An idle clicker that requires planning and thought? Who would have thought? Apparently, the genius solo developer behind Broken Record Studios and its flagship title, Paperwork. With a demo released as part of October 2025’s Steam Next Fest, Paperwork intends to flip the script on the idle clicker genre by fully implementing a first-person view, explorable environments, and the need for forethought and planning before putting your money generation scheme synergistic opportunity into action.

Recruitment

Congratulations employee! You have been hired by the vaguely corporate offices of Clarity Communications to spearhead the management of a brand-new team of corporate drones! When I first opened Paperwork, I was instantly charmed by the low-key aesthetic of the menu screen and the chill “bloopcore” soundtrack. When you start a new game, you’re greeted by the enthusiasm befitting a drab, grey office.

A quick breakdown of your work and you’re off! You are, of course, locked in your office until you make your first twenty dollars. But that’s no problem for you! Just click that work button and watch that cash flow. Once you escape the confines of your corporate purgatory comfortable office space, you can get to the real meat of Paperwork: management!

Team-Players

Upon building your first desk, you’ll be able to unlock your very first synergy, Pair Working. The synergy system is there to ensure you don’t just mindlessly build as many desks as you can, instead forcing you to focus and plan your layout accordingly for maximum profit. For example, three desks in a row will generate one dollar each. Drop one, and the two remaining will activate Pair Working if seated directly next to each other. That will multiply the output of each of those desks by 15, taking you from 3 to 30 dollars by losing a desk.

Paperwork is a refreshing change of pace for anyone familiar with the idle clicker genre. No longer does the gameplay loop just click, upgrade, repeat. It now requires a significant amount of planning and foresight to ensure you’re getting the most out of your synergies. Once you get a few upgrades, you can absolutely leave the game open to idle. However, I never felt like the active clicking was too overshadowed by the passive generation, even toward the end of the demo.

Performance Review

Technically, the game runs perfectly. The options present are well-executed, even if the FOV maxes out at 100. Not an issue for me, might be for others, but then this isn’t a competitive first-person shooter, so maybe not. The last thing I’m going to do is complain about the length of a free demo, but I did finish up all Paperwork’s demo had to offer in about 20 minutes. Give or take a few for recording screenshots and taking notes. However, during those 20 minutes, I was hooked.

Paperwork promises to be a smooth, cozy ride laced with puzzling management and corporate buzzwords. It had me on a string from the very start, and I absolutely cannot wait to experience the future of both Paperwork and Broken Record Studio.

Paperwork is developed and published by Broken Record Studio. It has a free demo available on Steam as part of their October 2025 Next Fest.