Try your hand at the hilariously bleak job market in this Earthbound-like game

Leigh Alexander 10:01 am Wed Aug 5, 2015

tarantu1

Knuckle Sandwich is an upcoming RPG by Melbourne-based Andrew Brophy, and Tarantula is a sort of mini preview-episode that's full of chart and harm. Um, heart and charm! It uses stylistic influences from the beloved Earthbound games to form the spine of a wonderfully-absurd adventure about a luckless young man in search of a job.

Brophy calls Knuckle Sandwich is "an RPG thing based on my teen years and all the terrible jobs I had." Tarantula is about the search for those jobs, bringing you on a friendly bus trip to an assembly-line job center that conceals a depressing game show theatre at the back—but you should really see it for yourself.

pqL4T3

The art is wonderful, familiar and refreshing simultaneously, and the music, from artists like Sun Stains, Mushbuh and others, really stands out.

CQYULi

A free demo of Tarantula will be imminent. Learn more about the full game, Knuckle Sandwich, here.

The Offworld Collection available to order

The Offworld Collection, presenting the very best features and essays from Offworld, is finally available to buy directly from Campo Santo for $40. I had the pleasure of designing and… READ THE REST
This week in games: inactivity, brutalism, The Witness and more

Zoya Street, curator of Critical Distance, offers slow reflections on the fast-paced world of digital play… READ THE REST
What was it like working a Nintendo hotline in the 80s?

This week, our partnership with Critical Distance brings us reading on parenting via Tomb Raider, the utility of the word 'gameplay', and experiences from Nintendo 'play counselors' from the 1980s and 90s. READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST