Title: Pocket Boss
Developer: Langfilm, Mario von Rickenbach
Publisher: Playables
Release Date: October 8th, 2025
Platforms: PC (Steam/Itch.io), mobile
Price: $4.99 USD

Introduction

There are lots of games that poke fun at corporate jobs and the sweaty, hairy underbelly of capitalism, but none do so in such a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek manner as Pocket Boss. Pocket Boss is a bite-sized game that can be completed in one session, or several if you’re a busy underling. If you have a half hour or hour to spare and want to f*** around and find out, keep reading!

Author’s Note: Due to the concise nature of this game, this will be shorter than standard reviews; however, that has no reflection on the quality of the game.

Summary

The premise is simple. You are a remote worker, and your boss hounds you for work–usually urgently. The game is set up like a text conversation, with a blurred background and soundscape to allude to the various times and environments that you are so rudely interrupted. Over the course of a week, your boss sends you files to click into and “fix” or complete. On occasion, you’re boss will ask where you see yourself in the future and gauge your interest in management. Will you seek out that promotion? How far are you willing to kiss ass to do so?

Of note: I played this on the Steam Deck with no issue.

Analysis

Art Style and Sound Design

Pocket Boss uses relatively minimalist art style and sound, cranking things up to a TEN with restraint. Each day, you are taking work requests from your boss from a different location, as hinted by the blurred background and background noise if your environment. Is it raining? Are you out in public? Are you trying to enjoy your life? How dare you!

The texting back and forth occurs on a smart phone, looking most like an iPhone, but the magic happens in the work that you do. You boss will demand that you fix employee satisfaction or budgeting reports. How, you say? Not by fixing the root cause, obviously! Just…fudge the numbers! In these mini-games, so to speak, Pocket Boss really brings the color and playful sounds. It makes it light, fun, and enjoyable.

Gameplay

Also simplistic, Pocket Boss lets you choose from several dialogue options when conversing with your boss. You can be the top-tier model employee or the disgruntled, sassy worker. The boss’ response to both options are pretty funny.

The real meat and potatoes of game play are these mini-games as mentioned earlier. They take the form of various work reports that you are tasked to fix and/or complete for your boss.

You click, drag–whatever–in order to get the pie chart, bar graph, and other reports to look the way your boss wants it to be. Each graph may require a different strategy, whether it’s to pull unwanted attributes completely out of the pie chart or stringing plot points to make productivity at an all-time high. There’s even a little pong-like activity to proof your competency with Cyber Security.

The back and forth with the boss is also quite brilliant. The boss’s comments and demands are frighteningly accurate to how many corporate managers behave, whether it’s pinging you for something urgent late at night but silencing their notifications or gaslighting you about proving your worthiness of a promotion. And if you get promoted, how will you treat your employee?

Final Score

Pocket Boss is a genuinely good game. It is quick, light, and fun, yet still delivers a biting narrative on corporate culture. The game respects your time and is great if you have a few minutes to play around with wiggly graphs. I rated it four stars because I would really like more. Pocket Boss doesn’t need to be an 8 hour + game; however, there’s lots more opportunity for capitalism shenanigans.

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Featured Image Source: Langfilm, Mario von Rickenbach