Hi everyone, I’m Ice Lemon Tea, a recent graduate. I’m currently working on the game Thank You for Your Application with a few of my fellow graduates. As Chinese New Year approaches, we’d like to wish you all a happy New Year in advance!
We’re excited to announce that we’re participating in Steam’s Year of the Snake Chinese New Year event, so don’t forget to add our game to your wishlist! This is also a great chance for us to introduce our game and share some of our development plans with you.
When you see the game title, you can probably already guess that this is a game about interviews. During the autumn and spring recruitment seasons of 2023, I went through 15 rounds of interviews at the same company, only to be rejected in the end. That experience sparked my curiosity about the perspectives of interviewers and companies, which led me to create a game where the tables are turned—I become the interviewer! And that’s how Thank You for Your Application was born.
What does an interviewer do? - Screen CVs, conduct interviews, and reject candidates!
The gameplay is inspired by Papers, Please, Do Not Feed the Monkeys, and Not Tonight. Players will step into the role of an interviewer, using interview software to ask questions, review candidates’ resumes, and eliminate them using appropriate rejection tags.
Through diverse interview dialogues, the game aims to highlight the harsh realities of job hunting. While the interviewer holds the power to decide candidates’ fates, they must also balance the company’s demands and their own performance metrics.
What to do after work? - Pay rent, shop, and deal with family.
Beyond the job of conducting interviews, the game also explores the after-work life of a corporate employee. As a heavily discriminated outsider, the interviewer rents a designated apartment for non-locals in the outskirts of Aeropolis City. After work, they must manage high apartment rents and pay for a temporary residence visa. The stress of the job may take a toll on the interviewer’s mental health, so shopping becomes a way to unwind and relieve pressure.
What can you do in your apartment?
- Shop... Unlock hidden items!
- Reply to emails, chat with your family, or engage in some “less-than-legal” communication.
- Browse city forums for interesting posts.
- Admire the view from the edges of the city.
Choices for the Interviewer: Someone Else’s Life, My Life, The Gap Between Expectations and Reality
The game features multiple branching endings, where the choices you make as the interviewer, both during work and in your apartment, will influence how the story unfolds.
The company you work for, Aeropolis Lab, monopolises the city’s production system. The stark contrast between locals and non-locals, along with the omnipresence of intelligent robots, forms the foundation of this futuristic society.
As an interviewer, while you hold the power to decide candidates’ fates, you’re still just a pawn within a greater system. Through the clash between the perspectives of an interviewer and a worker, we aim to pose deeper questions: What does it mean to be successful? Is the goal we’re striving for truly worth it?
A Demo Is Coming Soon!
Thanks For Your Application has already gone through two rounds of offline testing. Based on the feedback, we’re working to refine the game’s content and aim to release a playable demo soon! If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or join our Discord channel to share your ideas! We’ll also keep you updated with the latest playtest opportunities in the community.