Prime Time: Anti-capitalist game jam entry

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been building Prime Time for the F*ck Capitalism game jam. I wanted to make a simple idle game with a message, using my own game library, beep8.

Idle games are quick to prototype and easy to expand. I haven’t made one before, so I wanted to see how it worked. I kept it basic - no endless upgrade layers or complicated mechanics. I even kept the clicking to a minimum. Mostly you buy workers and upgrades and watch the numbers go up.

Satire felt right for an anti-capitalist theme. So in Prime Time, you play as “Geoff Bozo,” whose only goal is to become the richest person alive and blast off into space. It’s a direct poke at real-world billionaires chasing status while the world burns.

Tools and Art

I created all graphics with my beep8 textmode editor, which I recently released online. It’s minimal but effective for retro projects like this.

I’ve been really pleased with the feedback however some players said the news ticker was hard to read, so below I’ve included all the ticker and upgrade messages from the game so you can ‘enjoy’ them at your leisure.

News Ticker Messages

These message scroll across the bottom of the screen in Prime Time, simulating a news ticker. I wanted the messages to sound like real headlines whilst being darkly amusing & exaggerated.

• Productivity hits record high. Workers celebrate with 3-minute break
• BozoCorp achieves net-zero… ethics
• New AI tool replaces entire HR department. Nobody notices
• CEO pay rises 300%. Morale considered stable
• Customers demand faster shipping. CEO demands faster universe
• Investors thrilled as worker rights hit all-time low
• Company announces new strategy: Do More With Less Humanity
• All-hands meeting replaced with motivational email
• BozoCorp expands into sleep. Dreams now monetised
• Massive profits reported. Trickles of gratitude sent to staff
• Bozo announces plan to deliver dreams directly to your sleep
• Quantum server farm goes online. Time and space monetised
• New app lets users subscribe to basic human rights
• Now accepting organs as Prime Points
• Same-hour delivery coming soon. Retroactively
• Drone fleet upgraded with passive-aggressive voice alerts
• Fresh air now available as a subscription add-on
• Virtual shopping mall opens. Real world quietly dissolves
• AI therapist recommends shopping to improve mood
• Instant groceries now ordered directly by your fridge
• 100’s of local businesses close. BozoCorp expands into ‘local’ delivery
• Independant bookstore closes. BozoCorp opens ‘Bozo’s Book Nook’
• Toy shops close down citing ‘Bozo’s Toyland’ as competition
• BozoCorp announces new supermarket with no staff. Just you and the shelves
• BozoCorp purchases Brazil to use the rainforests for packaging material
• BREAKING: Worldwide pandemic. BozoCorp profits increase 500%. Geoff Bozo celebrates with a bigger yacht.
• BozoCorp announces new record. 2 days without a workplace injury and 5 days without a death
• Bozo announces new plan to buy the NRA. ‘We need to protect our interests’
• BozoCorp starts charging employees for parking
• In shock move BozoCorp moves all manufacturing and shipping to China
• To celebrate becoming a trillionaire Bozo has bought a private cruise ship
• BozoCorp opens first school. Free to everyone with a BozoCorp platinum subscription
• Everything is fine. Keep clicking
• Buy more. Smile more. Think less
• Your convenience is our excuse
• Trust the algorithm. It knows what you want
• You are the product, and business is booming
• Don’t forget to rate your surveillance experience
• Your loyalty is deeply appreciated… and tracked
• Remember: You asked for this
• Freedom is a premium feature
• Every click brings you closer to fulfilment
• Bozo announces new initiative: ‘Project Happiness’
• Weather: cloud storage with a chance of data leaks
• Bozo named Person of the Millennium by BozoCorp
• Warehouse 2 breaks record for most unpaid overtime
• New emoji added to express consumer loyalty
• New flavour of energy paste: compliance
• BozoCorp wins award for fastest apology deletion
• Analysts agree: numbers good
• Upgrade now to unlock the illusion of progress
• Please stand by for strategic synergy
• Congratulations! You are this month’s ideal consumer
• BozoCorp hacked. Data leaked. Bozo tells staff to ignore it and carry on
• President Flump declares every Friday ‘Bozo Appreciation Day’
• Flump signs executive order banning bathroom breaks in fulfilment centres
• President Flump tweets: ‘Bozo is the BEST. So rich. So smart. So handsome and strong.’
• Flump appoints Bozo as Secretary of Speed. No one knows what that means
• White House buys 10 million ‘Prime Patriot’ hats. Manufactured offshore
• Flump calls press conference to announce ‘Books are back. Only Bozo books.’
• President Flump claims unions are a hoax made up by ‘angry librarians.’
• New government task force launched: Committee for Infinite Growth (CIG)
• Flump reduces taxes for billionaires. Claims it’s ‘for the little guy.’
• Flump announces new initiative: ‘Billionaire Bonanza’
• Flump’s new policy: ‘More profits, less regulations.’
• Flump tweets: ‘I love Bozo. He’s the best. I’m the best. We’re all the best.’
• President Flump’s new slogan: ‘Make America Click Again’
• President Flump’s new book: ‘The art of the steal’
• Flump repeals anti-competition laws. Claims it’s ‘best for everyone.’
• Flump says BozoCorp is a ‘monopoly of awesomeness.’
• New Tax year. BozoCorp reveals they paid $0 in taxes
• Flump and Bozo seen together enjoying a greasy burger on the Whitehouse lawn
• Bozo gifts President Flump a rocketship for his record third term as president
• Felon Muck crashes rocket, blames gravity for ‘not being innovative enough’
• Muck’s social network rolls out ‘Pay to Post’ feature. Immediately breaks
• Felon Muck unveils new Nesla car: now 80% screens, 20% glue
• Bozo and Muck announce joint venture: ‘SkyMall 2.0 - This Time It’s Personal’
• Felon tweets: ‘Just vibing with Bozo. Thinking of merging our empires. Thoughts?’
• Muck declares free speech dead, unless you’re verified and paying
• Nesla update adds horn that tweets your location in real time
• Felon starts digging tunnel under fulfilment centre. ‘For fun’, he says
• Felon claims his brain chip can increase click rates by 300%
• Bozo and Muck spotted at summit titled ‘Monetising the Human Condition’
• Nesla recalled over fear of spontaneous combustion. Muck blames ‘bad vibes’
• Muck’s new book: ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People’
• Muck celebrates first batch of delivery drones. Says it will cut 1000’s of jobs
• Muck announces new car design: ‘The Model Z - Zero Ethics, Zero Regrets’
• Felon Muck has to recall the upcoming Model Z because it doesn’t have any brakes

