There’s a Gun in the Office Review - A Tense Little Game with a Short Shelf Life

Developed by Take IT Studio!, There’s a Gun in the Office is exactly what it says on the tin… and yet, not at all what you expect. You’ve been kidnapped, you have only a few days before your captor plans to kill you, and somewhere in the apartment there’s a gun that could be your ticket to freedom. The problem? It’s not easy to get to, and one wrong move could tip off your kidnapper before you’re ready.

The game describes itself as a “horror stress simulator” - and honestly, that’s pretty accurate. My anxiety levels were spiking within minutes.

Race Against the Clock

The premise is simple but effective: each day, your kidnapper leaves for a few hours (presumably to work) and that’s your only window to search the apartment, find clues, and inch your way closer to the gun. You’ll need to explore quickly, commit every object’s location to memory, and leave everything exactly as you found it. Forget to lock a door or leave a key out of place, or worse - fail to make it back to your room before they return? Then it’s goodnight for you.

Mess up your tasks and you’re forced to restart the day. It’s tense the first few times, especially with the ominous reminders of their return. But after a while, the lack of any real penalty beyond repetition dulls the danger. You do get smarter with each loop - remembering item locations and the steps you need to take - but there’s not a huge variety of tasks, so the repetition can wear thin.

Looks and Atmosphere

Visually, the game opts for grounded realism. The apartment could be lifted from a minimalist interior design magazine - all clean lines and neutral colours. That sterile feel actually works to amplify the unease, as if you’re creeping through a staged crime scene.

You never see another person clearly. Your kidnapper, when they do appear, is shrouded in a hazy glow. It’s an odd design choice, but it adds to the dreamlike, almost detached tension of the experience.

The Gun Isn’t the Point

Despite the title, there’s no action-packed gunplay here. The weapon only comes into play near the end, and using it feels clunky enough that you’ll be grateful it’s a tiny part of the game. Multiple endings are available, but the finale can feel quite abrupt - one minute you’re tense and planning your next move, the next… credits.

Value and Verdict

At £7.49 on Xbox, There’s a Gun in the Office feels a little pricey for its short length, especially since much of your playtime comes from repeating the same actions in an elaborate game of Simon Says, adding a new rung in the ladder to escape each day, rather than uncovering new content. That said, it does offer a genuinely nerve-wracking experience, and the game succeeds at creating a claustrophobic, paranoid atmosphere.

It’s a tense little indie that delivers its core idea well, but doesn’t quite have enough depth to make you want to stay locked up for long.

In the end, we decided to give There’s a Gun in the Office the Collecting Asylum rating of 7/10.

Are you interested in There’s a Gun in the Office? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!

- V x

Thank you to Take IT Studio! for the There’s a Gun in the Office Xbox review code!