Grade: A
An office wardrobe problem becomes an opportunity for finding pants.
Ripped Pants at Work was one of the most genuinely random finds in the bundle so far. The first intro scene is epic.
Fade in on a new hire getting shown around to his new office by his boss. “We need your help here. This company is short-staffed. I’ll leave you to get yourself sorted”, the boss says. Boss then sidles away, checks in on a nearby cube, and leaves the new hire alone to take stock of a messy cubicle. The new hire bends over to pick up some wayward trash and BLAM, pantsplosion! Our hero is left standing in his underwear.
The Challenge
Ripped Pants at Work discerns whether you, our fearful protagonist, can sneak through the city pantless without getting caught. You can use various help like bushes, half cover, timely motion, and obstacles to keep your embarrassment meter low. If you get noticed too much, your embarrassment meter fills. As your embarrassment meter fills, you get a burst of speed, but if it fills all the way, you get fired, arrested, put on a bunch of watch lists, and your life changes inexorably.
If you succeed and make your way against the odds to one of the hidden pant locations throughout the map, then you can avoid all the shamefulness in your pantlessness.
I played a few rounds of this game over the last couple of days, and there’s surprising complexity. First, of course, getting out of the office is a challenge in and of itself. Once out, though, you will search for keys to unlock the various pants locations. In addition, you can interact with NPCs if you creep up to their desk and stand close in front of it. (NPC can’t see your shame if you get just the angle).
There’s a whole set of city blocks to sneak through pantless, and there are about 15 pants to find in total. I found nine pants locations in my runs I did. One of those was a pants store, which was a pretty intuitive first place to look. Another was an art gallery, which was less intuitive. Finally, a last-ditch effort found a pair of pants in a gas station bathroom.
Full of hidden humor
Ripped Pants at Work is populated by all sorts of strange and silly areas if you look closely.
If you walk into the open manhole, you’ll end up in the sewers. Joining a sewer cult was by far my favorite way to get pants.
The clothing store was a likely place for some pants, but it was filled with people! Thankfully, some underwear models were going on a runway. When you walk in their midst, they’ll protect you from prying eyes. How kind!
I also stumbled upon a mecca for pantsless people, a secret zen garden. It’s a lovely place. I never wanted to leave.
Wrap-up
Scott Ethington, the game developer, leans into humor for his projects. A little bit ago, I reviewed Wizard Battle, which was an equally fun project.
When you sit down, the gameplay for Ripped Pants is about 5 minutes a session. It’s a great distraction game when you need a break. No pants are required to play.
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