I don't wanna see you slacking again! Don't make me take this further...
Work Inc.: The shoddy (and somewhat illegally run) company that you've wasted years of your life at to earn a sliver of a paycheck. Why were you here again? What did Work Inc. offer you? Why not quit?
The Boss had you sharpen his Big Ol' Pencil again, giving you a jab in the back before he "asked." You're so over it...
About The Game
Work Inc. is a goofy wave shooter where you play as a disgruntled employee, fighting their way through the whole of Work Inc., which is also the company you work (worked?). Armed with four silly weapons, test your mettle against increasingly crowded waves of three different enemy types! Whatever you do... Don't get fired!
As the fight goes on, you can spend your hard-looted cash (that you definitely did not steal from your co-workers' payslips) to unlock one of many hand-crafted areas in the maze-like Office, or to buy one of three weapons at random from the Printer! Be warned, though, as all your ranged weapons have limited ammunition!Â
If you run out of stationary and/or dirt to fling at your foes, or you're close to defeat, the Union recently got some vending machines installed in the office: find them and spend your money on either more health, or purchase ammunition one magazine at a time!
As the game progresses, enemies will spawn more frequently and in greater numbers, with three different classes being unlocked as the game goes on. Enemies don't get stronger, and nor do your weapons, but they can quickly become overwhelming if you don't deal with them!
The Enemies
Worka
The Worka (said like Worker) is the basic enemy you fight. Easily beaten in a few pencil hits or a body-slam, you can take these down in mere seconds. They'll move towards you at a reasonable speed before trying to hit you with their keyboards! You can take quite a few hits, but don't let the gang up on you, because you'll soon be feeling keyed up!
Shoota
The Shoota is the second enemy, this one armed with a stapler similar to the one you can get. The weapons aren't just for you, y'know. They'll keep their distance, trying to pick you off from slightly further, but they won't move while they've got a lock on you, their aim isn't the best. They're fragile, too! You can easily take them down with a couple well-placed shots.
Big Guy
The Big Guy is... Well, he's a pretty big guy. You'll know him and his silly yellow top when you see him. Similar to Worka, Big Guy will come after you, albeit a little slower than Worka. Don't be fooled, though, a few hits from Big Guy and you'll be out on the streets! These guys have a Ballinium-plated keyboard that does HUGE damage, and those big bellies can absorb more hits.
The Weapons
In Work Inc., there are four weapons, all hand-crafted and animated!
Big Ol' Pencil
The Big Ol' Pencil is exactly that: its a Big. Yellow. Pencil. The BOP is a melee weapon with decent range and damage that combos well with the Dash. It can take down the Worka in three hits!
Staple-o-Matic
This is the most well-rounded ranged weapon of the three in Work Inc. - Semi-automatic, 16 staples in a mag, and good damage at most ranges, this one is a valuable addition to your arsenal. It's pretty accurate too.
Sharpenator
The Sharpenator is a rapid-fire electric sharpener with booming SFX and funky particles too! Let 30 high-speed pencils loose and watch it shred your opponents! Its slightly weaker than the Staple-o-Matic, though it makes up for it with high fire rate.
SuperSuck
The SuperSuck is a faulty vacuum cleaner that fires big globs of muck and dirt at your opponents, exploding in a big brown stinky boom and dealing damage to nearby enemies. With a long charge-time and cooldown, and only five shots per magazine, this vacuum compensates by taking down all enemies in one shot!
Other Bits
Work Inc. was developed by a team of four university students over a period of eight weeks (initially, at least), who have now graduated from DMU's BSc Games Production with flying colours.
Dylan: Gameplay Programmer, Character Designer, "Sound Guy"
Lunar-Skie: Character Programmer, Animator, "Heavy Weapons Girl"
Dimitrios: Prop Artist, UI Artist, "Texture Wizard"
Kacper: Game Designer, Level Designer, "Guy who Shrinks the Map"
Special Thanks to Salim Hasshu! This entire project could not have been possible without the fantastic opportunity
Additional Assets Used:
Github:
starikcetin/Eflatun.SceneReference - Provides us with easy-to-use scene referencing. Thanks, gamer!
simonoliver/InputSystemActionPrompts - Helps us change our input prompts based on the player's current input device!
Music by XtremeFreddy on Pixabay
