Karoshi 2.0 (8.7Mb) Mature Theme - Unsuited for children
Karoshi 2 is an excellent and offbeat 2D platform game with an unusual premise. Discretion is advised though and this is so not suitable for children - as to complete a level you have to solve puzzles and engineer your player’s own bloodthirsty and macabre demise. Once you have gotten your player killed, you have to repeat this act many times over for each succeeding level. This is the second in a series of games, the first being a deservedly very popular PC flash game ranked 5th in flash game popularity in 2008 (also version now available for the iPhone and Android). There’s a short paragraph later on about the flash version 1, and where to play it online. Karoshi Factory, the third in the series, which does have some interesting differences in the gameplay, will be posted hopefully later this week.
The game’s name "Karoshi" is derived from a Japanese word meaning "death from overwork". Karoshi, by Jesse Venbrux, is partly a satire on a new phenomenon in Japan, where businessmen have been dying suddenly from overworking, and partly a satire on the gruelling, deadly effects of being a corporate drone. Death from being pushed out from work by immoral corporations is less of a phenomenon, but a much more likely occurrence. Anyway, back to the “overworked to death” theme. Or as corporations are finding out, you can’t flog a dead horse! But the employee might decide first, they would rather die than carry on working for the corporation! Hence this game.
You get to play a disgruntled and disillusioned Japanese office worker that has lost his will to live, and you need to help the poor fellow on his way, out of the game! Karoshi is a series of puzzle platformer games in which the goal is to get your player to die. This is not as easy as it sounds! There are many obstacles in the way of getting your player to commit Hari -kari. You walk and jump with the little salaryman, push crates, pull switches, find keys, use guns and explosives and more to find a way to ultimately off yourself, or at least your player. Again and again in every level. Killing yourself in a game was never this much fun!
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So who can come out tops on getting their player to top themselves? We’ve been taught all our lives we need to survive and how to continue surviving. We need to reach the goal, save ourselves a princess and be the hero or champion. That’s all well and good, but it’s getting boring, at least in this game. And who says it has to always be this way?!
It is of course only a game, and please, whatever you do, don’t as in do not harm yourself in real life. There’s a lot of humor in the game and the graphics while still delightfully retro, are much improved over the first game in the series. The music and sound effects are great, too. If you’re not sure if you will enjoy the game, try the earlier flash version online first. There are plenty of original puzzles to solve and the difficulty increases as you go up through the levels. It does get demandingly difficult after a while. It also involves a fair measure of platforming dexterity and it really encourages lateral thinking, as levels do not necessarily have the same sort of sequence, and you will need to find new and innovative ways to get your player 'topped'. Some levels require a complicated sequence of events (though not nearly so complicated as the Quadrax series). Do be warned though there is blood (and dismemberment) in large measures when you succeed in getting your player killed.
The game has 42 levels, an again unusual boss level, a level editor and 12 extra custom levels included. It also has a Karoshi 1 speedrun mode where you have just 7 minutes to complete all of the original levels from Karoshi 1. One level (level 4) of Karoshi 2 that describes itself as the first real puzzle is not at all intuitive and you might need help just for this level. By all means try it first a few times, but if you don’t happen upon the solution, see the text walkthrough.
Controls for Karoshi 1 and 2 downloaded are -, use the Arrow keys = walk; Z = jump; X = shoot (need gun first); R = restart level and Esc = quit. The gun only lasts for the present level, if there, until you get another one.
The graphics are starkly utilitarian. Everything is drab grey, with important objects labelled in bright colors. Notably of course is the use of blood-red; well I’ll leave that to your imagination. Try the game and you’ll see why!
I’ve deliberately not said too much about the puzzle solving itself, so as not to spoil the surprises! Suffice that it is possible to complete all of the levels and if you constantly fail at a level or can’t see what to do, you’re missing some essential action or sequence or reasoning. Complete walkthroughs are available (see below), but don’t give up too easily, as it’s all too easy to cave in, accept defeat and spoil some of the fun of finding out how to solve the level for yourself! "Mo-ichi-do" means "one more time"! Says he, on his 100th or more attempt! Well, you’ve got to keep trying, with this game, it's so addictive (as well as sometimes being very funny!)! And if you get bored, no, I'm not saying anything!
It plays from the extracted folder in XP, Vista and Win 7 full screen (or windowed from the game main menu screen). Depending on your graphics card, you may need to temporarily reset your screen resolution to 800x600 to get the game to play and possibly adjust the lower compatibility settings to see what works. {If it won’t close after play, for instance if you’ve reset your screen resolution to normal with the game open, use ‘Ctrl’ + ‘Alt’ + ‘Del’ (hold all three at the same time) to call up Task Manager, right click on the Karoshi process and click on ‘end process’}.
You can give yourself a grimace when you succeed. Ok, some of the humor is black, but it’s in a comic sort of way, apart from the grisly parts! Ps It's even more (as in oodles more fun!) fun to play if you imagine your player to be your boss. Just don't tell them you're ritually sacrificing them multiple times every coffee break!
Kill your player off-ee in style, it’s sometimes way more difficult than it looks! Great coffee time waster at work and good all-round fun for when you’re bored and in need of a good game to play!
Video Karoshi 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZTS_zGIb8Y (contains spoilers)
Download Karoshi 2 HERE (download link partway down below images)
Text walkthrough Karoshi 2 HERE
Video walkthrough Karoshi 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV98dhOc940
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Video original Karoshi 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1BiYGjPvM (minor spoiler)
Video walkthrough downloaded Karoshi 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU0n3nj-9to
Download original Karoshi 1 (25 levels plus an unusual boss fight) (4Mb) HERE
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Online flash version of the original Karoshi
This has been improved to include 50 levels as the original Karoshi was considered a little on the short side.
Controls for Karoshi 1 online are simple, being the ‘L/R’ arrow keys to move and the ‘Up’ arrow key to jump, plus Spacebar to shoot (need gun first).
Play original Karoshi online HERE or HERE
Video walkthrough Karoshi 1 online HERE
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If you want even more variety there’s Super Karoshi online HERE
This even sometimes restricts your use of the keyboard controls for even more fun and bewilderment!
(Walkthroughs for Super Karoshi available on YouTube)
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