Rat Race
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About Rat Race
Rat Race is a puzzle-strategy game from Short Sight Studios that turns corporate culture into a chaotic grind. Released in 2025, it tasks you with managing a squad of office workers navigating absurdly designed workplaces while fending off a relentless CEO’s motivational speeches. The game blends resource management with spatial puzzles, as you maneuver employees around hazards like malfunctioning printers and endless meetings. Played on PC, Linux, and Mac, it’s a single-player satire that mocks modern work environments with dry humor. The goal? Keep productivity high despite nonsensical obstacles. A quick, sharp critique of office life wrapped in a strategy shell.
Gameplay
You control up to four employees at once, assigning tasks like fetching coffee or attending mandatory training while avoiding traps. Movement is grid-based, requiring careful planning to maximize efficiency. Each level introduces new corporate nonsense, floors rearranged overnight, vending machines that only accept expired snacks. The CEO interrupts regularly with messages that drain employee morale, forcing you to prioritize which workers need rest. Time management is key: let a task go too long and entire departments collapse into apathy. The challenge lies in balancing immediate needs with long-term productivity. Sessions last 15, 30 minutes, but levels often require multiple attempts due to tight margins for error.
What Players Think
Players rate Rat Race 8.9/10 on PlayPile, with 78% completing the 20-hour main story. The average playtime is 10.5 hours, though 42% of users report feeling “amped” during play, while 25% laugh aloud at the satire. Critics on Metacritic gave it 86/100, praising its “hilarious yet devious” level design. Community reviews highlight the “delightfully chaotic” pacing but note late-game repetition. Achievements include 47 total, with 64% average completion, many tied to absurd challenges like getting all employees fired. The game’s 33% “contemplative” mood rating suggests it leaves players thinking about workplace culture long after quitting.
PlayPile's Take
For $19.99, Rat Race is a sharp, bite-sized critique of corporate absurdism. Its strength lies in clever puzzles and dark humor, but the 20-hour runtime and limited replayability make it a niche pick. Puzzle-strategy fans who enjoy dry satire will appreciate the design, though the lack of co-op or multiplayer might deter others. With 64% achievement completion, it’s rewarding for completionists but not essential for casual players. A worthwhile purchase if the premise of micromanaging incompetence sounds like your idea of fun.
Game Modes
Single player
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