Bad Jobs

[Pyabo]

A recent job-satisfaction survey I read about proved something we all know already... that service-industry jobs suck. The lowest-rated job satisfaction area, in fact, is food services.

So then...

Why the hell does everyone like playing Diner Dash so much?!? :)

Are there other tedious or boring jobs we should target in a game?

SimJanitor
Garbage Tycoon
Doorman Quest

Let's hear 'em.

[papillon]

SimJanitor


... Space Quest? :)

>zap garbage
>zap garbage
>zap garbage

[Agent 4125]

School Counselor Deluxe

(actually... hmm, I want to make this now)

[LilGames]

I realize this thread is not "serious" but Diner Dash is about "running your own business". All depends how you look at it I guess. ;-)

[ninesquirrels]

School Counselor Deluxe


You know - thats actually the best one-line idea I have heard for a game in a very long time. No, seriously - think about it.

cn

[MrQ]

Why the hell does everyone like playing Diner Dash so much?!? :)



I have asked myself the same question. I don't understand the appeal but the I'm not exactly the target audience either.

[arcadetown]

Betty's Lap Dance Bar

[Desktop Gaming]

Are there other tedious or boring jobs we should target in a game?

Doorman Quest
Oi! I'll have you know I'm a licenced doorman!

What's wrong with getting paid for standing outside bars, gawping at women, wrestling with drunks then having the police come and arrest THEM? :)

[barrygamer]

Speccy fans will no doubt recall this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trashman
It was fun, and had some nice tonge-in-cheek humour.

When playing the Diner Dash genre, I just get frustrated very quickly. Clicking to make the character walk endlessly back and forth. But, obviously millions would disagree.

[Addictive 247]

Maybe not a boring job but how about . . .
"Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic Deluxe - An arcade game with infectious game play!"

. . . and no, I'm not talking from experience or have done any research on it :D

[bignobody]

that service-industry jobs suck. The lowest-rated job satisfaction area, in fact, is food services.


Must be just "legal" jobs that were rated.

Prostitue Quest?
Sweat-Shop Tycoon?

[arcadetown]

Come to think of it one of the coolest games ever...

Pimp's Quest (http://www.heavygames.com/pimpsquest/gameonline.asp)

[Artinum]

Why the hell does everyone like playing Diner Dash so much?!? :)


Partly it's the running your own business angle. It's also because all the bits that make food service so awful are removed - no customers, no actual rushing around, it isn't your income (so low pay is not an issue) and best of all is that a game lasts minutes rather than hours. Plus you can play whenever you want rather than seven hour shifts five days a week.

If you actually work in a diner you could perhaps play it differently, providing poor service and annoying your virtual customers. Is there an option to poison them or have them thrown out?

[Qitsune]

DataEntryMania

CallCenterTycoon

MailSorting Deluxe

hmmm

[barrygamer]

CallCenterTycoon


Hehe, I was of the opinion that almost any job could somehow be made into a viable game, but I am struggling with Call Center Tycoon :D

[ChrisP]

Bus driving!

Or taxis instead of buses... oh, wait, someone did that already (Crazy Taxi). :)

You could do the game in a similar fashion to Crazy Taxi, so your goal is just to deliver all your passengers to the right places as fast as possible (the route and the order in which you drop people off are up to you), or have fixed routes and score it based on how fast you do the route. Of course, in real life doing the route too quickly is bad... early buses are worse than late buses! But being forced to go slowly in a game centred around driving is quite boring...

As for being a call center operative, I can see that working as a conversation minigame, roughly along the lines of the persuasion minigame in Oblivion. Pick the correct way to approach the customer based on how well or badly the conversation is going... approach them correctly and you get a sale, do it incorrectly and they hang up on you. Bonus points for ringing people when they're taking baths or having dinner. ;)

Call Center Tycoon would be trickier.

[spellcaster]

Hehe, I was of the opinion that almost any job could somehow be made into a viable game, but I am struggling with Call Center Tycoon :D

Well, it could work like the Tapper-Style games. But instead of happy customers that get grumpy if you don't give them what you want, you have grumpy customers that get happy.. um.. less grumpy if you give them what they want ;)

[Garthy]

IT Helpdesk Hero

[Garthy]

Accountancy Deluxe

[papillon]

actually back on the janitor theme I did briefly ponder a Miner 2049er clone around the theme of mopping the floor clean. Possibly interspersed with more qbert-like levels, because miner 2049er was hard... but needing to mop the floor would explain why you had to step everywhere.

Or you could do it as a cute maid with a feather duster, to be a little more visually appealing. Throw up clouds of dust and dodge the angry pets and babies as you try to clean the mansion!

[lakibuk]

actually back on the janitor theme I did briefly ponder a Miner 2049er clone...
I made something similar on the Amiga.
I think the story was that you had to repair the floor.
It was not very good and even harder than Miner.
The name was Joe's New Job.
http://www.blueskied.com/images/misc/joesnewjob.jpg

[Grey Alien]

Checkout Assistant Pro
The curse of the VAT inspector
Care Home Caper - with bum wiping mini-game
Shelf Stacker-tris (like Tetris)
The adventures of Farmboy
Roadcrash Cleanup Crew Simulator
Filing Clerk Tournament (with mutiplayer support)
Abattoir Tycoon
Soy Bean Farmer MMORPG

OK, I'll stop now.

[spellcaster]

Mix the bad job with a bad licence:

Al Bundy's Shoe Selling Simulation
Knight Rider: Car Mechanic
Barbie: Secretary Adventure
Bruce Banners's Help Desk Experience (if you get angry, the world looses)

[Pyabo]

Door to Door Vacuum Adventure

:)

Actually, I'm pretty sure that one's been done.

[cliffski]

Hehe, I was of the opinion that almost any job could somehow be made into a viable game, but I am struggling with Call Center Tycoon :D

I could do it. In fact I think I might still own cubicletycoon.com
Call centers are a business that has a lot of vital metrics, and metrcis are vital for a good business sim. You would tradeoff stress and staff turnover against hourly call stats. It could be done, and you would have to select the best people for promotion. It's a people skills game.
It could be done, and it could be fun. Not as fun as being a Rock Star (http://www.rocklegendgame.com) obviously, but it could be done,

[barrygamer]

Yes, I suppose as a people/company management game. Dilbert finds endless fun in his cubical, after all :D But, it would all be about $$$ and stress levels of staff, it could be a bit depressing! If you fail, go into bankruptcy, sack all the staff, and set up again.

[Grey Alien]

Internet Scam Master - Extreme Edition

[papillon]

.... has anyone mentioned the exciting game of Forum Moderation? :)

Down, spammers! Down, extremely inappropriate image hotlinkers! Down, people who take the time to craft fake new release posts with screenshots of their great project just to link you to a virus!

[Grey Alien]

papillon: Just saw the movie you are named after last night (I know it was a book originally). Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Good film. In fact it gives me a new game idea:

Prisoner Guard in Swamp Clearance Duty - the exiting new First Person Whip 'em Up.

[Kaos]

Porta Potty Tycoon?>>> yeah, I hear that game is "the shit"