Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman

Developer: Jesse Venbrux
Publisher: Armor Games
Release Date: Unknown
System: PC
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Kill or be killed. Actually, scratch that first part.

0:00 A friend sent me the link for this one over the weekend (hi again, Mike). He thought it would be right up my alley. Based on the name alone, I think he might be right.

0:01 Pan over a low-quality, hand-drawn picture of Karoshi Corp. Inside, our blue-suited salaryman jumps over some spikes and gets to the door. A big, red "X" appears on the screen. Starting over, Karoshi jumps into the spikes. A green check mark this time. And the title. What a great, compact introduction to the concept!

0:02 "Use the arrow keys to walk and jump. Press space bar to fire your gun (you first need to find it). Press R to restart a level. Your goal in each level is to die." Simple enough. I like the ToeJam & Earl-style funk music in the background

0:03 The first level is simply to get used to the controls, it seems: Just jump right into the spikes. In the second level I have to push a safe to get up a ledge. In the third level, another safe has to sit on a switch to remove a wall of boxes. I love the big red explosion of blood when I hit the spikes.

0:04 Heh ... in Level 4 I have to position a safe above me, then use a switch to make it fall on top of me. This poor salaryman must have some crippling emotional problems.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer