Order 13 [REVIEW] – Who Knew Warehouse Work Could Be So Deadly? 

Working in a fulfilment centre is already a stressful prospect for most, but how about if you throw in some bloodthirsty monstrosities to make things more interesting? That’s what you get with Order 13, a first-person horror title that tasks you with working in a warehouse, trying to hit your daily packaging quota, and, perhaps most importantly, not getting yourself killed. It’s a cool concept on paper, and the blend of mundane work with survival horror can make for an enjoyable gameplay loop, though there are a few imperfections that prevent it from being another ‘must play’ indie horror darling. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The core gameplay loop is incredibly straightforward, with players waking up in a cramped little room that’s their office, distribution point, and bedroom all at once. Yeah, you pretty much live in the warehouse, so it’s a bit worse than your typical 9-to-5 job. Each day, you’re given a daily quota of deliveries to complete, with players having to print out a customer ticket and head out onto the dimly lit warehouse floor to collect it. You have to navigate aisles sorted by letters, find the right shelf, and unlock it by memorising a specific code on a three-by-three grid, and once you grab the item, you’ve got to get back to the safety of your room to chuck it in a cardboard box, fill it with packing protection, tape it up, and ship it off. Simple… or it would be, if there weren’t also monsters lurking throughout the warehouse, who’ll happily kill you and force you to start your day again. I found myself genuinely enjoying this routine, and whilst it is undeniably repetitive, I found it mindlessly engaging – I say this a lot for certain types of games, but Order 13 feels perfect to play with a podcast on in the background. Just maybe keep an eye out for those monstrous threats, yeah? 

Speaking of threats, the game does not exactly hold your hand when it comes to dealing with them. The lack of tutorials and explanation can leave you feeling a bit clueless early on, and whilst there are some posters on the walls that guide you a little bit, you’re mostly left to rely on trial and error. You will figure out fairly quickly that making too much noise or getting spotted by the deformed creatures wandering the aisles means you have to sprint for a hiding spot under a shelf before your stamina runs out, but with the monsters moving quicker than you, there can be a punishing early difficulty curve. 

“Order 13 offers a creative horror experience that just slightly misses the mark when it comes to the final execution.”

The monster is not your only concern either, with the real ticking clock of Order 13, amusingly enough, being your pet cat. Waiting for you in the office is a customisable feline whose happiness meter constantly ticks down while you are out on the warehouse floor – if that meter hits zero, it’s game over. To keep your furry friend happy and buy yourself more time to work, you have to spend your hard-earned wages on fancy treats for them and make sure you frequently pet them. It’s a fun little motivator that adds an extra element of stakes to the game, though it is a slight shame the cat mostly just sits around rather than interacting with the expensive furniture you buy for it… but let’s be honest, as most cat owners will attest to, that’s very accurate feline behaviour. 

As you hit your quotas and survive your shifts, you can also spend your cash on useful upgrades to make your work easier. You can grab bigger bags, a better torch, and a scanner (that is an absolute lifesaver for remembering those annoying shelf passwords), whilst you can also purchase certificates to unlock deeper areas of the warehouse. These zones offer better-paying orders, but the layouts become much more cramped and disorientating, giving you far less room to escape danger. It adds both a sense of progression and ever-increasing difficulty to the experience, ensuring that whilst you’re doing a lot of the same things, it never gets frustratingly repetitive. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The biggest letdown to Order 13 is the lack of any real narrative payoff, and despite some hints of a deeper mystery at play, there is no real story to see unfold or satisfying ending to wrap things up. Once you buy all the shop upgrades – which eventually starts to feel a bit bare – the experience just sort of fizzles out a bit. On top of that, while the initial scares and creepy hallucinations are effective, the main monster’s design never changes. You get desensitised to it pretty quickly, which drains the tension over the roughly three hours it takes to finish a playthrough. 

Developer: Cybernetic Walrus 
Publisher: JanduSoft, Oro Interactive 
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC 
Website: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP3111-PPSA33798_00-JANDUSOFT0000001