Most people who survive years in the corporate world come away with stories, but this one came away with a board game concept.

When a former corporate worker quit his job and started developing a Lovecraftian horror card game built entirely around the absurdity of modern office life, he already had enough real-world material from HR to fill the deck twice over.

And redditors came with even more great ideas.

Keep reading for the full story.

Help me design the most soul-crushing HR cards for my satirical ‘Nightmare Office’ game.

After years in corporate, I’ve realized that workplace “culture” is often scarier than actual horror fiction.

So after walking away, one former employee had a brilliant idea.

I quit my last job in September and I’m currently developing a game called I.T. Never Ends — where you attempt to survive working IT support in a megacorp that has been taken over by Lovecraftian entities, though the management style remains unchanged.

He’s taken ideas from many traumatic workplace events he’s actually experienced.

I have about 1,500 cards and scenarios so far, mostly based on the absurdity of modern labor. I’m looking for more real-world examples of “corporate horror” to turn into game encounters.

Some current mechanics and encounters:

• The “Pizza Party” Ritual — boosts morale by 5%, but costs 2 hours of unpaid life-force and requires a sacrifice to the breakroom microwave.
• The Eternal Standup — a “quick sync” that lasts several generations. You eventually age and die while the lead is still talking about “deliverables.”
• “We’re a Family” — HR (now a sentient hive mind) explains that you’ve been written into the company’s will as a donor of biomass.
• Optimized for Wellness — a narrative ending where HR removes everything that makes you unhappy, including your personality and free will.
• The 4:59PM Ticket — a “high priority” request from a user who is currently boarding a flight and won’t be available to explain what they actually need until Monday morning.

I’m looking for the worst quotes, HR policies, or “corporate doublespeak” you’ve encountered.

Now this is a board game that’s sure to capture imaginations.

Reddit comes up with several other great ideas.

There’s nothing worse than a PIP.

What about being passed over for a well-deserved raise?

Or disrespecting vacation time.

Or just changing everyone’s roles around.

Turns out, the gap between “workplace culture” and actual horror fiction is smaller than most people want to admit.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.