Hi I have just entered the corporate field and trying to make a game which can involve the corporate life in any way Campus description: We have a big campus spanning around 1 km of the area with everything - Gym, Aerobics section, Big Training Hall, Snooker/Pool Hall, TT Hall, Shopping Complex and a big MultiPlex along with lots of buildings What I want: What I plan to do is make a game so that it can involve lots of people here in my company and it should not be any other shooting game or game where he is finally killing a dragon First I thought of making a map of the entire campus and then making a Mario or Contra type game out of it, but I felt like that people might find such type of thing monotonous and get bored easily What I have in mind is make anything which people can associate with the company. Its for hobby purpose( and going forward making games through which they can learn something) The game may or may not be mutiplayer to start with Can someone suggest ideas? PS: This is just an example Darfur is Dying http://www.darfurisdying.com/ and Re-Mission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-Mission I am open to ideas though

At the mention of "the corporate field," I can't help but think of games like Capitalism, Industry Giant, or The Corporate Machine. Why not create a similar business-oriented game?

How about a game that places the player in the seat of the campus Dean? You would have to oversee and manage everything that goes on at your campus, including funding for faculty and staff, campus activities (football, basketball games, etc.), contracting land for new buildings, refitting/upgrading existing buildings (could include interior design), scheduling classes and exam periods, planning campus shuttle routes, and various other such administrative duties.

You could use your own campus as a model for the tutorial or beginning level, and then look at Harvard or Yale for more advanced challenges. Maybe there could be bonus missions where you control one of the students and have to get to all of your classes on time, in Crazy Taxi fashion. :)

The first thing I thought of after I read your post was Office Space. I think a game which pokes fun at the monotony commonly associated with corporate life could have great opportunities to be a good "pick up and play" arcade style game with plenty of quirky comedy.

Gameplay-wise, I'm thinking of something along the lines of Viewtiful Joe. A simple 2D sidescroller with minor tweaks which open up possibilities. For example, stopping by the breakroom would give the player a coffee buzz, and their attacks would be faster for a short time, followed by a short period of slugginess (caffeine crash). You know, little quirky items like that.

Since it's a 2D sidescroller, the emphasis would be on combat and action (albeit, comedic action rather than violent). Enemies would be bored coworkers (they'd be reminiscent of zombies), janitors could make an appearance (mobile enemies using their buffing/waxing machines as cars looking for roadkill).

For levels, I was thinking about a basic office level with lots of cubicles and office building staples (no pun intended). Another level would be the parking lot as the protagonist makes his way to the employer's enviable parking spot (boss fight would be against the employer using his car as a tank to defend his spot). A fun level could even be outside the building, using scaffolding and window-washer platforms for footing.

The overall style isn't to be violent or mean-spirited towards corporate life, but quirky and relatable for anyone who's worked in a large office building.

In my opinion, a lot of office architecture lends itself naturally to straightforward FPS action:
- lobbing grenades over cubicle walls
- shooting down long corridors
- lots of closed doors to be ambushed from
- a mixture of dead ends (rooms and cubicles) and nonlinear open paths (corridors, circular and forking)
- a balance of small, large and huge spaces
- pretty furniture to blow up

You might make it team-based, e.g. defense against an "hostile takeover" by a competing company, a group "negotiation" with guests, everyone against a postal well armed colleague, employees against robbers, and similar scenarios.
For the sake of realism the game can be low powered: in a reasonable company there can be a few guards with a pistol and a lot of improvised, mostly hand to hand or thrown weapons like chains and cables, glass bottles, nailguns, cutters, crowbars, scissors, blinding lasers etc.

My first impressions from the title of this post is that you require a game idea to present to a person high up in a company - a 'corporate' if you will.

Anyway I enjoyed playing Harry The Handsome Executive. Top-down sivelchair action with a stapler.

Another game I remember is "Tom's day at work". This is essentially a sandbox game where you could 'work' and receive $100 then you could buy a bullet proof vest and bribe an army dude and get a rocket launcher. Fun.

Another game is 5 Minutes To Kill (Yourself), when you die - you win. You have to use office equipment to kill yourself.

Thanks everyone
I can see lots of resources mentioned in the links here
Let me go through all the games you all have posted and then reply.
Thanks again!

Quote: Original post by nvedia
I have just entered the corporate field ...

Corporate field? I don't think that's a specific line of business.

an incredible-machine type game featuring office supplies and furniture could be fun