Lab Rat

About

Lab Rat is a single player quiz game. It was developed by Chump Squad and was released on April 15, 2025. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Lab Rat is a satirical narrative puzzle game where you solve over a hundred inventive puzzles by manipulating objects, lasers, and electricity. You interact with a metrics-obsessed AI that heckles your humanity while providing real-time analytics and commentary. This unique experience blends humor and challenge in a genre-bending test of wits.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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98%

Audience ScoreBased on 242 reviews

humor98 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

The game features clever and engaging puzzles that introduce new mechanics consistently, keeping the gameplay fresh and challenging.
The humor and writing are sharp, often drawing comparisons to Portal, with a unique twist that adds depth to the experience.
The production values are impressive for an indie title, with appealing graphics, good voice acting, and a well-composed soundtrack.

Some players found the humor to be hit or miss, with certain jokes feeling forced or repetitive over time.
The game is relatively short, which may leave some players wanting more content or additional challenges.
A few puzzles can be frustratingly difficult, and there are reports of minor bugs that can disrupt gameplay.

humor
98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its cleverness and wit, often drawing comparisons to the iconic humor found in the Portal series. Players appreciate the sarcastic and ironic dialogue delivered by a smarmy AI, which enhances the overall experience of solving challenging puzzles. While the humor resonates well with many, some find it hit-or-miss, with a few moments feeling forced or less effective.
- “The writing is consistently very funny and made me laugh out loud many times over the course of the game.”
- “A hilarious, 6-hour puzzle game experience that very intelligently pokes fun at game design tropes and established games.”
- “I love how each new puzzle mechanic is presented in a humorous way, often poking fun at video game tropes.”
gameplay
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
65%
4%
The gameplay in "Lab Rat" is characterized by its clever sokoban-style puzzles that consistently introduce new mechanics, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. Players appreciate the balance between challenge and accessibility, as the game gradually eases them into complex interactions while maintaining a humorous narrative that critiques gaming tropes. Overall, the inventive mechanics and well-designed levels contribute to a satisfying puzzle-solving experience that avoids monotony.
- “The game strikes a perfect balance: it keeps the mechanics fresh and original, and most of them are genuinely clever.”
- “Every other puzzle introduces some new mechanic or some new way to think about the core gameplay, so it remains fresh throughout.”
- “Awesome block push puzzle game, took me about 5 hours to beat, mixes up the mechanics pretty consistently and never feels monotonous.”
- “The beginning is straightforward, but puzzle after puzzle, you're exposed to what seems like an endless stream of new mechanics.”
- “At first, I feared that either the accumulation of these mechanics would quickly become overwhelming, or that most would be introduced in just one or two puzzles and then abandoned without their full potential being explored.”
- “It does not fully explore every mechanic and often changes or adds new ones.”
story
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The game's story is a humorous and engaging backdrop to its puzzle mechanics, often drawing comparisons to the Portal series with its witty dialogue and meta elements. While some players found certain story segments annoying or less impactful, the overall narrative is well-paced and entertaining, enhancing player engagement without overshadowing the gameplay. Many reviews highlight the balance between story and puzzles, noting that the humor and character interactions contribute significantly to the game's charm.
- “The story is really varied, it makes fun of the gaming industry, and often incorporates elements of other genres and popular games reimagined as block pushing.”
- “The puzzles are great, the humor, but what makes this game special is how engaging the story is.”
- “It really reminded me of Portal, and not just because of the obviously similar themes; they really nailed the balance of story, humor, and genre whiplash with the puzzles, so it was fresh and exciting throughout while never taking away from the actual gameplay.”
- “The story isn't particularly important, although I liked the dialogue, so feel free to hit the skip button if you're not enjoying it.”
- “Where half of the storyline really amounted to nothing.”
- “But the story/humor are so bad that they are unbelievably annoying after a few moments.”
graphics
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
24%
13%
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their appeal and immersive quality, featuring a variety of art styles that enhance the thematic experience. Players appreciate the polished visuals and animations, which are considered unusually high-quality for a sokoban game, contributing to both the gameplay and overall enjoyment. The use of the Unreal Engine further elevates the graphics, making them a standout aspect of the game.
- “The graphics are appealing and the designs of the levels pull you into the theme that's being explored.”
- “I love games like this that present different art styles as you progress, and Lab Rat goes one further by referencing other games and popular culture in those styles, which is awesome.”
- “The graphics are unusually good and polished for a sokoban game.”
- “For instance, a noir-themed series of rooms strips the colors out of the visuals, forcing you to come up with ways to deduce the colors of the crates and the lasers around you.”
- “Decent graphics”
- “The visuals are really well done and the gameplay is polished.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
29%
21%
The music in the game is praised for its diversity and ability to enhance the atmosphere, particularly in the latter half where it complements the story's momentum. While some tracks are memorable and fitting, others are criticized for sounding like royalty-free music and can be repetitive. Overall, the soundtrack is considered decent, effectively supporting the gameplay without being intrusive.
- “I was particularly impressed with the diversity in the soundtrack and its ability to evoke different genres.”
- “On top of all that, I thoroughly enjoyed the well put together music choices for the game: each track perfectly complements the design and accentuates the atmosphere of the corresponding chapter, making the whole journey relaxing, as well as exciting.”
- “Puzzles, soundtrack, humor all make for a great addition to this genre.”
- “The second half of the game's soundtrack just sounds like royalty free music.”
- “The soundtrack can be repetitive, but some of the songs are catchy.”
- “I wish they would repeat some of the songs from earlier in later games.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The atmosphere in the game is highly praised for its ability to enhance the overall experience, with well-chosen music that complements the design and adds to the emotional journey. Reviewers note that the atmosphere, along with effective voice acting and humor, creates a relaxing yet exciting environment, reminiscent of other puzzle games like Portal. Overall, the combination of sound and design elements contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The puzzles are quite satisfying to solve, with the atmosphere really pulling everything together.”
- “I thoroughly enjoyed the well put together music choices for the game: each track perfectly complements the design and accentuates the atmosphere of the corresponding chapter, making the whole journey relaxing, as well as exciting.”
- “The atmosphere and humor are on point!”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game demonstrates impressive optimization, running smoothly even on modest hardware like the Qualcomm Adreno X1 integrated GPU found in Snapdragon X Elite laptops.
- “Despite being a recent release, the game runs smoothly on the modest Qualcomm Adreno X1 integrated GPU in my Snapdragon X Elite laptop.”
- “The game runs poorly on even high-end systems, making it frustrating to play.”
- “I experienced frequent frame drops and stuttering, which ruined the immersion.”
- “The optimization is so bad that loading times are unacceptably long, even for simple tasks.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express that the grinding aspect of the game is excessively time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of effort akin to having a second life to fully engage with it.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The grinding feels endless and tedious.”
- “I spent hours grinding, and it felt like I made no progress.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game elicits a strong emotional response, combining moments of laughter and frustration with a sense of accomplishment from solving puzzles and predicting the ending. Players find it memorable despite its short length, highlighting its ability to engage them on multiple emotional levels.
- “Amazing game, short but memorable. It made me laugh, made me cry, and made me tear my hair out in frustration.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the game offers a substantial amount of content to engage players initially, many reviewers note that its replayability is limited after completing all the puzzles.
- “Plenty to keep you busy for a while, though relatively little replayability once you've done all the puzzles.”