Work Time Fun (or WTF) is a mini game collection on the PSP in the vein of WarioWare. It features 40 different mini games and a plethora of “toys” to unlock. The name WTF is a pun on the popular acronym “What the fuck?” in that a lot of what this game offers boarders well past strange.
The modus operandi for playing the game is such: you are in hell, and since you have nothing better to do, you can acquire jobs from the Work Demon to fill your day. The Work Demon will offer you 4 jobs at any one time. Pick one and proceed.
The jobs consist of all the different mini games. You initially start with 4 of them but unlock more as time goes on. Upon completion of a mini game (assuming some level of success), you will receive a paycheck which you can spend on one of a few different capsule toy machines. Most of the time you will get a random toy from the machine that will be stored in your collection and will contain a humorous or bizarre blurb about the toy. Sometimes you’ll get one of the many interactive “tools” hidden in the game; some of which range from the semi useful (a bill splitter), to the strange (a set of eyes on the PSP which you can hold up to your head over your real eyes), to the really strange (a Ramen Noodle timer featuring video of either a bikini clad woman or man). Lastly, you may unlock another mini game.
Here’s a list of all the Tools and Games you can unlock.
Games:
• 3 Count: Play as a wrestler and kick out of a pin count 3 times. The closer you kick out to “zero” the more money you make.
• 3 Legged Challenge: Play with a friend and take steps in rhythm to get to the end of the race.
• Animal Investigation Corps: Listen to zoologists reports for animals they’ve seen that day and tally up the results. Failure to do so sends the animal on a one way extinction course.
• Baseball Superstars: Field fly balls and throw them to first base. Miss three times and you’re out. Features an angry coach.
• Bouncer Bash: Insane groupies and fans want to get at the band. You’re there to stop them.
• Buddha’s Quest: A sort of RPG. I haven’t gotten it yet, but with names like “Poop Buddha”, I need to get it fast.
• Caddy’s Quest: Pick up golf balls from an infinitely large golf course one patch of grass at a time.
• Candy Shop: Match candy sticks with the request. You can send unwanted pieces back in the candy shute but be careful not to back the whole thing up.
• Chick Sorting: Sort baby chickens into Male, Female, and Dead categories.
• Cliff Race 2000: Race at a cliff at breakneck speeds. Slam on your breaks and try to stop as close to the edge as possible without going over.
• Cliff Race 2000 VS: A two player version of Cliff Race 2000; both of you race to see who can stop closest to the edge of the cliff.
• Copy Cat: A nasty version of Simon. Repeat the pattern.
• Copy Cat 2: A two player version of Copy Cat. Take turns repeating the pattern.
• Demonstration Roundup: Visit nearby buildings and gather people up to join you at a demonstration rally (WE AGREE!!!) in an increasingly longer and longer line. Run into the cops and they’ll break up your group.
• Drunken Mayor: Haven’t played this one yet, but apparently you do mayoral things and keep the world from Global Thermonuclear War.
• Elf King: One of the most frightening games you’ll ever play. Your son is possessed, ride to the elf king as fast as possible to cure him.
• Four Fingers: A game of mumblety-peg. Stab between your four fingers with an ice pick. You lose when you stab yourself.
• Ghost Psychic: Decide if the ghost in the picture is real or fake.
• Hand Bell Delight: A rhythm game. Ring your hand bells in time with the song and enjoy huge breasted anime chicks in the process.
• Happy Bullet: Haven’t gotten this one yet either. Shoot a sad person with a bullet to make them happy.
• Hell Pottery: Fire up your kiln and make a pot. Throw things into the fire to keep the temperature optimal.
• Karate Superstar: Punch random (and sometimes very strange) objects out of the air. Perfect timing is required.
• Lumberjack: Split wood but be careful not to chop the bunnies or dolphins in half.
• Lumberjack Challenge: A two player version of Lumberjack. One player only cuts blue logs and one player only cuts red logs.
• Mad Dribblin: Keep the soccer ball in the air.
• Mushroom Xing: You’ve taken some bad shrooms and now you’re playing in traffic. Sort of like Frogger, your goal is to get across the street.
