“Have you tried turning it off and on again?” Anybody
who’s computer literate will be familiar with this phrase and the frustration
of being ‘the guy’ nominated to help users that just don’t know the first thing
about computers. But now, the ability to become ‘the tech guy’ has found its
own intriguing-looking videogame! In the game ‘Tech Support: Error Unknown’ made by indie studio Dragon Slumber, players will be able to climb the corporate ladder of a company by quickly
resolving customer support tickets and earning commission for providing prompt,
helpful IT support.
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| The game's interface appears to make accessible the hack-em-up mechanics. Source: Dragon Slumber website |
However, the game’s trailer, shown below, quickly
begins to show something deeper underneath the simulation of an IT Support
employee. Gamers can also choose to go rogue by joining a hacking group and
committing cyber crime. One of the game’s many features includes ‘blackmailing
customers for personal gain’. Interestingly there also seems to be a deeper
storyline running underneath the narrative, with ‘hack your way to the truth’
being a prominent message in the trailer.
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| The result of a realistic-looking operating system is that the game appears immersive. Source: Dragon Slumber |
As a game, Tech Support: Error Unknown looks unique,
fun and compelling, with what looks to be a solid simulation of being an IT
support worker and a story that quickly grabs you and pulls you into a world of
cyber crime and corporate gain. The game’s developer, Kevin Giguere, was
intrigued by the prospect of trying to make a game based on something so
mundane as tech support interesting. The result is a computer management
sandbox with procedural conversations with interesting characters and an
interesting underlying storyline to the mix.
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| Solving customer's problems, or hacking them, is central to Tech Support: Error Unknown, as is managing conversations with them. Source: Dragon Slumber. |
The potential solutions look to offer a decidedly
sand-box way of solving problems, from hacking the customers’ computers to
tracking their GPS, there are a myriad of tools available to the player to
solve their customers’ problems. Tech Support: Error Unknown certainly looks
like a game to watch, especially as it treads into an oft-overlooked hack-em-up
genre and offers something that looks as accessible and fun as it does
interesting and educational.
For more information, players can visit the Dragon Slumber website, the game's Steam page, or Dragon Slumber's Twitter.
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