Bureaucracy

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Description

Bureaucracy is a text adventure game that describes the misadventures of a person who has recently moved to a new apartment and begins to fall victim to various bureaucratic procedures that always go wrong. He can't receive his mail, access his bank account, or generally lead a normal life; all his activities are impeded by needless and confusing hurdles. In order to retrieve the lost mail and put his life back on track, the protagonist will have to meet exotic characters and perform various tasks while being constantly threatened by various bureaucratic occurrences.

The gameplay involves typing commands composed out of verb and object combinations, used to interact with the game world and solve puzzles. In addition, a special "blood pressure" meter will gradually fill itself the more the protagonist is bothered by bureaucratic annoyances. Once this meter is completely full, the player character suffers an aneurysm, and the game ends.

Screenshots

Promo Images

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Alternate Titles

• "Bureaucracy - A Paranoid Fantasy" -- Tag-lined title

User Reviews

Hilarious and difficult with a twisted logic of its own	DOS	Ingold (134)
Awesome, laugh-out-loud, text game	DOS	Terrence Bosky (5459)
An interesting and funny game concept is very frustrating in practice due to the difficulty of the puzzles and the lack of direction in the game	DOS	Droog (522)
Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?	DOS	Mirrorshades2k (282)

Critic Reviews

Your Commodore	Commodore 128	Aug, 1987	27 out of 30	90
Zzap!	Commodore 128	Jul, 1987	90 out of 100	90
Amstrad Action	DOS	Jun, 1987	89 out of 100	89
Happy Computer	DOS	Jul, 1987	87 out of 100	87
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Amiga	Jul, 1987	10.25 out of 12	85
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	Atari ST	Jul, 1987	34 out of 40	85
Just Games Retro	DOS	May 10, 2008		80
Commodore User	Commodore 128	Jul, 1987	7 out of 10	70
The Good Old Days (Staff Reviews only)	DOS	Nov 08, 2020	4 out of 6	67
All Game Guide	Macintosh	1998		60

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Trivia

69,105

Infocom's famous 69,105 number is used in this game to refer to a ticket number and an internal error.

Cover

Unlike the other Infocom grey-box releases, which featured positive comments from publications and players on the inside box flap, Bureaucracy (in the spirit of the game's content) reprints some of the complaints Infocom received.

Extras

According to the Infocom Home Page, the game package contained "You're ready to move!" bank brochure, a letter from your new boss, a membership flyer for "Popular Paranoia", a red pencil, and a Beezer card application form (in triplicate).

Information also contributed by Sciere and Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe

Related Web Sites

• Infocom Home Page (Fan site that is the last word about all things Infocom.)
• Let's play Douglas Adams' Bureaucracy. [Your blood pressure just went up.] (A playthrough of the game with commentary, originally from the Something Awful forums. )
• Solution to Bureaucracy (by Erik Futtrup, Denmark and Twan Lintermans, Holland )
• The Commodore Zone (All about the game with introduction, images, related links and comments area.)
• The Infocom Gallery (High-quality scans of the grey box package and manual of Bureaucracy.)