Most of us have probably complained about a toxic workplace at some point. Box Knight takes the phrase considerably more literally.
Developed and published by We Made A Thing Studios, the action roguelike launches today on Steam, sending you into an office where the employees have been transformed into monsters and the CEO is waiting somewhere at the top. Your job is to fight through the building department by department, clean up the mess, and hopefully make it all the way upstairs without becoming another casualty of corporate culture.
Friday at 5 PM Is When Things Get Interesting
By day, you’re an ordinary office worker. Once 5 PM rolls around on Friday, things change rather dramatically. You become the Box Knight, protector of the office realm and apparently the only employee willing to deal with what’s happened to the place. That means fighting your way through former colleagues, helping workers in need, and gradually climbing the office tower toward an eventual showdown with the CEO.
Naturally, getting there isn’t going to happen in one straightforward trip upstairs. Box Knight uses randomized dungeon crawling to change things between runs, with temporary upgrades appearing as you progress. Performing well improves your chances of finding better upgrades, allowing you to experiment with different builds rather than approaching every attempt in exactly the same way.
Sometimes you’ll want to concentrate on dealing as much damage as possible. Other runs might be better suited to something faster and more agile. Either way, HR probably isn’t going to approve of your methods.
Your Co-Workers Have Become a Problem
The monsters filling the office aren’t simply random fantasy creatures either. They’re twisted versions of the sorts of people you might rather not find sitting at the desk next to you.
Different enemy types bring their own strengths and weaknesses, with combat designed around a rock-paper-scissors-style system that encourages you to change how you fight depending on what’s standing in front of you. There are plenty of ways to deal with them.
Combat combines different weapons, special attacks, and executions, with a fast-paced beat ’em up style that looks considerably more violent than your average disagreement around the office coffee machine. The colorful cartoon presentation keeps things deliberately silly, even when the floor is starting to look like somewhere the janitors are definitely going to need overtime to clean.
Speaking of the janitors, they’re actually rather important…
The Janitors Make Sure Death Isn’t Wasted
Dying sends you back to try again, but you won’t necessarily be returning as the same Box Knight who started the previous run.
The Council of the Janitors handles permanent progression, allowing you to improve key stats and attributes between attempts. Those upgrades gradually make future runs easier, giving you another way to deal with the Drone Goblins and everything else standing between you and upper management.
There’s character customization too, with different helmets, uniforms, and weapons available to unlock as you build your own version of the Box Knight.
The game can be tackled alone, but local shared-screen co-op and Steam Remote Play Together are also supported if you’d rather take on the office with some help.
Time to Have a Word With the CEO
There are plenty of roguelikes built around escaping dungeons and defeating ancient monsters, but turning a horrible day at work into an excuse for a fantasy beatdown gives Box Knight a very different kind of dungeon to clear.
The ultimate goal is waiting at the top of the office tower, where the CEO needs dealing with once and for all. Fail along the way and you’ll be back to try again.