Review
The wait for Tape 2 was worth it: "Lost Records: Bloom & Rage" tested
by Kevin Hofer
SpreadCheat is a crazy puzzle game that’s a total 90s throwback
11.5.2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
SpreadCheat is a short and absurd game in which you fudge the books, remove malware from your boss’s PC or do a few lines. You may have guessed it: the game’s set in the 90s.
Welcome to Brocorp. At the office, you’re the perpetual «new guy» – your boss won’t remember your name anyway. Fortunately, you’re blessed with «creative» accounting skills, which means he can shamelessly take advantage of you.
Sounds whacky because it is. Adding to this, the game interface is reminiscent of Excel in Windows 3.1, and your boss and colleagues look like they’ve stepped out of a computer game from 1990. This entertaining game, which reminds me of Sudoku, lasts just long enough to avoid getting annoying.
The story with the loathsome boss
Right at the start of the game, he wants to know if I have crazy spreadsheet skills. Well, mine are definitely a bit rusty since completing my commercial apprenticeship back in 2001, but I can still rock the IF functions. Fortunately, I won’t be needing them anyway.
My boss just wants me to embellish the numbers. The gameplay loop consists of him constantly giving me new tables to fix and telling me what result he wants in the last cell. I then have to reach the goal by inserting the given numbers, subtracting, adding or multiplying them.
Source: Games People Play
This helps impress my bro boss, who isn’t actually a bro, but a scumbag. At the beginning of the game, he asks me if I’m cool. Instead of replying, I show him just how cool by showing off my skills. Now he’s using them to get rich and climb the corporate ladder. Not surprising for a scumbag.
At the same time, he keeps getting himself into sticky situations because he’s totally useless. And so my jobs include more than just number crunching. I’m also the man in charge of freeing my boss’s PC from ads for «hot singles near me», repairing the fax machine and getting rid of the sex doll from the office party I wasn’t invited to.
Source: Games People Play
Simple controls and puzzles
All controlling is done with your mouse. Numbers aren’t entered with your keyboard, but by moving the given numbers into the corresponding cells. This makes the gameplay even simpler than using a spreadsheet. The puzzles in the «normal» difficulty level are also relatively easy because you usually only have to add up numbers. The challenge increases slightly in «difficult» and «impossible» mode, but it’s not like you need to be a spreadsheet genius to solve them either.
90s charm and humour
SpreadCheat is dripping with 90s charm. For starters, there’s the Windows 3.1-style interface and pixelated images adorning the background. My boss and the employees all roughly look the same because they’re made up of a few polygons, as was common in computer games of the time. Last but not least, there’s a wonderfully catchy MIDI soundtrack.
Source: Games People Play
The star of the show is Corpy – a Clippy knockoff who’s just as annoying as the original. He’s usually insulting me while feigning helpfulness and sometimes does so more obviously than others. Expect things like «And I thought I was the stupid one». When Corpy pops up, he follows my cursor – even outside of the game window. This really takes me back to the 90s, which I love and hate at the same time.
The humour’s mostly brash and occasionally crude, just as I remember that era. For example, when my boss asks me to make damn sure I’m giving it 110 per cent. Why? So he can reduce to 90 per cent for a while because he simply doesn’t feel like working. So by making me work harder, management won’t get suspicious of the missing ten per cent. While he’s telling me this, he’s playing indoor golf. This is all quite funny for the duration of the game, which I got through in about one hour. If it had gone on for any longer, it would’ve become annoying.
Source: Games People Play
SpreadCheat was provided to me by Games People Play. The game was released on 5 May for PC.
In a nutshell
Nice little puzzle game for some fun in between
SpreadCheat is a Sudoku-like puzzle game oozing 90s charm. It doesn’t offer anything new in terms of gameplay, but the occasionally crude and boorish humour certainly livens things up. I definitely had fun with it.
The game isn’t particularly challenging, which is a shame, as more difficult puzzles would’ve increased its replay value. But if you enjoy solving puzzles and being transported back to the 90s, I can recommend SpreadCheat.
Pro
- 90s charm
- Fun game idea
Contra
- Too easy
Header image: Games People Play
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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