Payload

Payload

Black Banshee Studios · November 5, 2021 · Puzzle, Logic, Cyberpunk, Story Rich, Lore-Rich

Payload is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Positive89% · 18
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Screenshots

Payload price

Payload is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Payload

✦ AI summary

Payload is a cyberpunk puzzle game where you navigate grid-based levels on rotating cube faces to infiltrate the all-powerful Bullfrog corporation's systems alongside your AI partner F0-N1A5. With over 30 escalating levels packed with strategic obstacles and a mysterious 1980s dystopian story, you'll need to master spatial reasoning and careful planning to expose the truth and topple authoritarian rule.

In a fictional portrayal of the early 1980s, the U.S is under authoritarian rule. Those in the lower class suffer harsh environments, prejudice, and excessive crime. With no designated political bodies remaining, mega-corporations run the nation. The most distinguished of all, Bullfrog, is a coveted target.

After splitting from a small resistance group, you set out on your own. Your goal is to overthrow the mega-corporation by hacking into their systems. With only a computer and AI software named F0-N1A5, you begin your mission.

Become familiar with each level layout to traverse individual tiles on a cube face. Avoid all potential setbacks by creating strategic paths.

Solve over 30 intricate levels with increasing difficulties and obstacles. Watch the story unfold as you reach the end to discover the truth behind the madness.

Key Features:
Visual appealing retro aesthetics and graphics.
Rich audio content and ambient sounds.
Minimalistic interface and graphic design.
Intriguing characters and mysterious storyline.
Mini-Map for level overview.
Dynamic obstacles and environment.
Polished control scheme and movement.

Payload — game info

Platforms
Windows
Steam Deck
Playable
Player modes
Single-player
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Payload is a minimalist cube-based puzzle game where players navigate tile-based surfaces while following an AI's guidance, with a dystopian corporate story connecting the levels. Players appreciate the solid core puzzle concept, pleasant music, and genuine difficulty that provides satisfying mental engagement, though they note the mobile app-like presentation feels underwhelming on PC, the minimalist aesthetic is inconsistently executed across different views, and the limited soundtrack becomes repetitive.

Recommended Mar 13, 2024
⠀
7 found this helpful
Not recommended Jun 12, 2025
"Payload" a minimalist low poly/wireframe pathing puzzle game where you move around the faces of a cube, following hints from an "AI" that pushes the clues at you. While I couldn't find this on the mobile app stores, everything about it looks and feels like it's a mobile app designed for mobile phones... for PC gaming enthusiasts, it's not going to give you a cutting edge PC gaming experience. That alone is enough to disqualify this from any recommendation. We don't spend thousands building gaming rigs so that we can pretend they're iPhones and play iPhone games and mobile apps. The graphics aren't great, described accurately by the developer as "striking". I found it striking anyone could be so lazy about doing the graphics for their game but still think it was remotely okay to publish it anyway. The bad graphics are understandably a turn off for a lot of gamers, and it's a big contributor to the failure of the game to attract gamers despite having no up-front cost. Gaming is a primarily visual medium, and if developers want to succeed, they must understand that it's not an area for compromise. You deserve better than compromises. On the matter of pricing and value for g…
3 found this helpful
Recommended Mar 22, 2023
[h1]Before I played Payload, I had a small pp, no friends, no gf, depression, and no life. These things havent changed, but the game is pretty good[/h1]
1 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 3, 2024
Enjoyable, difficult, and scratches that "I want a timekiller but not just an [i]empty[/i] timekiller, yknow?" itch
Recommended May 3, 2023
6/10 A puzzle where you move on the cube's surface, with a dystopian story connecting the levels. Good: - the core concept of the puzzle is good. Each side of the cube is tiled 2x2, some tiles are impassable, you need to move through all the black tiles switching them to while, and you can jump over 1 tile to the other side - music is very pleasant, though there are too few tracks and it does get repetitive after a while So-so: - the minimalistic design is a mixed bag. E.g. the 3D "Matrix" view, the "glitch" effects, and the post-victory animation are stylish but the 2D "Map" view looks too primitive - white text on black bg is a bit straining for the eyes. They should used shades of gray at least - the story starts strong and will resonate with adults who have worked for corporations. However, it keeps mulling over the same topics over and over and starts getting boring by level 8-9. It's just the main character ("Operator") and its AI program talking. The protagonist is constantly in bad mood. It doesn't even feel realistic. By mid-game you don't really like the protagonist and don't care about him. I mean, they wanted to keep it all in-character and did an above average job. B…
Recommended Feb 12, 2022
Really Good puzzle game that actually is kind of hard.

