Space marines, knights, soldiers, cops, martial arts experts, pirates…some careers seem custom made for conversion into video games. Other professions, the ones more likely found in the realm of white collar, are less likely to be turned into an exciting video game. Or so you’d think…
Here are ten jobs considered mundane but have made so bloody fun video games.
Plumber
Ok, let’s get the obvious out of the way. The world’s most famous video game character is technically a plumber. He spends most of his time stomping on Goombas and collecting stars so his role as a plumber on screen is limited to Super Mario Sunshine.
Cleaning up stanky brown stuff in ‘Super Mario Sunshine’.
Plumbing does pop up in another couple of games. The various versions of Pipe Dream that have appeared over the years see players switching or moving tiles around to ensure the flow of water. The concept also featured in Bioshock as a hacking mini-game.
You may remember loosing many hours over this.
The Amiga cult classic Flood sees players taking control of Quiffy, a small green creature who travels about the sewers clearing rubbish and debris in order to keep the water flowing and prevent a flood.
If you remember this you had taste.
City Planner
Although it wasn’t the first game to take on this theme Sim City was certainly the biggest, and remains the leader of the genre. Zoning, transport routes, infrastructure and emergency services make for boring news cycles but it does make for a fun game. The series started in 1989 and is still a best seller.
This version of Sim City came with a ‘print’ function.
Other franchises such as The Settlers and Ceaser have also tackled the idea of planning a society but Sim City remains the purest city planning simulation.
Lawyer
Right up there with accountant as one of the ultimate white collar jobs, there’s almost no conceivable way being a lawyer could be converted into a video game format. Right?
You saw this coming.
Meet Phoenix Wright, the star of the massively popular Ace Attorney series, which has spawned many sequels, two spin-offs, a cross-over with Professor Layton and an appearance in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
Hospital Administrator
Running a theme park or a movie studio isn’t what one would consider mundane, so Theme Park and The Movies don’t make the cut. Running a hospital, on the other hand, is not the kind of job that people dream about having. Theme Hospital made it fun, but that might have something to do with the freaky illnesses coming in and being given a shotgun to wipe out the rat population.
Surgeon
Following on from hospital administrator is the people at the front lines of the medical profession. This one stretches the definition of ‘mundane’ as it is an intense job, but we’re going to justify it by factoring in the vast amount of study required. It’s a serious profession…but you wouldn’t know what playing Surgeon Simulator 2013. I hope they didn’t need those lungs, cause I dropped them under the table.
Like me, this player seems to have lost his watch in there…
There’s also the Trauma Centre series for those looking for a drama driven experience.
Customs Official
Yeah, I know I’ve mentioned this game a few times but I’m seriously hyped for the full version of Papers, Please being released. Check the papers, stamp the passports and scan for contraband – be thorough and fast.
Chef
With the touch screen came a whole new range of gaming possibilities, and few games tapped into this as well as Cooking Mama and the many copy cats that have arrived on the market. Using the stylus to chop, stir and cook is surprisingly fun. Having no mess to clean up is a bonus.
I have nightmares about those flaming eyes.
Postal Worker
Putting aside the surprisingly challenging Postman Pat adaptation for the Amiga the obvious pick here is Paperboy. Riding your bike and lobbing newspaper may be monotonous, but through in an entire suburb of people trying to ruin your shit and things get interesting.
Everyone is this neighbourhood is an asshole.
Farmer/Gardener
Cooking Mama expanded it’s line into the spin of series Gardening Mama, which took the same mechanics and put it to the green thumbs. Farmville is one of the most profitable and most reviled games in history, capitalising on the social networking explosion and irritating everyone. Putting an action spin on gardening is Plants vs Zombies where the player works to build a garden to defend your home from the undead.
Air Traffic Control
Sitting in front of a screen all day and giving out instructions to people flying planes my not feel like a thrill ride, but when everyone turns up at once it can be nail biting. Flight Control, an early hit on the iOS, begins simple enough but it isn’t long before you’re in a blind panic trying to keep all the planes coming in smoothly.
