Dystopian puzzle game Hazard Pay tasks you with cleaning up dangerous crime scenes and destroying evidence. It adapts the classic Sokoban formula by replacing traditional warehouse boxes with crime scene cleanup tasks.
Hazard Pay launches on September 10th, 2026, for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. A single-player Sokoban and block-pushing puzzler, it comes from developer Smitner Studio, with Smitner Studio and Numskull Games publishing it.
Hazard Pay takes place in an alternate 1982
You play as the most disposable employee imaginable. You’re a cleanup worker hired by IPT, a corporation responsible for catastrophic biohazard incidents. Instead of being the action hero, you’re the poor person showing up afterwards with nothing but a mop, a bucket, and enough problem-solving skills.
There are several clever environmental mechanics in the game. Acid vats can conveniently dispose of undesirable remains. You can rewire electrical switches and locked doors by using whatever conductive liquid happens to be nearby.
There are over 70 compact handcrafted levels. The motive remains the same throughout. You push and pull heavy items like mop buckets and chemical barrels to dispose of biological evidence, solve grid-based puzzles, and clear the scene without leaving footprints.
Another neat feature is the step counter. Every move you make gets tracked, and your final step count determines your ranking on both global and friends leaderboards. Even after clearing a level, you can jump back in and try to optimise every movement until you squeeze out the perfect run.
Hazard Pay will definitely remind you of Viscera Cleanup Detail. It has detailed pixel art with a bleak aesthetic that fits the premise really well. There’s blood on the floor, smoke in the air, but you know, it’s just another normal workday!
Also, be sure to read our next scoop on Sleep Herd, a Co-Op Dandori Adventure Inspired by Pikmin and Don’t Starve Together.
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