Do you enjoy the fast-paced energy of working with spreadsheets? Feel like you could help trim the fat off of some of those pesky accounting files? Well, do I have a game for you… Except, it’s more fun than you might think and far less taxing on those of us with issues in the mathematical department.
SpreadCheat is a fun retro-style (think Windows 3.11) puzzle game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. You work as an accountant for a seriously dodgy company, and you have to cook the books in order to keep your boss happy. Now for those of you who might be put off by the maths, don’t be; it’s more fun than you might expect. Ok, on to the good, the bad and the ugly.
Reviewed on PC | Review code provided by PR/publisher. This review is the personal opinion of the writer. Got unanswered questions about this game? Get in touch on X!
| Developer | Games People Play, Rubarb |
| Publisher | Games People Play |
Things I liked!
- Graphics | Ok, so they might not be the best graphics of modern times, but for a game meant to be set in the early nineties, it looks pretty authentic. The graininess of the graphics, the simplified layout, the overly bright backgrounds and the drab grey of the windows all add to the aesthetic of the game.
- Humour | There is a lot of dark humour in this game that might go over a lot of folks’ heads, but if you grew up in the eighties and know about the whole yuppie culture side of the business world, you will get a good laugh out of this. Even if you don’t get it, though, there are still plenty of wee jokes and unique scenarios that will make you chuckle.
- Puzzles | The puzzles in SpreadCheat might seem a little daunting at first… Is what I would have said normally if this was a typical maths-based puzzle game. SpreadCheat doesn’t punish you for wrong answers; you just drag and drop and hope for the best if you don’t understand the equations, and if you do… well, you still get to drag and drop and hope for the best. It’s the kind of game where you keep thinking, “Just one more puzzle.”
Mixed & disliked!
- Game length | SpreadCheat is quite a short game; you aren’t going to be investing multiple hours into the game, and to me that might actually be one of the downfalls. There’s a great idea for a fun puzzle game but not enough longevity to warrant playing it more than a couple of times. I hope that the devs maybe find a way to randomise some new puzzles or bring out a way to mod the game in order to increase the lifespan.
- Screen Burn | There is a reason people started dulling their monitors back in the day and having darker backgrounds: the dreaded screen burn. And with SpreadCheat I was reminded of that and had a little bit of a panic as I was playing. I kept turning the game off and putting on a random YouTube screensaver even though I knew my monitor could handle the colours. Those traumatic screenburn-filled days still haunt me.
CONCLUSION
Score: 70/100
A fun but short experience that could do with a bit more content than it currently has. SpreadCheat is one of those games that will fly under the radar for a lot of people but deserves to be checked out by more. If you enjoy 90’s humour and the cutthroat world of yuppie corporate accounting, then grab yourself a copy of SpreadCheat now.
I’m just a tall bearded bald Scotsman who loves games of every type. I’m a voice actor as well and have been for a few years now. I have an odd sense of humour.
