Out of The Box Review

Out Of The Box is a adventure simulation game which closely resembles Papers Please developed by Lucas Pope and 3909. This time however were not checking papers, it’s all about IDs. In this game we play as Warren Baker, an ex convict who had just served his 3 year sentence in jail in need of a job, a way to pay child support and overall a way to take care of himself. With nowhere to go Warren works for one of the biggest gangsters in town as a bouncer for his club, The Box. There’s no way that taking this kind of job wouldn’t come with some sort of catch. From all the gangster schemes, undercover cops, annoying celebrities, runaway criminals, cults, underage teens and yes, even ghosts, it makes it harder for Warren to regain control of his life. Especially when your decisions tailor the way the game is played for the fate of Warren, The Box Itself and Various Clients. Spoiler alert, the biggest decision you will make is deciding whether you want to buy and play the game or not. Before we get deeper into this I’m gonna have to see some ID cause this game is rated M.

For a game all about checking people’s IDs, game-play is more diverse and detailed then I imagined it would be. A usual day at work would go something like this. Your boss would pass down your basic duties such as not letting in minors, so all you would need to do is to check people’s IDs. As each night passes during your first play-through, you can never expect the same thing to happen. Each day  is different making your job a lot harder to accomplish. Varying from special holiday deals, to letting in slightly underage clubbers; no night will be the same. The time limit in the game makes it stressful to get as many people into you club as you can. The only problem I have is when a special conversation happens the timer doesn’t stop and it keeps going, which makes the customers unhappy and want to start fights or leave. At the end of every 4 weeks  you have to spend money on your personal expenses. Those personal expenses being rent so you still have a roof over your head, child support so your able to see your daughter, the gym so you don’t appear weak to clients giving you trouble and meds, because if you don’t you will start hallucinating about your past and trust me its pretty messed up.

As a bouncer you have four options to choose from when interacting with clients. Letting people into the club, checking IDs, which you will constantly be using throughout the whole game, talking to the client which can break up fights between them, knocking them out if talking doesn’t work, and telling them to hit the road if the club’s rules are not met. As I mentioned before, Out Of The Box’s story can branch off depending on the decisions you make. Some of those choices resulting in somebody getting killed, cops being called or Warren getting fired which would result in a game over.

A great spoiler-free example would be you are given an option to either work with the cops to bring your boss down or you can keep your head low and keep on receiving your dirty money. These two decisions will completely alter your story. For a game with different endings however, I couldn’t see myself replaying the game again. Once you go through the game once, it loses its entertainment value going through the same assignments over again; especially when you have a good strategy planned out.

Out Of The Box is an underrated game in my opinion that I feel nobody knows much about. I highly recommend everyone should try the game out, especially Papers Please fans.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.