Upgrade Messages

The upgrades in the game are used to improve your business. To finish the game you have to buy them all, whether you like it or not. Of course you could make a friendly sustainable business and just hire loads of people. It’s slower but eventually you’d earn the same money.

The upgrades start off relatively harmless, the same sorts of things any business might consider. But as you progress they become more and more ridiculous, poking fun at the extremes of capitalism and the lengths some companies will go to in the name of profit.

• Improve marketing
• Streamline packaging
• Hire junior accountant
• Hire senior accountant
• Introduce next-day delivery
• Open second warehouse
• Launch mobile app
• Use zero-hour contracts
• Upgrade servers
• Offer loyalty points
• Auto-sorting conveyor belts
• Expand product range
• Partner with military drones
• Introduce 16-hour shifts
• Introduce motivational posters
• Replace chairs with standing desks
• Hire social media intern
• Cancel DEI program
• Launch a podcast
• Install vending machines full of caffeine
• Time bathroom breaks
• Introduce productivity scorecards
• Remove sick leave
• Cancel pensions
• Gamify performance
• Fire lowest performer weekly
• Offer unpaid internships
• Outsource support overseas
• Sell customer data
• Mandatory overtime
• Open tax-free offshore entity
• Install keyloggers
• Hire morale officer
• Rename “staff” to “resources”
• Offer “voluntary” weekend shifts
• Buy competitor out
• Rename firings as “optimisations”
• Cut warehouse heating
• Replace HR with AI
• Sponsor political candidate
• Ban unions
• Fund anti-union propaganda
• Fire whistleblowers
• Replace workers with robots
• Monitor bathroom use
• Fine for late arrivals
• Use free prison labour
• Charge rent for locker use
• Lobby to deregulate safety
• Sell employee data
• Create fake worker reviews
• Gamify union-busting
• Install “Efficiency Drones”
• Create “wellness” programme
• Buy surveillance startup
• Build “smile or be fired” app
• Buy a news network
• Sell climate denial ads
• Move HQ to international waters
• Ban breaks via lobby loophole
• Run Squid Game event to boost productivity
• Run greenwashing campaign
• Start religion based on Bozo
• Open branded school
• Mine moon for profit
• Buy oxygen rights
• Use AI to auto-fire staff
• Charge for emotional support
• Monetise dreams
• Require company tattoos
• Launch BozoCoin
• Ban crying in warehouses
• Monetise time off
• Replace all remote workers with chatbots
• Start interplanetary tax shelter
• Lobby for Mars to be Bozo-only
• Create Bozo NFTs
• Erase worker memories daily
• Escape Earth in rocket ship

Prime Fun?

Prime Time was a quick project with the goal to poke fun at billionaire worship while highlighting real issues with modern capitalism. If you want to check out beep8 or play Prime Time yourself, you can find both online.

Amazon could pay workers more and still be wildly profitable - they choose not to.