Spreadcheat Review
Spreadcheat is the ultimate Windows 3.1 spreadsheet puzzle game and corporate simulator.
Spreadcheat. Games People Play / Rubarb
It’s just another day cooking the books for BroCorp in Spreadcheat, a 90s nostalgia-tinged puzzle game from Games People Play and Rubarb. You’re a new hire and it’s your job to help your inept corporate bro boss cover up his insane malfeasance by pushing numbers around spreadsheets to make the totals look right. Polish up those Excel skills and your algebra brain to survive Corporate America.
Spreadcheat. Games People Play / Rubarb
The puzzles in Spreadcheat are all essentially math puzzles, which you solve by placing numbers or formulas into a small spreadsheet while keeping track of the relationship between the cells so that you hit your target sum in the total. I found the difficulty curve to be uneven over the short length of the story campaign, though none of the puzzles were too difficult for me to solve. There are also hard an impossible modes with post-campaign challenges that I have yet to tackle, as well as daily challenges that currently seem to be bugged.
I enjoyed the puzzles, but my favorite part of the game is its presentation. Everything takes place in a 256 color Windows 3.1 desktop, where you access your spreadsheets and emails, accompanied by an irritating Clippy-like assistant, vaporwave mid-90s gifs, and dolphins. It’s gloriously ugly in a way only that era of Windows could be. Cutscenes feature a crude, boxy 3D model of your suit-wearing boss that’s hilarious and almost too perfect for the game’s vibe. I love it.
Spreadcheat. Games People Play / Rubarb
As a bonus, in between the campaign’s puzzles, you get to play inconsequential but funny minigames. You do things like close your boss’s malware popups, redesign the company logo in MS Paint, and create a stunning PowerPoint presentation that your boss can take credit for. There’s more that I won’t spoil.
Spreadcheat. Games People Play / Rubarb
Spreadcheat is a small but worthwhile puzzle game. It flawlessly blends spreadsheet math puzzles, which I haven’t seen in a game before, with a hilarious and timely satire of corporate nonsense. I’d love to see an expanded campaign, simply because I want more. I need to see these devs do more with that boxy, businesness-suited asshole they’ve created.
Spreadcheat is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 7/10
Played on: PC
