Box Knight
Review
Defeating the office monsters
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Annoying co-workers
The true star of the show is the game's imaginative roster of adversaries, all of which are brilliant abstractions of stereotypical annoying co-workers manifested as literal monsters. The developers clearly had a blast translating everyday corporate archetypes into fantasy tropes, resulting in foes that are both genuinely threatening and often hilarious. You will cross swords with the Chainsmoker, a volatile and fiery character who leaves a trail of hazard in their wake, alongside the Ice Drone, a chilly menace who literally spreads a bitter cold throughout the workplace. Perhaps most relatable of all is the Lightning Drone, an absolute pest of an enemy who represents that one person in every office who keeps "borrowing" your phone charger. These creatures display a healthy variety of combat behaviours, with some functioning as aggressive ranged attackers, others preferring brutal close-quarters combat, and a few packing explosive splash damage. Furthermore, support units wander the halls to heal their allies or send other office workers into a dangerous frenzy, forcing you to constantly assess the battlefield on the fly.
As you would rightfully expect from a game of this genre, the early rooms of the office serve as an easy introductory phase where enemies are easily dispatched to let you get a feel for the mechanics. However, as you move deeper through the different functional departments and multi-story locations, new and tougher enemy types are introduced. The real challenge - and the game's tactical heart - begins when these foes start combining their strengths in the reasonably tight areas. You are constantly forced to make split-second strategic choices regarding target prioritization. Do you rush down the massive brute of an enemy that continuously spawns pesky minions, or do you shift your focus to the seemingly weak support opponent hiding in the back who is busy healing the rest of the office workforce? These tactical dilemmas keep every single room feeling fresh, preventing the combat from ever devolving into a mindless button-masher.
Swinging you cardboard sword
When you do engage directly in scuffles, the combat system proves to be responsive and punchy. Players have access to standard sword-swinging combos for crowd control, a devastating ground pound to clear personal space when you find yourself surrounded by too many spreadsheet-pushing ghouls, and a flashy special execute attack that unleashes absolute devastation once your meter fills up during a brawl. The boss battles play out in a rather standard fashion. Defeating these departmental managers usually requires you to carefully memorize and avoid their telegraphed attacks before diving in for a brief window to strike, repeating the loop until their health bar is finally whittled down to zero. Of course, as you progress to higher floors, these bosses become significantly tougher, making it virtually impossible to triumph without thoroughly leveling up your character’s core abilities and upgrading your arsenal of firepower.
To aid in your corporate cleansing, each run rewards you with temporary perks as you successfully clear out sections of the building. Interestingly, the game ties your reward selection directly to your performance within each area. If you blaze through a room quickly, aggressively, and without taking too much damage, you will be rewarded with a generous choice of three distinct perks to augment your build. Conversely, if you play overly cautiously and just sneak through the environment, you are penalized with only a single option, actively incentivizing high-risk, high-reward playstyles. Between runs, the persistent progression loop keeps you coming back for just one more attempt. You start out equipped with little more than a flimsy cardboard helmet and a sword fashioned from a paper tube, but as you score gold throughout your runs, you can purchase a wide variety of upgraded helmets, protective equipment, and alternative weapons. Permanent skills can also be unlocked over time, ensuring that every failed corporate review still yields tangible progress toward ultimate workplace dominance.
Working 9 to 5
Aesthetically, Box Knight leans heavily into a vibrant cartoon art style that gives the entire package a tremendous amount of personality. The visual presentation is so clean, expressive, and brimming with kinetic energy that you could easily imagine the entire experience being adapted into a hit Saturday morning Nickelodeon cartoon, with the Box Knight starring as our lovable, square-headed hero for each weekly episode. The bright colors and exaggerated animations do a fantastic job of softening the bureaucratic nightmare of the setting, turning what could have been a dreary grind into an absolute joy to look at. Box Knight succeeds in taking the universally despised elements of 9-to-5 employment and transforming them into a genuinely fun, engaging roguelite adventure that deserves a spot on any action fan's hard drive.
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8.0
fun score
Pros
Simple controls, fun roguelike gameplay
Cons
Grinding to build up skills
