Game developer Valve is famous for titles like Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and Portal — not to mention the digital delivery platform Steam — and today we've gotten a whimsical glimpse inside of the company thanks to a leaked "Handbook for New Employees." The document appears to be legitimate (it'd take a lot of work to fake something like this), and it was posted by a Flamehaus forum user alongside a supposed email from Valve's Greg Coomer that says the new book was published to "make it as easy as we could for new people to join the company."

Authenticity aside, the 56-page handbook is worth a read. Not only is it full of fantastic illustrations and step-by-step guides on things like how to take company vacations (p. 34), but it's also got a brief company timeline for the uninitiated (p. 19) and details on how Valve itself is run. In terms of corporate hierarchy, there isn't any. The handbook calls it "flatland" — that means there are no managers and that "this company is yours to steer." Unfortunately, there aren't any details on Valve's future wearable computing hardware. However, there are other goodies, including key tidbits on why each desk has wheels (hint: so you can move it and work with others), and one of the best glossaries we've seen ("WFH — Working From Home. What to do if a single snowflake falls out of the sky."). Lastly, there's a whole section on what the company's looking for in future hires — something you might just want to take a look at after spending some time with this handbook.