Community reviews

—

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.

More like Payload

News

All news →
SilkMU is our new partner: MU Online Season 6 in a browser tabBlog

SilkMU is our new partner: MU Online Season 6 in a browser tab

SilkMU, a MU Online Season 6 server that runs in a browser tab or as an app, opened on 6 November 2026 and is now our partner. What it offers, what is free and what costs WCoin.

Nov 13, 2026
Games like Dying Light, where nightfall changes the rulesPC

Games like Dying Light, where nightfall changes the rules

Games like Dying Light are easy to find if you only want parkour or only want zombies. These eight keep the part that matters: a city that becomes a different place after dark.

Nov 13, 2026
Games like Portal 2, where one idea carries the whole gamePC

Games like Portal 2, where one idea carries the whole game

Games like Portal 2 all share one habit: teach a single impossible trick, then spend a campaign breaking it. From rewinding objects through time to Escher geometry that loops back on itself.

Nov 13, 2026
Planet Coaster DLC: skip the collection, buy the packsBundles

Planet Coaster DLC: skip the collection, buy the packs

The Planet Coaster DLC catalogue closed in 2019, so there is no curve left to wait out. Our record shows the collection bundle costs far more than assembling the same packs one by one.

Nov 13, 2026
Toxic Commando Game Pass: subscribe, or buy the key?Xbox

Toxic Commando Game Pass: subscribe, or buy the key?

The Toxic Commando Game Pass add landed on 12 November. Our price record since late September shows the key route barely moved, which changes what a subscription is worth.

Nov 13, 2026
Games like Titanfall 2, for the pilot or for the TitanPC

Games like Titanfall 2, for the pilot or for the Titan

Titanfall 2's campaign changed its own rules every mission. Games like Titanfall 2 that keep one part of it — the wall-running, the mech, or a campaign that never settles.

Nov 12, 2026
Games like It Takes Two, where the second player is the pointPC

Games like It Takes Two, where the second player is the point

It Takes Two cannot be played alone, and that is the whole design. Games like It Takes Two that give each player a different job — including one that makes do with a single pair of hands.

Nov 12, 2026
Football Manager 27 Game Pass, and what the old FMs now costXbox

Football Manager 27 Game Pass, and what the old FMs now cost

FM27 landed on 10 November, and Football Manager 27 Game Pass covers it on PC from day one. Steam has stopped selling FM26 and FM24 — our price record shows what that does.

Nov 12, 2026

Top games right now

All rankings →
  1. 1Counter-Strike 2Free
  2. 2Dota 2Free
  3. 3PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFree
  4. 4Grand Theft Auto V Legacy—
  5. 5Terraria$2.08
  6. 6Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeFree
  7. 7Rust$20.19
  8. 8Garry's Mod$6.21
  9. 9Team Fortress 2Free
  10. 10Black Myth: Wukong$35.78
  11. 11HELLDIVERS™ 2$23.99
  12. 12ELDEN RING$38.88
  13. 13Apex Legends™Free
  14. 14Left 4 Dead 2$9.99
  15. 15Stardew Valley$12.11
  16. 16Wallpaper Engine$3.93
  17. 17Cyberpunk 2077$17.99
  18. 18Euro Truck Simulator 2$4.99
  19. 19Dead by Daylight$6.83
  20. 20Red Dead Redemption 2$13.71
  21. 21The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt$9.77
  22. 22Baldur's Gate 3$53.62
  23. 23Phasmophobia$15.19
  24. 24War ThunderFree