Bureaucracy (video game)

Infocom

Industry	Video game development and publishing
Founded	1979
Headquarters	United States
Products	Interactive fiction games, including Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is an interactive fiction title launched by Infocom in 1987, with its narrative crafted by the renowned comic science fiction writer Douglas Adams. As Infocom's twenty-fourth release, it belongs to the Infocom Plus series and requires a minimum of 128K memory to operate.

Plot

Players must overcome a tangled web of bureaucratic hurdles triggered by a change of address that disrupts mail delivery and access to banking services. A unique feature of the game is a simulated blood pressure system that escalates with aggravating incidents, potentially causing an aneurysm that results in game termination.

Throughout the mission to recover misrouted mail, players will meet unusual personalities including a hacker, a suspicious weapons collector, and a group of Zalagasan cannibals, all while contending with impersonal corporations, perplexing airport formalities, and a famished llama.

Gameplay

Infocom classified Bureaucracy as an "Advanced" level challenge.

The adventure starts with an online "software registration form," humorously altered during play (for example, incorrect gender references and repeated mentions of the player’s "least favourite colour"). The game world comprises 50 distinct locations.

Release

To enhance player immersion, the packaging contains several physical "feelies":

1. A brochure entitled You're ready to move! from the fictional entity Fillmore Fiduciary Trust
2. A flyer advertising the fictional publication Popular Paranoia
3. A welcome note from the new employer, Happitec Corporation
4. A Fillmore "Better Beezer" credit card application form with varied instructions unique to each copy
5. A slender pencil styled after those commonly used in banking institutions

Reception

Approximately 40,000 units of Bureaucracy were sold. Compute!'s Gazette commended its parser capabilities along with the creative integration of physical feelies and the blood pressure mechanic. Reviewers Hartley and Patricia Lesser described it as "an outrageous journey through red tape," combining humor with intricate bureaucratic challenges. Jerry Pournelle selected it as his October 1987 game of the month, noting that he and Larry Niven found themselves "engrossed." Computer Gaming World emphasized its demanding puzzles set within surreal environments.

Reviews

• Your Commodore (August 1987)
• Zzap! (July 1987)
• Amstrad Action (June 1987)
• Happy Computer (July 1987)
• ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) (July 1987)
• Computer and Video Games (July 1987)
• ATARImagazin (June 1987)
• Commodore User (July 1987)

See also

• Infocom

External links

• Bureaucracy at the Infocom Gallery
• Bureaucracy at Infocom-if.org
• Bureaucracy at the Internet Archive
• Infocom Bugs List entry