Bureaucracy (computer game)

Bureaucracy is an interactive fiction computer game released by Infocom in 1987, scripted by popular comic science fiction author Douglas Adams.

The player is challenged to confront a long and complicated series of bureaucratic hurdles resulting from a recent change of address. Mail isn't being delivered, bank accounts are inaccessible, and nothing is as it should be. The game includes a measure of simulated blood pressure which rises when "frustrating" events happen and lowers after a period of no annoying events. Once a certain blood pressure level is reached, the character's heart bursts and the game ends.

While undertaking the seemingly simple task of retrieving misdirected mail, the player encounters a number of bizarre characters, including an antisocial hacker, a paranoid weapons enthusiast, and a tribe of Zalagasan cannibals. At the same time, he or she must deal with impersonal corporations, counterintuitive airport logic, and a hungry llama.

Feelies

Among the extra items, which Infocom called feelies, in the Bureaucracy game package are:

A pamphlet entitled You're ready to move! from the fictional bank Fillmore Fiduciary Trust
A flier advertising the fictional magazine Popular Paranoia
A welcome letter from the player's new employer, Happitec Corporation
A Fillmore "Better Beezer" credit card application form (each sheet of the triplicate carbon copy form had different instructions and questions)
A very skinny pencil (similar to those provided at banks to fill out insanely complicated forms)

Notes

According to Adams, the premise of the game was inspired by a real-life experience. Before moving from one address to another in London, Adams filled out several change-of-address forms, including one he submitted in person at his bank. Shortly after settling into his new apartment, he found that his credit card no longer worked. The bank had invalidated his current card and sent a new one to his old address. Adams spent weeks trying to get the bank to correct its mistake, filling out several new forms and talking to several bank officials. The bank finally sent a letter apologizing for the inconvenience; naturally, it was sent to his old address.

Although Bureaucracy showed the unmistakeable signs of Adams' humor, the game didn't sell nearly as well as his other collaboration with Infocom, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This may be, at least in part, because Infocom was facing grave financial difficulties in 1987. The recent failure of its relational database product Cornerstone was one reason for these difficulties. Advertising budgets were being slashed and personnel from all departments of the company were facing layoffs.

In a somewhat surprising move given the author's popularity, Adams' name appears only in small print near the bottom of the box's cover, where a blurb reads "by Douglas Adams and the Staff of Infocom."

Infocom rated Bureaucracy as "Advanced" in its difficulty rating system.

In a nicely realistic touch, the game begins with a short online "software registration form" displayed on the screen. After the form has been completed, the game uses the given information after appropriately mangling it. (For example, the game will persistently address the player as the wrong gender, and whatever the player enters as "least favorite colour" will appear in numerous descriptions.)

External links

Bureaucracy overview and information
Bureaucracy information from the Infocom Gallery with photos of the entire contents of the game (manual, feelies, etc.)
Bureaucracy information from Infocom-if.org
The Infocom Bugs List entry for Bureaucracy

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Feelies

Notes

See also

External links