The Office

Throughout the years we've seen so many video games turned into games. Many movies have also been turned into games, since a certain fashion spawned trying to make more money based on a Hollywood production.

But I don't think many would have bet on a British TV Show. After turning very popular in North America, this little gig got itself a game with the same name, "The Office".

This is pretty much a breath of fresh air in the casual gaming industry, even if not too long ago a similar game was released called "Miss Management". Even so, these two games have a different game-play action. In Miss Management you had to carefully watch the employee stress levels, while in The Office you must focus on beating your opponents.

Now, if you are not familiar with the TV series, there's no problem at all. You can still enjoy the pleasures of this game, even if those who know the stuff could possibly have more fun.

The idea is simple. Michael - also known as "the world's worst boss", comes up with another "brilliant" idea and that is to hold an efficiency competition. You take the role of Jim and you will go against Dwight weirdo, prince charming Ryan, evil Andy, boring Angela and in the end, even bossy Michael himself.

What you have to do in this game is not that hard, but not an easy task either. You must grab folders from the cabinet that won't stop filling with duties, pick up print outs from the printer which other colleagues have sent, pass out colored folders and gather the complete tasks for filing.

After a few levels you will finally have some fun too (not that you won't until then). But now you will get the chance to test the "prank-meter". This can be activated once you gathered enough points while running around like crazy and fulfilling your office duties.

Once this meter is filled to the maximum, you (Jim) can start making pranks for your opponents. Some of these pranks are a direct reference to the TV show - but that doesn't matter that much. In any case, the role of the prank is to slow down the opponents. It's interesting to know that it could be a good idea to play this game with speakers. Some of the pranks contain dialogs and you could miss some good jokes.

Playing along and making Jim win will bring him some awards. Unfortunately there are no money-awards, but Michael's World's Best Boss mug, Dwight's bobble-head, the Jell-O-covered stapler and other items can be yours. The extra points gained in the game are awarded with trophy creativity.

As you go up in levels, the power-ups are increasing and new co-workers are added to the game. Each one of the employees has with it a special power-up. Getting these power-ups will make Jim gain extra points that at their turn will make the prank-o-meter load faster, or extending the life of the coffee supercharger and other office related stuff. But this is not an easy task. Before having green light to an employee power-up your character must work hard for it. Don't forget that there's a limited number of power-ups per level that you can gain.

The coffee maker in the office must be taken as an ally. Filling up coffee will speed up Jim's pace. It can be used as a prank instrument and tapping it will make Jim take credit for his opponent's completed task. Fun, isn't it?

There are a lot of other stuff that you must do in the game, like coming up with supplies for your co-workers or picking up all the stuff that at times Michael scatters around the room.

The graphics of the game is the best ever, but this won't be noticed so much, especially in levels when Jim will be engaged in more than 100 tasks. And that's another "annoyin'" thing. The game gets too frantic at times.

But in the end, like I said before, this is a breath of fresh air, a game that will for sure make your day better. Enjoy!