• The Net: Cast a net and come back to reel it in when the fisherman tells you to. Can be up to 10 hours.
• Pendemonium: You’re put to work in a pen factory putting caps on pens. It’s about as exciting and as fun as it sounds. Sometimes the pens are backwards so you’ll need to rotate them to put the cap on the right end.
• Perfect Nanny: Stop the baby’s from crying.
• Pollinator: Just like Lunar Lander but you’re landing your “seed” on a new planet.
• Private Number: Guess the last four digits of a girls phone number in a game sort of like Mastermind.
• Private Number Deluxe: Just like Private Number but with new girls.
• Private Number Executive: Just like Private Number but with new girls.
• Ready to Order: Take a restaurant order from a large group of indecisive assholes.
• RPS World Championship: It’s a rock, paper, scissors tournament.
• Run Like Heck: Haven’t actually gotten this one yet, but throw food at a monster than run away.
• Séance: Work with a friend to summon the dead; use rhythm to make the spirit appear.
• Space Blaster: Haven’t gotten this game yet, but it’s apparently a shooter. Kill 3 bosses.
• Traffic Counter: You’ve got a clicker and it’s your job to count “humans” as they cross the screen.
• William Hell: Shoot the apple.
Tools:
• Bingo: You supply the cards; the PSP will supply the balls!
• Chinese Astrologer: Find out what sign you were born under.
• Counter: Convert units! Pounds to Kilos, Decimal to Binary. The world is yours!
• Eye Spy: A fake set of eyes.
• Handy Light: A bright light available in different shades.
• King of the Castle: Allow you to play a game called “King of the Castle” with friends. Essentially a strange version of truth or dare.
• Matchmaker: Find out if you’re compatible with someone.
• Ramen Timer: A countdown to when your delicious ramen will be cooked.
• Restaurant Bill Splitter: Split a bill!
• World Clock: Tell time in Singapore!
In addition to playing the games and collecting toys, you can achieve awards for performing well (or very poorly) in each game. Think of these like achievements.
And one of the final elements of the game is the various emails you’ll get from your “co-workers”. These serve no function in the “game” itself, but add a lot of color to the strangely compelling monotony of the rest of the WTF experience.
Ok, so the game is wacky and features lots of strange things. What makes this game noteworthy?
Subtext.
The whole game is an unapologetically scathing send-up of the mini game genre. This is more relevant than ever in the wake of the Wii and DS with dozens of “mini-game” collections available and most selling very well. From the name of each game, to the crap toys you can buy, to the fabulous use of the game medium (there’s a lot of speech in this game); all of it is sticking its finger in the face of every other mini-game collection, most definitely including itself. From the setting (hell) to the objectives (count stuff, listen to stuff, press a button over and over into infinity) to the rewards (a plastic piece of crap out of a vending machine), all of it speaks to what consumers expect from a game like this.
On that front, if the criteria in defining something as art is to “say something”; than this game delivers in spades. But it’s still a game, right? Is it worth actually playing for something other than just the experience? The short answer is yes.
This game succeeds on a lot of levels. None of the mini games in and of themselves would be considered excessively “fun”, but as a collective group, there are a lot of things going on. Some games like Demonstration Roundup and Bouncer Bash are indeed fun; nothing complex or engaging but are enjoyable to play. Some games like Mad Dribblin, Karate Superstar, and Four Fingers are extremely simple but somehow ink out a very addictive quality to them. Other games like Caddy’s Quest, Chick Sorting, and Pendemonium are the definition of tedium but their inclusion in the game speaks volumes about how droll most supposed fun games really are. And yet others like Buddha’s Quest, 3 Count, and Hand Bell Delight are great send-ups of established conventions in other video games.
The tools are parodies in and of themselves. Bingo without cards? During your PSP into a light? A ramen timer? The developers definitely had tongue planted firmly in cheek here.
This is truly an example of where the sum far outweighs the parts. You may not be playing this with the same frequency as a WarioWare, but man, you’ve gotta at least take the trip.
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