Mr. Karoshi: Review

Mr. Karoshi is the latest classic free browser game to make the leap into a cheap iPod/iPhone port. Unfortunately it’s cheap in both senses of the word, but don’t let that sway you from picking up this fantastic puzzler – every low-blow puzzle is sandwiched between some fiendishly clever gems, and the whole experience is characterised by a sly dark humour with plenty of original gameplay mechanics to hold your interest. This is also more than a mere port: it’s a smarter, more refined and much more interesting and engaging piece of work than its original browser-based iteration.

“Karoshi” is the Japanese word for overworked businessmen (or salarymen) committing suicide due to stress and overbearing work pressure, which I think we can all agree is perfect subject matter for a computer game. No, really. Play this game and then we’ll all agree on it.

The player controls the titular Mr. Karoshi across 50 levels (about 15 of which are not really levels at all; just jokes or weird quick asides from the game) and must navigate the increasingly brainachingly difficult landscape to find a way to off him in each one.

The suicide theme is suitably dark, whether being played for laughs or – occasionally – when looked at with a sort of glum seriousness. It’s certainly not wasted as a concept. Integral to many of the puzzles is Mr. Karoshi’s ‘happiness meter’ – when he’s at his happiest, he can jump the highest, the weather is sweet and all is well, but he can’t quite bring himself to do the deed so you’ll have to find ways to reduce him to depression again. This is all symbolised literally, e.g. killer rows of spikes turn into flowers when Mr. Karoshi is happy so you can’t kill him.

Mr. Karoshi lives in a sort of inverse Mushroom Kingdom; the main difference is that dying is hell of a lot harder than living. Goombas, springs, invisible platforms, 1up mushrooms and princesses all make appearances, although the mushroom is an actual psychotropic drug and the princess figure, Mrs. Karoshi, tends to end each level incinerated, squashed, electrocuted or cut to pieces. She’s actually part of the levels when she’s in them: talking to her will cheer Mr. Karoshi up, killing her will depress him again, so she has to be used tactically and at the right time.

The 50 stages in the iOS release each take about 5 seconds to complete once you’ve figured them out, or an eternity during the ‘I can’t figure this out’ stage. The game’s only real flaw is that some of the puzzles are not really puzzles at all but deliberately obnoxious roadblocks that will require stupid actions to surpass. One level had me utterly intrigued as to the solution, but I couldn’t figure it out. Eventually I checked a walkthrough. Turns out you hit ‘restart level’ 10 times and then a spring appears from nowhere to catapult you into some spikes. Good job. Stuff like that really lets the game down as it’s often not fair or fun. It occurs more frequently towards the end of the game – as if the designer ran out of ideas – and it’s a shame as the game ends on a bit of a downer as a result. That said the last level ends with a clever parody of a boss fight and a good final joke, so all is forgiven.

One particular upgrade of note for the iOS version is the addition of cleverly paced cut-scenes between the levels. They have a real impact on the experience, adding a lot of comedy and context and making the nasty side of the game a lot more pronounced – a welcome change in my opinion as the uneasy weight of the violent theme in the browser version lacks any kind of punch in comparison. The game is soundtracked by a great bit of repetitive chiptune music that never really gets tiresome and fits the retro graphics well.

One wonderful musical feature is that if the player stops moving Mr. Karoshi and just studies the level to try and figure it out (which you will do on the majority of levels), he puts his headphones on after about ten seconds and starts tapping his feet to the music. At this point the chiptune soundtrack perks up a bit, organically adding new variations and riffs into the equation. Any game that automatically provides me with thinking music is worth the 59p entrance fee just for innovation as far as I’m concerned, and it certainly helps prevent boredom with repetitive music from kicking in.

The controls are suitably responsive on the touch screen -  they use the superior ‘virtual pad’ system instead of the horrible ‘touch where you want to go’ system. You can quit the game quickly at any point with progress saved and swap out the in-game music for your own, and they’ve also included Game Centre and Achievement support. There’s not much more you could ask for from an iOS port. Overall, a couple of flaws in level design will cause frustration but do very little to detract from an otherwise fantastic puzzle game.

You can download the iOS game from the usual place, or  pick up the cruder free browser version here. If you have the hardware for it, the iOS version is vastly superior, so I would recommend that first and foremost.