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LAYOFF, the Game, Is Fun and Depressing at the Same Time

by Kaiser Hwang on March 19, 2009 at 06:10 AM

It's easy to listen to the news and feel like we've heard the same things over and over again. Yeah, the economy's bad, the bank bailouts are ridiculous, the unemployment rate is through the roof -- we know it and it sucks, but it's easy to feel desensitized because we've heard it all so much. Enter LAYOFF, a Flash-based online game that not only gives you a visual representation of the employment situation, but also makes you an active participant in it.

According to the game's developer (Tiltfactor Lab, Dartmouth College, and the Rochester Institute of Technology Game Design and Development program), LAYOFF "uses a simple casual game paradigm to comment on the current state of the U.S. financial crisis." Basically a 'Bejeweled' clone, the game has you matching workers in groups in order to lay them off. Once laid off, the newly pink-slipped workers start to wander the halls of the unemployment office at the bottom of the screen.

If you've got a minute, give it try -- just don't let your boss catch you playing it. [From: Joystiq]

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Tags: flash games, FlashGames, lay offs, LayOffs, online games, OnlineGames, recession, web, workplace

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