One of the most fascinating things about TTRPGs as a medium is how they can turn any situation into a game and allow players to look at the world differently via this gameplay. Brainless Creations’ Work Sucks is a fantastic example of this, as it turns a job interview into a 2-player TTRPG that leaves players asking big questions about power dynamics.
In Work Sucks, one player is the perspective job candidate, and the other plays the interviewer. The game starts with both players shuffling the included cards and drawing one from the qualification deck, one from the quirk deck, and one from the demeanor deck. The players will use the things written on their cards to shape their character during play.
A Classic Job Interview Given A TTRPG Twist
Once each player has their character, the game’s interview phase begins. The interviewer draws three cards from the Questions deck and chooses which question to ask the candidate. The interviewer asks this question and the candidate answers in character. The players may use this answer as a jumping-off point for further dialogue for as long as they want. But when the discussion reaches a natural end, the interviewer draws another card from the Question deck, and the process repeats.
Once three rounds of questions and answers have been completed, the interviewer and candidate take a moment to think. The interviewer decides if the candidate would be the correct choice for the job, while the candidate chooses if they want to continue pursuing the position. Once both players have decided, they reveal their choice.
After this, one of four endings plays out. If both players choose yes, the candidate is offered and accepts the job, leading to mutual success. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a mutual failure, triggered when the candidate rejects the job and the interviewer declines to offer it. Between this are single-party victories, when one person wants the job while the other rejects it.
Balancing The Real With The Silly
Work Sucks perfectly balances the feel of a real-world job interview with improv TTRPG fun. The game is never so realistic that it becomes anxiety-inducing. But it also never becomes so farcical it loses the natural weight and grounding of the situation that inspired it. This is due to the excellently chosen prompt cards that contain a balance of subdued, realistic elements (passive-aggressive, refusing to make eye contact) with more exaggerated options (unsettling aura, always speaking in rhyme), meaning that the game naturally and smoothly slides between realism and silly.
This is enhanced by the designer’s decision to have the interviewer always choose between three cards rather than drawing one and having to go with what it says. The element of choice allows the interviewer to maintain the game’s tonal flow while also allowing them to choose prompts that work well with both characters’ quirks, preventing the game from grinding to a halt.
On top of this, the game’s multiple ending states infinitely improve the game. This enhances the realism of the job interview part of the TTRPG, but it also gives the players more room to play with their quirks, as all four endings are equally acceptable. It also helps the game sidestep the common improv game issue of the game grinding to a halt due to the players’ characters not meshing with the situation. Because if the interviewer or the candidate doesn’t fit the job, the players can play into this during the discussion sections.
A Fun Layout Makes It Easy To Carry With You
The game has a fun pamphlet-style layout, making it a perfect print-and-play TTRPG, doubly so because its small size means it can easily be stashed in a bag or a purse. Plus, while the game is card-based, the cards don’t have a standardized shape or size, meaning players who don’t want to cut up their game can replace the cards with scraps of paper, making the game even easier to carry around and easy to play if you have the PDF but lack access to a printer.
One nice element of the game is its color coding. Anything related to either of the players is highlighted in blue, while anything about the three decks of cards is highlighted in green. This really helps the game’s flow and makes it easier for players to find the things they need during the game without breaking the conversation’s flow.
However, the game’s current beta release does have one issue, the font. The designer opted for a dot-based font that resembles classic dot matrix printing. While this gives the game a fun retro-office feel, it is slightly hard to read, especially at a glance. Thankfully, this is just a tiny hiccup that can easily be fixed in future revisions, meaning that it’s worth keeping an eye on this game.
Work Sucks is a fun game that takes the job interview concept and turns it into a memorable TTRPG experience. The game’s simple rules and its relatable central concept make it a great way to introduce people to the world of improv games and TTRPGs. In fact, the game would be a fun way to help people grow more comfortable with real-world job interviews, as it would allow them to practice quickly answering questions while helping make interviews feel less threatening. It could also be used as a character creation tool during other game’s session zeros, letting players get into their character’s head and devise traits that can be used during later scenes. While the idea of doing a mock job interview for fun may seem weird at first glance, Work Sucks shows that, through clever design, TTRPGs can make even the most mundane situations fun.
