It's funny, video games are often seen as the antithesis to work—an escape from it—but so many games still feel like a job. This can be a big point against a game, as evidenced by those swollen AAA endeavors that encourage endless, repetitive activities, or live-service titles that take advantage of your FOMO, prompting you to log on even when you don't really want to.
But on the other side of the equation are games that are literally about working a job, which can actually be surprisingly great. Something like Death Stranding 2 couches gameplay within a fantastical profession, and even Dead Space is a high-octane, gone-wrong version of a sci-fi engineering gig. But what about those games that focus primarily on the granular, often trivial details of real work? It might come as a surprise, but these more grounded experiences can often be just as compelling as bombastic AAA adventures. Indeed, such games serve as a prime example of what's possible in the interactive medium, beyond tried-and-true combat or power fantasy antics.
As good as they are, games like Hardspace Shipbreaker and Moonlighter didn't quite make the cut, as they are far more explicitly fantastical than the following recommendations.
Papers, Please
Dictate Citizens' Fate as a Dystopian Customs Officer
Perhaps the most well-known game of the bunch, Papers, Please is a sobering look into authoritarianism through the eyes of a boots-on-the-ground employee. Players assume the role of a customs officer/immigration inspector, sitting in a cubicle, deciding the fates of those looking to enter the fictional state of Arstotzka. Gameplay consists of analyzing documents for discrepancies before ultimately deciding who gets in and who is rejected, whatever the consequences may be. It's a wonderfully executed, brilliantly written game.
Papers, Please
- Released
- August 8, 2013
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Violence, Blood, Sexual Themes, Nudity, Drug Reference, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- 3909 LLC
- Publisher(s)
- 3909 LLC
- Engine
- unity, lime
WHERE TO PLAY
A dystopian document thriller.
The award-winning, critically-acclaimed border inspector game.
The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a 6-year war with neighboring Kolechia and reclaimed its rightful half of the border town, Grestin.
Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists.
Using only the documents provided by travelers and the Ministry of Admission's primitive inspect, search, and fingerprint systems you must decide who can enter Arstotzka and who will be turned away or arrested.
This game contains mature themes, non-photographic nudity, and brief moments of pixelated violence.
House Flipper
Build a Real Estate Empire
House Flipper takes advantage of the human desire for growth and improvement in a spectacularly addictive manner: players have to repair, clean, and renovate various properties, eventually working their way up to luxury abodes. It's definitely got a touch of the jank that characterizes "simulator" games, but it's also mechanically sound, with a lot of quality-of-life features that keep it from feeling obtuse or overwhelming. House Flipper understands that most players need an intuitive interface and controls, and it provides these basics without watering down its depth or complexity.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 61 /100 Critics Rec: 42%
- Released
- May 17, 2018
- ESRB
- E For Everyone
- Engine
- Unity
WHERE TO PLAY
You've got to earn it around here before you purchase your first property. No worries though! Luckily, there's plenty of work at your fingertips! Take job offers from nearby residents - clean up, paint walls, install heaters, showers, and air conditioners, or even furnish their whole property!
Once the grateful clients pay you for your solid work, it's time to get your own house. Grab your hammer! It's time to take a bit of a rude approach and knock some walls down! Get rid of broken glass shards, litter, and leftover pieces of furniture, to prepare the place for a complete makeover! It's up to you to either meet every single requirement of specific buyers or make yourself a cozy office to grow your business in.
Fortunately, you're not alone. The set of your trustiest tools is here with ya! With the help of your paint roller, window cleaner, plaster tool, mop, hammer, and of course, the mighty tablet, no renovation will scare you! Using those tools also gives you experience, which can be used to upgrade them and polish your skills, making your work even more pleasant.
The Red Strings Club
Serve Special Drinks to a Colorful Cast of Patrons
Although it eventually deviates into point-and-click adventure and puzzle mechanics, much of The Red Strings Club centers on one character's job as a bartender in a cyberpunk city. You'll sling drinks in accordance with a given customer's mood and personality, in a process that feels like a more fleshed-out version of Coffee Talk's coffee-brewing mechanics. These interactions queue up a dark and thought-provoking narrative that's hard to pull away from, much like the best stories told under the dim lights of a nearly empty bar.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
- Released
- January 22, 2018
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Deconstructeam
- Publisher(s)
- Devolver Digital
WHERE TO PLAY
The Red Strings Club is a cyberpunk narrative experience about fate and happiness featuring the extensive use of pottery, bartending and impersonating people on the phone to take down a corporate conspiracy.
The professed altruistic corporation Supercontinent Ltd is on the verge of releasing Social Psyche Welfare: a system that will eliminate depression, anger and fear from society. However, the bartender of a clandestine club and a freelance hacker don't regard this evolution as an improvement but as brainwashing. Alongside unwitting company employees and a rogue empathy android, the duo will pull all the strings they can to bring down this scheme.
Home Safety Hotline
Become an SCP 911 Operator
I can't say enough good things about Home Safety Hotline: if you like fantasy creatures, inexplicable phenomena, and analog horror, you simply cannot miss this game. You'll fill the role of an employee at the titular Home Safety Hotline, fielding calls from concerned homeowners seeking instructions on how to handle various hazards. The catch is that, while some of these hazards are as trivial as mice and bees, most of them are far more haunting, disturbing, and even Lovecraftian in nature. In essence, Home Safety Hotline's gameplay boils down to a process of simple memorization and recall, but the well-written and uniquely unnerving selection of fantasy critters makes this far more enjoyable than one might first expect.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 82%
- Released
- January 16, 2024
- ESRB
- nr
- Engine
- Unity
WHERE TO PLAY
Hearing noises? Seeing things? Call Home Safety Hotline! Our operators are standing by, waiting to give you the answers you need to protect your home from all manner of pests and household hazards.
Home Safety Hotline is an analog horror inspired telephone operator simulator where you answer incoming callers' questions about what's inside their home. Read through a vast catalog of common pests and household hazards, and do your best to become an expert in home safety. You will be held responsible for what happens.
A new horror experiment from Nick Lives, the creator of NiGHT SIGNAL and A Wonderful Day For Fishing.
Navigate a vast catalog of safety information using the latest in 90's technology.
Listen to original jazzy lo-fi music by David Johnsen while you place callers on hold.
Correctly deduce what's in your callers' homes or else leave them to suffer the consequences.
Learn about the various untold horrors that live inside your home.
"Phobia Toggles" - An accessibility option that allows you to disable in-game images for common phobia triggers including arachnophobia and more.
Unlockable Art Book detailing the game's development history.