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# Kitman Gets That Most Of Sports Is Actually Just Laundry
- URL: https://aftermath.site/kitman-demo/
- Published: 2026-10-13T14:50:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-13T14:50:40.000Z
- Description: A sports game where you don't have to do much sports
- Author: Riley MacLeod
- Tags: Video Games, kitman, demo, steam, sports games, sport, sports

I'm notably terrible at [sports games](https://aftermath.site/rugby-20-oh-no/) because I'm notably terrible at team sports, but maybe because I spend too much time with Luke, I keep trying them. So I've been intrigued by Outlier Games' [*Kitman*](https://www.outlier.games/kitman?ref=aftermath.site)since its announcement earlier this year, because it looks like a sports game where I don't have to know that much about sports.

*Kitman*, which currently has a [demo on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4186890/Kitman/?ref=aftermath.site), can be played solo or multiplayer. It casts you as a soccer team's kitman, responsible for making sure all the players have functioning gear, cleaning the locker room, and keeping the club stocked in boot studs, laundry detergent, and energy drinks. There's some actual sports management stuff too: Early in the demo, you get access to the team manager's office, where you can decide tactics and swap players and team formation.

Your day looks different depending if it's a home or away game. Away games require you only to make sure every player has their shirt, shorts, socks, and boots, and you can add items that boost the team's stats by giving players in certain positions better gear or additional items. Home games are the most involved: After getting everyone ready, players will demand things of you during the game. One might need their ripped shorts sewn up; another might need their shirt cleaned; another might need their boots fixed. The match itself happens off-screen, while you rush from room to room meeting requests and then shoving them into a tube that whisks them back to the field, which you can only catch tantalizing glimpses of down a long corridor.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/10/kithal.jpeg)

Outlier Games/Aftermath

I enjoyed this slightly depressing behind-the-scenes feeling, which really did make me feel like some harried and unappreciated but vital member of the team. The actual tasks can be a little clunky at times; I had no end of trouble with the machine that affixes new player numbers to shirts, which I struggled to click quite right to get it to work, but I chalked up much of this frustration to the in-development nature of the demo. Chores are pretty easy, but none of them are simple. Boots have to be repaired by placing them on a table, selecting the right color-coded studs, then screwing each new stud on by clicking the missing stud and holding down a button. Sewing is the most fiddly, requiring you to align the tear under the sewing needle first. Re-inflating the ball is the most visually satisfying, while cleaning kit requires filling the sink, holding a button that represents scrubbing, then draining the sink again before you can return the item to the player.

As a lover of [chores](https://aftermath.site/power-wash-simulator-2-chores/) I found this all very satisfying, even when too many players were barking orders at me. Meanwhile, the game itself is just a boring box with a little ball bouncing back and forth, making the sports part of the whole thing feel cerebral and distant. (For away games, you can actually watch the box, or just skip it to get the results.) *Kitman* is very much *about* sports, but I liked that I could more or less ignore the sports of it all to focus on my little domestic tasks. You get money for how well the team does, which can be used to buy better gear and to restock items.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/10/kitspo.jpeg)

Honestly this is what soccer looks like to me anyway (Outlier Games/Aftermath)

Days end after you hurry to clean up the locker room before the players get back, then scurry away to your bed in the janitor closet. I found it fitting to have a pristine locker room, while the rooms where I actually did my work were strewn with boots I replaced instead of fixing, shirts I'd pressed the wrong numbers on, and a pile of torn clothes next to the sewing machine I gave up on working. I imagine this is all less chaotic in multiplayer, but I enjoyed the game's sense of solitude. There's something both sad and satisfying about moving unseen, racing through a busy day with the ultimate goal of making it seem like you were never there at all.

*Kitman* has a planned release of early 2027.