When an angel unexpectedly finds themselves banished from Heaven, they must work their way through Hell Incorporated to meet the boss. You hope that by meeting the boss, you can resolve this mistake and return to Heaven. What follows is the uncovering of a conspiracy that will shake both Heaven and Hell.

Red Tape manages to inject silly energy into a normally depressing situation, amusing you throughout the game. The bureaucratic setting becomes your playground for corporate shenanigans and goofs as the cast you encounter run into struggles that wouldn’t be out of place in a real company, despite the supernatural theme. The puzzles presented throughout will also have you thinking outside of the box, sometimes involving different floors of the company to find a solution. Unfortunately, the adventure doesn’t last long, and the comedic story feels unsatisfying after its conclusion.

As a former angel, everyone tells you that there’s nothing you can do and that you must accept your fate. Your stubborn refusal has you meet Beelzebub, one of the company directors. He explains you will never leave and the sooner you accept your fate, the happier you will be. The feeling of inescapable fate is a recurring theme throughout the game, and it reminds you of an unhappy corporate worker. You will be here forever, it’s better to accept your fate, don’t change the status quo because it doesn’t work.

The other theme on offer is that of grit and determination. The angel refuses to believe the situation they’re in can be as bad as they’re told. It’s interesting to see these themes clash together and ultimately drive the story, because it hits close to home. Anyone who has been in a soul-crushing job can relate to the angel because you refuse to believe this is your ultimate fate. On the other hand, you end up fitting into your environment, and despite your belief, end up becoming a good corporate employee. This clash makes you want to see the game through to the end because you want to know how the story resolves itself.

The cast of Hell Incorporated is a mix of characters from historical settings and literature with a corporate twist. What makes the cast endearing is that you are rarely seeing the dangerous threat they normally represent. Instead, everyone’s bogged down with the same issues that you would find in a corporate environment. Middle management trying to usurp power, workers refusing to work, and tasks that have been left undone for far too long.

The issues you must solve are real, but the problems are often exaggerated and the solutions are simple. From solving a fight between floor directors to stopping a strike, you must resort to supernatural and mundane solutions. Despite the apparent ease of solving the puzzles, you must use all resources available to find a solution. This includes traversing previously explored floors, or jumping to new areas to make new discoveries.

Having to think outside-the-box makes the puzzle-solving fun. None of the solutions are outrageous or hidden, but they do require some legwork. For example, finding a coin may at first appear difficult until you remember the first floor has a fountain full of coins. The solutions to problems often require creativity, which fills you with pride when you find them.

Unfortunately, the puzzles in Red Tape have little variety to them. You are often just moving around and finding solutions. Red Tape does involve platforming as part of the gameplay, but it feels forced. It doesn’t help that the last section of the game throws out puzzle-solving in favour of jumping around for clues. The lack of variety begins to take its toll as you head to new floors and know exactly what’s coming next. Any jumping activity feels like confusion as if the game doesn’t know what it wants to be.

The story itself seems basic but also takes a turn towards the contrived. Despite the supernatural setting, the plot is remarkably mundane and doesn’t make sense at some points. The ending takes this even further by filling in the gaps rapidly, as if the story was just a nonsensical plot. Red Tape is a short game; it’s possible to finish it in just under an hour. The lack of story development is disappointing, especially because the characterisation and themes are done well. While the game doesn’t need to be an epic journey, its short play time makes you feel unsatisfied, as if more could have been done. Seeing potential story development wither away lets the game down because there is potential in the silly setting.

Despite the short time you spend with Red Tape, it promises to be an hour of silly fun that provides a few chuckles. You will be proud of yourself for finding the solutions to the puzzles after doing some quick thinking. Finding out what happens to the angel at the end becomes your sole mission because you want to know how it all ends. While the game is held back by a lack of actual horror and a weak story, you will somewhat enjoy your short time in Hell Incorporated.