CorpoNation was provided by Playtonic Friends for review. Thank you!
If you took one look at CorpoNation: The Sorting Process and you thought immediately of Papers, Please, then you and I were in the same boat. CorpoNation has that same overall feeling, yet I found the game to be engaging in a completely different way, thanks to its theme, other activities you can do, and the way you interact not only with your corporate overlords but the resistance that has sprung up. And, when all is said and done, I loved it.
CorpoNation starts off pretty simply; You start working at Ringo company sorting genetic samples into four different categories. It begins simple, only sorting by shapes, and after you are done, you get paid in credits. Afterwards, you head back to your room, where you can go on the computer, play mini games, talk with peers, pay your bills, view news, and buy new items to customize your bedroom like posters and furniture. Over time, things get much more complex, now needing to sort patterns, numbers, and more, while bills continue to rise, and that's when weird glitches start to happen.
These kinds of stories have always intrigued me, and CorpoNation is no different. As soon as one of your peers starts to get out of line, it sets up a chain of events that will bring the rebellion, Syndicate, to the forefront. Seeing the discontent with the corporation and slowly helping them to learn the dark secrets behind their actions, and what you do, is intriguing.
The gameplay doesn't really change much from the sorting, but it does get much more complex. You will start needing to sort numbers, patterns, and descriptions, and sometimes you will need to mix or splice specific ones. On top of that, you will be asked by management to go faster, and get a rating from it, which could lead to promotions, or do specific types of sorting and actions to help the Syndicate. While I do love the growing complexity, which does make me think, I did feel it sometimes got a little too complex, and I ended up slowing down how fast I sorted and made more mistakes. The game does give a little more money and slows down the working time, so there aren't many penalties, but it sometimes felt like a bit too much to think about.
I do like that CorpoNation has those mini games to break up the monotony of constant sorting. The fighting one has leveling up, progression, and customization options, which makes it fun to invest your time into. I also like the customization options and balancing your money with bills, games, and even helping out other workers who request money (and you can request assistance too). It keeps the game feeling fresh and less monotone as the sorting gets much more complicated.
I also like how the visuals and sound help create an eerie dystopian atmosphere. I love the vibrant blue, white, and black aesthetic, which makes the world feel more structured and grim. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is largely simple. It has some beats every now and then, and of course elevator music, but there are times that there's no music at all. It helps keep that creepy vibe that helps make the game feel so dystopian, and I think it works well.
As for the performance on Steam Deck, CorpoNation runs as well as you would expect just by looking at the visuals! The game runs like a charm, regularly performing under 8W battery drain during normal gameplay. I did notice two spots where there were some minor issues, which is when you go in and out of your computer and scrolling through emails (minor slowdowns) and play solitaire and the fighting game (more battery drain). Overall, the game runs perfectly, and I had no issues playing it on the Deck.
90 FPS can work well with CorpoNation, but I found that the game drained a bit less with a 60 FPS lock, which ended up giving an extra hour of battery life. I also had a small issue playing with a gamepad. It is nice, and works well for the most part, but sorting can feel off as you have to move the left joystick around to highlight the tube it will go into. I accidentally moved my joystick a couple of times and put the sample in the wrong tube, which was a bit aggravating. It didn't happen often, and going slower could solve this, but I wanted to make money!
It seems as though the devs knew the game could feel somewhat monotonous, so they added in some settings to make it feel a bit easier or less stressful. We can modify the cost of living, shift length, samples that never expire, sample type labels, sample variations chance, and you can disable multi-attribute samples. You can also change language, text speed, and rumble, as well as audio bars.
The game doesn't support 16:10 aspect ratios, but it does have controller and cloud save support! There's no HDR settings.
CorpoNation: The Sorting Process is a corporate Papers, Please that charmed me with its intriguing story and simple gameplay mechanics. It can get a little too complex at times, especially when they add in the Splicer, Mixer, TDS, and expiration dates, but I felt it had a really nice balance with that and the mini games you can play to take a short breather from sorting. The game plays nearly perfectly on the Steam Deck, with some minor stutters with the computer, but it needs no changes to work well! This is a best on deck game, and if you enjoy Papers, Please, I highly recommend this one!
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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CorpoNation: The Sorting Process is an intriguing dystopian sorting game that should have no problems running on the Steam Deck!
