2. Metroid Prime DNA, Intensified
Soft Rains features developers from Skyrim, Fallout, and Valorant—and their inspiration shows. Ambrosia Sky shares Prime’s environmental storytelling: scan logs, architectural decay, scattered documents, and environmental puzzles emerge organically through cleanup-focused exploration
There’s even zero‑gravity traversal, reminiscent of Prime’s spaceship hallways—floating through fungal chambers feels cinematic, freeing, and immersive
🧪 3. Fluid Tool Evolution = Engaging Progression
During the demo, I started with a basic water sprayer. But as the fungus hardened or mutated, I unlocked thermal, electrical, and chemical settings — each tailored to break down different fungal types. Upgrading into a multi-tool mirrored Metroid-style progression, but instead of damaging enemies, you’re purifying environments .
Cleaner-like tools, retasked for sci‑fi utility, drive both gameplay satisfaction and narrative tension — every new tool unlock feels earned and meaningful.
🌀 4. A Fictional Rooted in Contemporary Vision
Soft Rains aimed for “contemporaneous sci‑fi”, not nostalgia. Its fungal plague feels like a villain born of climate change anxieties—biological threats unchecked. The setting and emotional stakes merge, transforming cleaning into healing for both locale and memory
Developers intentionally avoided cyberpunk trappings, instead focusing on human connection—vacant rooms now home to personal mementos, all unlocked through narrative exploration
🔊 5. Sound Design That Single‑Note Instruments Big Impact
Composer Greg Harrison crafted a synth-forward yet culturally grounded soundtrack. Instrumentation features the humble jaw harp — found in many cultures — lending organic warmth to futuristic alien environments
Ambient audio, water spray feedback, and soft, mournful tones made cleaning fungal walls feel personally transformative — part meditation, part therapy.
🔍 6. Demo LSD: Hands‑On Highlights
At SFG, the Steam demo revealed:
- Freedom in action: I sprayed fungal shells, discovered secrets in hidden corridors, and the engine handled it all smoothly
- Organic enemy behavior: small “crawler” fungus ever‑spreading, lighting up and zapping at me — simple enemies, but tense combat loops
- Ritual sequences: I found a body, read its log, and performed a ritual. The flashing HUD vanished, music swelled — I felt a moment of narrative gravity .
- No motion sickness: Zero‑G was supported, but never disorienting, suggesting UI polish and design care .
GamingTrend’s preview awarded it a Best of SFG nod, praising its combination of vivid sci‑fi, environmental cleanup, and immersive story .
🎯 7. Where It Outperforms Metroid Nostalgia
While Metroid Prime remains a gold standard (echoed by Reddit fans praising it for its immersive design and environmental storytelling), Ambrosia Sky diverges by replacing combat with catharsis. Instead of fighting to conquer, you work to restore. Instead of secrets buried in hostile mimicry, you find gentle echoes of human joy and tragedy.
It’s not nostalgia. It’s reimagining the Prime formula through a reflective, emotional lens.
🌱 8. Why It Matters in 2025
This fusion is part of a larger trend: immersive sims embracing gentle impact — from PowerWash to Hardspace: Shipbreaker. But Ambrosia Sky elevates that by integrating grief and care. It’s a meditative sim with soul, a rare genre‑bender that rewards softness as much as skill.
For players craving story-led gameplay with active routines, it’s an elegant union.
🕰️ 9. Unknowns & What to Watch
Key open questions:
- Scope: Will it support non-linear exploration, or follow scripted zones?
- Narrative balance: Can it sustain its emotional mood, or will it become repetitive?
- Abilities beyond tools: Will there be traversal upgrades, puzzles, or branching story paths?
Soft Rains promises more development time—no firm release date—and a robust PC build with accessibility and performance standing out
🗓️ 10. Final Verdict
Ambrosia Sky is much more than a Metroid homage or PowerWash clone. It’s a carework of art layered with grief, memory, and personal restoration. The demo proves it’s mechanically solid and thematically ambitious—an immersive sim that lingers after you power it down.
I’ve already added it to my wishlist. If you missed the chance at SFG, try the Steam demo. If you’re seeking a first-person healing journey — one that cleans and consoles — Ambrosia Sky is more than a game. It’s a quiet revolution.
✅ TL;DR
- Gameplay: Spray-clean fungal growth with evolving tools (water, fire, electricity).
- Story: Uncover personal and communal loss through environmental narrative and ritual rites.
- Style: Metroid‑inspired exploration meets job‑sim cleaning meets sci‑fi grief journey.
- Sound: Synth score anchored by culturally universal jaw-harp.
- Recommendation: Try the demo—if you value clean mechanics with emotional resonance, you’ll be hooked.
With every spray, Ambrosia Sky reminds us that sometimes, healing and understanding come in the smallest, most deliberate acts.