Have you ever just wanted to dig a hole? Well, One Man’s Trash has you doing just that.

Based in Vienna, Austria, developer and publisher Jony Pazu Games has released a satirical hole-digging simulation game that has you searching for a lost hard drive containing millions of dollars' worth of Crypto. I'm not entirely sure if I'd call it cozy, but it's definitely relaxing.

Let's Dig a Hole

Our story unfolds through a number of newspaper headlines revealing a hard drive has gone missing. Believed to have been thrown in the trash, people are scrambling to purchase junk yards in the hope of finding a payday.

Insert our faceless, nameless, voiceless protagonist, whom we will call Fraser. Now, Fraser has spent every penny he has on a hole filled with junk. He doesn't even have enough money for a spade to start digging.

Luckily, the previous owner left an old vacuum cleaner, which will do, right?

Step One. Dig.

The second I started exploring my new junkyard, I was hooked. The loop of One Man’s Trash is a simple one. Dig, Empty, Sell, Repeat.

As I was digging, I was pulling out cones, old car wheels, and bags of rubbish. These can be sold on Junkbay for a few dollars. Plus, because you are using a vacuum cleaner, you can sell the dirt you collect by the kilo.

The cash you make from selling junk can be used to upgrade your vacuum cleaner bag capacity and the strength of the motor. A bigger backpack so you can collect more treasures, as well as lights (because it can get dark in that hole), and lengths of rope to help you climb out of the hole.

As you dig down, the dirt will get stronger, forcing you to upgrade the strength of your vacuum. These improvements start relatively cheaply but jump up in price significantly after the second major upgrade. Going from 2 thousand to 20 thousand.

With no real plan, I just started digging. I kept stumbling upon treasures and other pieces of junk until I came across a buried car and a lamp that looked like it might have had a genie in it at some point. It was then I realized I needed to be more thorough with my digging. What else had I missed?

It was then that the real feel of One Man’s Trash started to kick in. Not unlike Power Wash or Lawn Mowing Simulator, One Man’s Trash has a really satisfying feeling as you clear away the dirt and uncover all sorts of Pop Culture Treasures. I wouldn't call One Man’s Trash a Simulation game, but it has that mundane task feeling to it that I just get lost in.

After a few hours, things started to get interesting. As you dig deeper and deeper, you come across train cars and tunnels that lead off who knows where. There are dozens of collectables to find that unlock different color vacuum cleaners, from your basic blues and reds to emerald and gold.

Step 2. I can’t remember what step 2 is…

Step 3. Profit

It was roughly halfway through my 9ish-hour mammoth hole-digging effort, the cracks in One Man’s Trash started to show. I was finding so much treasure and junk to sell, but I had already upgraded everything and had nothing to spend my earnings on, so I found myself not picking things up, so I didn't have to make the climb to the top to sell my trash and unload my vacuum.

Speaking of that trip out of the hole, the deeper you go, the further you have to travel to unload. Sure, the vacuum has a reverse function so you can empty your bag, but at this point, you are just moving dirt around. Also, the journey to the top started to take quite a while. I feel a little elevator, or scaffold, or even a pulley, so you could quickly leave the hole, would have been great.

At one point, the area that you are digging drastically opens, and I fell. Not far enough to kill me, but far enough for me not to be able to reach the rope to get out. So, I had to build myself a makeshift ramp by filling and emptying my vacuum. Later, I found out you can kill yourself by continuing to use a full vacuum as it will overheat and you will die. This will spawn you right back at the top of your hole. I wish I knew that before I spent 30 minutes trying to dig myself out.

Verdict.

I found myself getting sucked in for hours at a time playing One Man’s Trash, the few little niggly things like having to leave my hole to unload my vacuum, and having too much money didn't take away from the relaxing time I had uncovering the wonders of the hole. I'd recommend One Man’s Trash to anyone who loves to dig holes. Or just needs something super chill to unwind after a busy day digging holes.

Gamer Social Club was supplied a copy of One Man’s Trash for this review.

One Man’s Trash is now available and has been reviewed on PC via Steam.

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