I’ve always had a soft spot for a good puzzle game. So, when the opportunity came to get my hands on Hazard Pay, I was more than happy to take on the challenge. Hazard Pay is a solo-developed project from Smitner Studio, published by Numbskull Games. It released on the 10th September for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Steam. It costs £11.99, with a 20% launch discount. In this pixel-art puzzler, you play as an IPT clean-up worker. You must mop up secret biohazard incidents under orders from a mysterious voice on the radio. So, does Hazard Pay wipe the floor with the competition? Or should you leave this one in the hazardous materials bin?
A Mop-topian Adventure
Set in an alternative 1982, Hazard Pay gives us a simple premise. Clean up the mess, erase the evidence and leave nothing behind. You work through abandoned, contaminated and disused facilities. Your truck carries everything you need to solve problems in a a mop and a bucket. You start each level with an itinerary of what needs to be done and cannot leave until every trace of the incident disappears and all your supplies are back on the truck before you can leave.
Gameplay
Hazard Pay takes the familiar grid-based mechanics of Sokoban and gives them a much grimier twist. Across more than 70 levels, the game introduces new hazards and environmental interactions. These constantly force you to think a few moves ahead. Dead bodies, vats of acid and bloodstains litter each area. You can walk through blood, but doing so leaves bloody footprints behind. Chemical barrels need a separate lid before you can safely push them. Otherwise, you risk becoming part of the clean-up yourself. Electricity plays a key role as it interacts with the blood which acts as a conductive fluid which you can use to open doors.
Later levels introduce scientists that you can rescue for an extra challenge. You must carefully guide the duct tape towards them to keep them silent and save them. Of course, you can always push them straight into the vat after and pretend they were never there. Even more dangerous experiments appear later which add another layer to the game’s mechanics.
The levels are consistently well designed. The ability to reset the level and rewind individual moves quickly became essential and makes experimenting much easier. Even something harmless, like pushing a chair aside, can ruin your entire plan. One wrong move can leave you completely trapped. The challenge varied where some later levels were easier than earlier ones.
Graphics & Audio
The pixel-art presentation of Hazard Pay gives off a suitably dystopian atmosphere. Each location is waiting to be scrubbed clean while it feels like the room is being viewed through a CCTV camera with the added scanlines and static. There’s also a definite Eastern European flavour throughout the presentation which adds to the unsettling atmosphere.
One little detail I particularly enjoyed appears whenever you die. Each death brings up a screen with a quip about your agent’s demise. It also reminds you that you’re essentially just a number. Every death adds another number to the tally. It’s a neat little touch that fits the game’s bleak sense of humour perfectly.
According to a composer interview, the soundtrack is a “mix of Abe’s Odyssey and a spy movie” and I could definitely feel that influence. There’s also what I can only describe as a Soviet lo-fi vibe. It mixes nicely with the whirring sounds of 80s technology. The creepy tension from the repeating background loops never overwhelms the gameplay but complements it really well. Even the smaller audio effects have a satisfying impact such as the crackle of electricity and sizzle of acid both help sell the danger around you.
Longevity
Hazard Pay features online leaderboards. Every step you take gets recorded and at the end of the level turned into a timelapse of your movements . If you’re unhappy with your run, you can always try again. The goal is to complete the level in as few steps and climb the leaderboard. There are both global and friend leaderboards. Don’t expect any 100% speedruns from this reviewer, though. I like to take my time with puzzles. Besides, those extra steps help my nameless little drone hit his daily step goal. So really, it’s a win-win!
Verdict
Hazard Pay comes from a one-person studio based near Germany’s Black Forest. The developer Arran describes the location as “a good balance, a technical life anchored by a forest a few minutes away.” That description feels surprisingly fitting for the game itself. There’s a lot happening beneath the surface. Everything comes together in a way that is well thought out rather than chucking at a wall and seeing what sticks. I really enjoyed my time as an agent of IPT in Hazard Pay. It fully deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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