As money-grabbing shareholders continue to ransack the games industry, squeezing humans out of jobs in favour of cost-saving AI solutions, it’s no surprise to see a growing number of work-based video games that poke fun at corporate life and all that entails.
I’ve tried a few of them over the last couple of years, but nothing has stuck with me. However, I reckon I’ve just found a good ‘un.
Crush the Industry is the name of the game, and it’s a cutting satire about the video games industry and the things people do while they operate within it. It’s a sarcastic, silly game, and your steamy scenes with Gabe in the sauna are just the tip of the iceberg.
What is Crush the Industry, then?
Ostensibly, Crush the Industry is a roguelike deckbuilder; however, there’s an element of time pressure here that I really liked. It feels like you get rewarded for being decisive. If you take big damage you can see the health fall away, but you can also fire off your own moves in quick succession.
After doing a bit of digging, apparently this countdown mechanic is inspired by a ye olde JRPG called EarthBound. Every day is a school day here at Rogueliker, it would seem. In fact, the old-school design influence is very prominent, although it was still fairly easy to get to grips with.
Your enemies are an amusing mix of industry stereotypes, including toxic bro gamers, risqué streamers, and angry parents who are trying to put you out of business. You face off against them in time-sensitive battles where you use game dev related attacks (from a pool of more than 200) to whittle down their health and stop them from hurting you or destroying your sanity.
After a couple of hours with the game this morning, I think the thing I’m most impressed by is the commitment to the theme. Crush the Industry is a cleverly written piece of satire that also happens to be an engaging video game game. By entering into its never-ending loop, we are life imitating art imitating life – a clever hall of mirrors full of absurdist humour and in-jokes.
Content Complete
I’m going to all the trouble of telling you about all this stuff because just a few days ago, Crush the Industry got a big fat Content Complete update. The game originally released in April, but subsequent content patches have brought the project to a close.
The recent update has added a secret boss on the fourth floor, new unlockables, and a new event that can appear anywhere as you try and push your latest recruit through their career in game dev.
Developer Cognoggin Games has marked this moment of completion with a big promotional push, which means a chunky discount for the game on Steam PC (Mac, Win). There’s a 75% discount is dropping today on November 8, so if you’d like to invest, now is the time!
