How To Ride Elevators Like A Human Turns Social Anxiety Into A Sokoban Puzzle

We have all been there: the excruciating, silent social contract of the office elevator, where looking at anyone else is strictly forbidden. A new puzzle game called How To Ride Elevators Like A Human gamifies this awkward experience, tasking players with protecting humans from the social nightmare of accidental eye contact. As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, the game places the player in the pilot seat of a helpful alien UFO. Using a tractor beam, you must reposition elevator passengers to ensure no one is forced to stare at each other.

While the mechanics lean into a classic sokoban-style puzzle format, the game introduces unique obstacles that force players to think spatially. The elevator spaces are compact, and puzzles quickly escalate in complexity as the number of passengers increases. The challenge is further complicated by immovable heavy luggage that occupies valuable floor space. Furthermore, the inclusion of child characters introduces a new layer to the puzzle, as they create a second level of eyelines. Adults can see over children, but children can look up at adults, necessitating careful planning to keep everyone staring at neutral objects like luggage rather than one another.

The Mechanics of Avoiding Eye Contact

According to the reporting by Rock Paper Shotgun, the game experience is currently available through a ten-level demo on Steam. While the developer notes that the current build can be a little janky, it offers a quick and humorous opportunity to test your elevator etiquette. By carefully using the UFO tractor beam to pick up and relocate passengers, players must solve the puzzles to keep the lift ride as blissfully silent and anonymous as possible.

The game serves as a quirky, lighthearted mental exercise for anyone who has ever felt the dread of an elevator ride gone wrong. It acts as a digital simulation of the social tension that arises when people ignore the unspoken rule to face the doors and instead insist on meeting the eyes of others. There is currently no information provided regarding regional pricing or language support for the Middle East or GCC markets, but interested players can access the demo directly on the Steam platform.

Why it matters

For players, this title serves as a bite-sized, humorous take on the universal and relatable social anxiety found in cramped public spaces. It turns a mundane, uncomfortable social faux pas into a challenging logic puzzle. By framing the player as an extraterrestrial observer, the game highlights how strange our everyday social conventions truly are. It remains a quick, engaging way to engage with the genre of spatial puzzle games while addressing the peculiar, silent rules of modern office culture.