Most of us play video games to escape the dullness of our daily existence. That's why many developers set their games in fantasy worlds as different from real-life as you could possibly imagine. Playing the central character in an epic battle between good and evil (such as in role-playing games like Oblivion and Dragons Age: Origins) is the perfect antedote to hours of interminable drudgery in the office.
But as legendary novelist James Joyce proved in his seminal work Ulysses, it is also possible to take the mundanities of life and transform them into something interesting and entertaining. Even so, who could imagine that games based on dull, repetitive jobs such as waitressing, taxi driving or farming could be any fun at all.
Remarkably, not only can such games be hugely enjoyable but they are among the most popular games on the web. Just witness the phenomenal success of Facebook game Farmville. Here, we present to you our top ten crummy jobs that make for great fun games. You wouldn't want to do these jobs in real-life but as games they are undoubtedy entertaining.
1Taxi Driver
Pity the poor taxi drivers, the mules of the modern age. They spend all day choking on fumes in traffic jams, ferrying pompous business types around. Come the evening, when everyone else is relaxing at home with their family or socialising with friends, they are condemned to roam the streets, searching for drunkards to take home.
Do they get any thanks for their hard work. Like heck. If customers are not complaining about the charge, they are trying to do a runner or being sick on the back seat. Who would have thought, then, that these two taxi simulation games - Sim Taxi 2 (pictured below) and Zombie Taxi 2 - would be so much fun.
2Air Traffic Controller
We all do it, don't we. You know: have a day off at work. We might be sitting at our office desk and our fingers might be tapping at the keyboard but we're not actually working. Just creating the impression of doing so. Pefect way to deal with a hangover. Air traffic controllers, sadly, can't do this.
Take their eyes off the dots moving on the screen for the briefest time and - wham - they're got the blood of a hundred people on their hands. Who would want to work under such stress. Much better to take an easy job somewhere and indulge in our aviation passion by playing games like these: Airport Mania First Flight (pictured below), Airport Madness and Now boarding.
3Farmer
Townies often have a romantic vision of farming: all frolicking lambs, happy cows chewing the cud, pretty cow girls. But, if the truth be told, farming is nothing like this. Indeed, it is a pretty horrible job. Not only do you have to get up at the crack of dawn (every day) but you often find yourself knee deep in animal excrement, not to mention occasionally being up to your elbow in a cow's you-really-don't-want-to-know. And that's before we even get to the smell. Yeeugh.
Seriously, give up you dream of having a farm. You can enjoy all the good bits of farming and none of the bad by playing these games: Youda Farmer, Little Farm (screenshot below) and Virtual Farm.
4Bridge Builder
I admit bridge building could be quite a cool job... if you're an utterly fearless adrenaline junkie who thinks nothing of working precariously hundreds of feet up in the air while several-ton steel girders swing by your head. Okay, maybe it is not quite like that anymore. But bridge construction remains one of the most dangerous professions around - hundreds of workers die each year building bridges.
If that does not put the fear of god in you, then go for it. The rest of us - ie, those who value our lives - can anjoy all the fun of bridge building but with none of the danger by playing this innovative puzzle game: Cargo Bridge (pictured below). A special Christmas edition of the game, featuring loads of new levels, can be played here.
5Hotel Manager
If I were to run a hotel, it would be the best hotel in the world. There would be non-stop parties, free champagne for everyone, the best bands in the world playing in the lobby... oh, and yes, I wouldn't last five minutes in the job. Alas, outside of my fantasy world, managing a hotel is not glamorous in the slightest.
Believe it not, most guests don't want to spend all day partying with you in the hotel bar. Instead, they expect you to cook them meals, tidy up their bedrooms, replace their dirty sheets (yeuughh!) - in short, be at their beck and call. Really, not my cup of tea at all. So to say that I was surprised to find myself enjoying these two hotel manager games has got to be the understatement of the year. And yet, Hotel Online (pictured) and Robinson Hotel really are great games.
6Gas Station Attendant
This is another job that could be quite enjoyable, but only if it involved gross negligence.
"Whoops, Sir, my mistake, really shouldn't have been smoking, should I. Sir, don't fret, I'll put it out. No problem. Let me just spray it with this. Oh Sir, I am sorry, I thought that was a canteen of water, not highly flammable engine lubricant. Sir, really, is there any need for language like that. It's not as if your wife and kids are in the car. Oh, how silly of me. They ARE in the car. What a dolt I am, Sir..."
Despite a severe lack of fiery infernos, this gas station attendant game - Gazzoline (pictured below) - is strangely captivating. A premium version of the game can be played here.
7Shepherd
This job does have the odd perk. No, don't be so filthy, I am not talking about that. No, the one great benefit of being a Shepherd is that your chances of meeting an Angel of the Lord are vastly increased. So if that is your ambition, dig out your crook and go find some countryside.
Be warned, however: between visits from the Angel Gabriel, life as a shepherd can be very, very lonely and loneliness can have a queer effect on certain people. It can make them seek companionship in ways they'd never previously imagined. All the more reason, then, to stay at home playing these three shepherd games instead: Sheepish (pictured), Kaban Sheep and Fellow Sheep.
8Waitress
I don't really need to explain why this is a rubbish job. All I can say is that, if you are unfortunate enough to be employed as a waitress, don't give up. It will pass. At some point, you will almost certainly be whipped away to stardom by a talent scout, pass your exams and go to university, find a half-decent job or kill one of your customers and end up living a life of leisure in public housing.
Whatever the case. I would give it a bit of time before playing these two addictive waitressing games: Bar Salvation (pictured) and The Waitress. They might bring back some bad memories.
9Fisherman
It is said that life as a soldier during war involves long periods of intense bordom broken up by short stints of blood-curdling terror. Being a fisherman is similar, except that the long spells of intolerable tedium are only broken up by further spells of dreadful dullness.
Thankfully, the creators of these three fun fishing games - Fishing Girl (pictured), Fisher Girl and Deep Sea Fishing - have spiced things up to be a lot more exciting that real-life.
10Dentist
It is little wonder that dentists charge astronomical fees for the tiniest piece of dental work. No amount of money can compensate for the fact that they spend most of their life staring into someone's gammy gob. Seriously, you would charge an outrageous amount too if that was your fate everyday.
Only a masochist (or sadist) would get any pleasure out of dentistry, which perhaps explains why I enjoyed this unusual take on the shoot-everything-that-comes-from-the-sky genre. Play The Toothpaste Game here
If you can think of any other rubbish jobs that make for fun games, or think that we have missed out any cool job-based games, tell us all about it in the comments section below.
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