The WhatsNext verdict
A hilarious, lavishly made Portal side story and one of gaming’s best hardware showcases. Play it on a Steam Deck if you want a brilliantly polished half-hour of Valve comedy, but expect a tech demo rather than a substantial adventure.
What it does best
Portal-style comedy that lands constantly
A wonderfully tactile showcase for Steam Deck controls
A tiny cast with enormous comedic personality
What might put you off
Extremely short and mechanically shallow
Much better suited to Steam Deck than PC
The setup
What you are walking into
Aperture Desk Job reimagines the been-there-done-that genre of walking simulators and puts them in the lightning-spanked, endorphin-gorged world of sitting still behind things. You play as an entry-level nobody on their first day at work — your heart full of hope and your legs full of dreams, eager to climb that corporate ladder. But life’s got other plans, and they all involve chairs. Designed as a free playable short for Valve’s new Steam Deck, Desk Job walks you through the handheld’s controls and features, while not being nearly as boring as that sounds. Lower your expectations: This is not a sequel to Portal. Now get ready to raise them slightly, because it is in the expanded universe of those games. Desk Job puts you squarely in the driver’s seat at Aperture Science. Then quickly removes the driving part and adds a desk in front of the seat.
Where it lives
Genre
Vibe
Up next
