Official game
Play Box Knight
This game is hosted by Steam. Continue to the official page to play or download it.
Play on Steam ($12.74)Box Knight Guide: Take Back the Office, Floor by Floor
Overview
Box Knight is an irreverent office-themed action roguelike from We Made A Thing Studios, an Australian indie team. The premise sells itself: the office has fallen into darkness, a toxic workplace turned the happy employees into dark and dangerous creatures, and the office waits for a hero. By day you are a normal office worker. When the clock hits 5pm on a Friday you become the Box Knight, protector of the office realm, deliverer of beers and non-alcoholic beverages to coworkers in need.
The game launched August 25, 2026 on Steam at $14.99, with a 15% launch-week discount to $12.74. The studio describes it as a mix of the Office and Lord of the Rings with an animated cartoon aesthetic. You fight floor by floor, department by department, up the office tower to defeat the CEO, or die trying and do it all again next week.
Early reception is positive. The first 24 reviews are all positive, and the game ships with 70 Steam achievements, local co-op on shared or split screen, and full controller support.
Target audience: Hades and Dead Cells players who want comedy, office workers who want catharsis, and couch co-op pairs looking for a run-based brawler.
Difficulty: forgiving to start, with permanent upgrades smoothing the climb. The randomness rewards aggressive play and punishes hoarding.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | We Made A Thing Studios |
| Publisher | We Made A Thing Studios |
| Genre | Action roguelike, RPG |
| Platform | Windows (Steam) |
| Release | August 25, 2026 |
| Price | $14.99, launch week $12.74 |
| Achievements | 70 |
| Co-op | Local shared or split screen |
| Website | playboxknight.com |
How to Play: The First Floors
Box Knight is a randomized dungeon crawler with a light meta layer. You fight through the office room by room against a colorful cast of enemies that are fantastical abstractions of your least favorite coworkers.
- Learn the execution timing early. Executions are fast, gory, theatrical, and they are the best way to clear a room safely. A staggered enemy is a dead enemy if you close the distance.
- Let the horde come to you. Early rooms punish rushing. Kite packs into corridors, use executions on staggered targets, and keep at least one special attack charged for the room's second wave.
- Read the enemy rock-paper-scissors. Every enemy type adds an element or combination of elements that changes how you fight. The office monster types form counters, so a loadout that shreds one floor can stall on the next.
- Spend in-run upgrades immediately. The better you perform, the more in-run short-term upgrades appear. Hanging onto currency for a perfect build wastes the power spikes that make the middle floors survivable.
- Expect death, plan the return. Death is never the end. The Council of the Janitors upgrades your Box Knight permanently, so every run, win or lose, feeds the next one.
- Try a co-op run. The game supports local co-op on shared or split screen with Remote Play Together. Two Box Knights clear crowds roughly twice as fast, and the game balances around the chaos in the best way.
Core Mechanics Explained
Combat, Specials, and Executions
The combat system is fast, paced, and tactical, easy to pick up and harder to master. The toolset: an array of weapons, special attacks, and executions. Weapons set your range and damage rhythm, specials give you room-clearing pressure, and executions turn staggered enemies into instant kills.
Weapons change the feel of the run completely. An aggressive damage-dealing brawler build wants heavy weapons and face-tanking executes. A fast, agile operator build wants quick hits, kiting, and vanish-style specials. Match the weapon to the playstyle you pick in the first two floors.
The Run Structure
Level by level, department by department, you liberate the office. Each run is randomized: room order, enemy mixes, and loot shift between runs. The further you play, the more you are rewarded. Short-term in-run upgrades power the current run, and the permanent Janitor upgrades power every future run.
The Council of the Janitors
The Janitors are your meta-progression hub. Fight, fall, grow, fight again: with their help you permanently upgrade the Box Knight's key stats and attributes. The goal is a knight so upgraded that the Drone Goblins shake at the sight of you. There is always a reward in death, so a failed run is a better start than no run at all.
Enemy Design
The enemy roster is built around rock, paper, scissors mechanics. Each enemy adds an element or combination of elements that forces you to alter your play style mid-room. The game wants you to swap tactics, not to find one combo that beats everything.
Customization
Unlock and customize your look: helmets, uniforms, weapons, and more. The lore frames it as a legacy. Many great Box Knights came before you, and this is your chance to make the brand your own.
Office Tower Progression
The end goal is fixed: battle up the office tower and defeat the CEO in glorious battle. The tower is divided into floors, each with its own theme and boss pressure. Reaching the CEO requires consistent execution and a build that holds up across multiple biome shifts.
Tips for New Players
| Tip | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| Execute staggered enemies fast | Executions are instant kills with huge style, and they drop the danger level of the room |
| Do not hoard in-run upgrades | Power spikes early make the mid floors survivable; saving for a perfect build loses runs |
| Match weapons to your style by floor two | Brawler or operator, commit early and build around one identity |
| Kite packs into corridors | Enemies funnel, executions chain, and your special hits the whole line |
| Die on purpose before the first boss | You want Janitor upgrades active before the difficulty wall |
| Try split-screen co-op | Two knights clear rooms faster, and the revive pressure makes for better chaos |
| Check the customization options | Helmet and uniform swaps are cheap morale boosts that cost nothing in combat power |
Advanced Strategies
The stagger economy. Every room has a rhythm of staggering, executing, and specialing. The advanced play is not about raw damage, it is about order: stagger the biggest threat first, execute it, then use the special on the crowd that closed in while you were busy. Good players keep one special banked, never empty.
Builds that cross floors. The enemy rock, paper, scissors means a one-trick build dies on the floor after the one where it thrived. The strongest build has a primary weapon, a secondary that covers its counter, and an execution combo that works on both enemy families.
The Janitor math. Permanent stat upgrades that reduce risk beat upgrades that add damage. Health, healing, and stagger resistance let you survive the random early floors, which is where most runs end. Damage catches up once you are alive longer.
FAQ
What is Box Knight? An office-themed action roguelike where a cardboard-armored office worker fights through a monster-infested office tower to dethrone the CEO. Developed by We Made A Thing Studios.
How much does Box Knight cost? $14.99 on Steam, with a launch-week discount to $12.74.
When was Box Knight released? August 25, 2026.
Does Box Knight have co-op? Yes. Local co-op on shared or split screen, with Remote Play Together support.
How many achievements does Box Knight have? 70 Steam achievements.
Does it support controllers? Yes, full controller support including DualShock pads, plus keyboard and mouse.
Is there permanent progression? Yes. The Council of the Janitors provides permanent upgrades to your stats between runs.
Who made Box Knight? We Made A Thing Studios, an Australian indie studio based in Fullarton, South Australia.
Sources
Screenshots
