Under Contract

Story:

Richard is broke. No money to pay the rent, no plans for the future and absolutely no desire to get a job.

But he's a human being, so he still needs a place to live and food in his stomach. So there's no way around it.

One thing leads to another, and our protagonist...sells his soul to a demon, and now he's chained to this desk (literally). Guess what? Work doesn't stop even in his dreams. (Amazon wants to know your location).

Wanna be free? Climb the corporate ladder, free your co-workers. That's all the motivation he needs (oh, and there's sex with hot demons and co-workers along the way).

Honestly, the story is intriguing enough, even if you figure out its structure fairly early.

You meet a new character -> you build a relationship -> you battle -> you have sex -> done!

As the game is in Early Access to this day, there's only Chapter 1 available.

Gameplay:

It's a mix of hentai VN and puzzler.
The puzzles in this game have the vibe of the classic "Magical Drop" game. If you know what I'm talking about, it's mechanics are gonna be familiar to you. It's both challenging (at least it can be) and addictive.

The core gameplay prompts the player to be strategic; you can't just drop your spheres wherever. You'll need your quick reflexes to match and eliminate colored orbs before they reach the bottom of the screen. As you progress, the puzzles become progressively more difficult, requiring you to think on your feet and make split-second decisions. The combination of puzzle elements and an intriguing story creates an addictive loop.
Funny enough, the puzzle side of this game kept being really interesting, sometimes overshadowing the horny aspect.

At the time of writing the review, there are two game modes available:

1) Story Mode
2) Arcade Mode

Story mode is where the story plays out (duh) and where you meet a colourful (sometimes literally) cast of characters. You have a map of the underworld/otherworld called Dreamscape, where you move and engage with other characters via VN story bits or fighting them puzzler style. When you get past some story points, you'll add new characters to your party and with each fight, you'll earn exp. Get enough exp - get a new ability.

Arcade mode is where the main challenge comes from (at least for me). You try to complete increasingly harder levels while getting in-game tokens for the lewd gallery, where you can see girls in all of their glory.
Although I don't know how I feel about seeing girls being sexed by some other male demons and not by our hero. But I guess you DO need variety.

Visuals:

Under Contract looks nice enough. Girls' designs and 3D modes are custom made, detailed and are hot (demons especially). The backgrounds are 3D renders and look good, making sure that the Dreamscape ist at least interesting to look at. Overall, the graphics are good.
Animations, although probably being made in Honey Select or Custom Maid (or any other similar app) are smooth and fluid.

Audio:

The audio is...alright. Sound effects during the puzzles and VN portions are satisfying enough.

Tunes playing in the background are inoffensive, but they're not gonna make me download them to my playlist.

Voice acting (as little as there is) is okay, but it does that annoying thing where instead of voicing the whole dialogue, characters say only the first word or some unrelated word like: "What?" or "Huh?"

But most of the time they just grunt or produce some sound.

I honestly don't know how I feel about that. On one hand, having voiced dialogue can clearly enhance your story (Utawarerumono is a perfect example) but on the other hand, I guess I understand that the lack of it usually means budget constraints.

Conclusion:

Whether you're a puzzle fanatic or just someone who enjoys a VN with some...horny themes, Under Contract is a unique experience that's weirdly addictive.

Just a heads-up, right now it's only Chapter 1. You've got three female coworkers, a few demons and two departments, with more characters to come soon (pun very much intended).

Personally, I found the Story Mode a little on the easy side, but the Arcade Mode? That's where the real challenge is for me, and I'm totally into it.

Even though this game is still in Early Access, there's already plenty here to keep you busy for a few lonely evenings. It's fun, horny and interesting.

But here's the caveat: the last update was 13 months ago. Nevertheless, I've contacted the developer through Steam forums and I've been assured that the solo dev is working on Chapter 2, which is gonna be the biggest update yet.

But to believe them or not and pay for the game now or wait for the full release is for you to decide.