It turns out sorting boxes in the sterilized corporate afterscape is actually really fun

The Last Worker (opens in new tab) tells the story of the literally very last worker at a near-future, Amazon-style mega warehouse the size of Manhattan: a man named Kurt who seems to have been missed in massive, automation-driven layoffs, forgotten in the system like Milton from Office Space. While that sounds like a supreme megaton bummer, I was quite surprised at how good of a hang it was in a hands-on preview of The Last Worker’s first two chapters. Sorting boxes and tooling around a cavernous sci-fi warehouse in a flying mobility scooter is perhaps the last fun allowed under capitalism.

After a basic movement tutorial⁠—here justified by your robot buddy going on the fritz and thinking it’s your first day again⁠—you’re flung into your standard day-to-day at the Jüngle corporation. The Last Worker is more restrictive of your movement than a classic six degrees of freedom shooter like Descent, but it feels good to control Kurt’s little hovercraft. It gives a weighty and ponderous impression while still feeling quite responsive, and zooming through these cavernous environments just feels good on mouse and keyboard or controller.