Karoshi 2.0

By: Derek Yu

On: April 10th, 2008

The basic idea behind the original Karoshi was completely counter-intuitive to most games: in every level you must FIND A WAY TO KILL YOURSELF. It was harder than it seemed!

In Karoshi 2.0, creator Jesse Venbrux extends that metaphor across 42 more levels, creating some of the most LOL-worthy and mind-bending puzzles I have ever seen. This is a true battle between Man and Game, and Game is using every trick up its sleeve. Prepare to have your head messed with (sometimes literally). I love it!

Karoshi 2.0 also comes with a level editor and a timed version of the original game (minus the irritating blood splatters on the screen that obscured the playfield).

(Source: Auntie Pixelante, the awesome new games blog from dessgeega)

Posted in Freeware, Highly Recommended, Platformers, Unique / Bizarre, Windows | Tags: JesseVenbrux

Cycle

Haha, I just submitted a piece about this game for the next issue of PCPOWERPLAY, THE NUMBER ONE PC GAMING MAGAZINE IN AUSTRALIA (VERY INDIE FRIENDLY) and mentioned that I really wish it had more levels. MY WISH CAME TRUE. I’ll have to mention it next issue.
Nu

really great game, even better than the first
“Voice Over” Guy

Our regular posting will continue after that unscheduled advertisement.
Tantan

how2do level13?
Lolfo

Tantan: I think it has something to do with jumping..

How2do level22?
jkd

Awesome. I finished it in one sitting. :)

Don’t lump it in with difficult platformers like IWBTG; it’s much more of a puzzle game than a platformer.

Thank God for that, because the controls are ass!
jkd

I knew those “how do i do level x?” questions were coming. :)

Complete walkthrough (not written by me): http://forums.yoyogames.com/forums/5/topics/11836
sinoth

Very clever and fun game :)
Exoduster

Lolfo: No knowledge of the command prompt is required. Just remember your goal.

I’m stuck on 34…
Exoduster

Haha, never mind, just got it. That was really clever…
BTW

Level 5. Pressing x does not make my shooter shoot.
Melly

Genius.

*finds a music CD*
Adam Atomic

definitely brilliant!! Got stuck a few times, 45 was a real mind-melter with a brilliant solution…god that’s good stuff. Thank you for bringing the awesome, Jesse!!
http://www.farbs.org Farbs

My CD drive is broken :(
Zaphos

The author posted a version that doesn’t need a cd over on the indiegames comment thread for the game…
Zaphos

It’ll probably just get caught in the spam filter or something, but anyway here’s the link to the no-cd version: http://venbrux.com/karoshi2/Karoshi%202.0_nocd.zip
http://www.farbs.org Farbs

Oh cool, thx.
gustav

Two days ago i showed the first game to my girlfriend, not expecting much of a reaction. She loved it. The next day this comes out and we both had a complete blast playing it through.
This is definitely one of my favorite indie games EVER. Pure joy.
Mandrake42

Ooooh! A new Karoshi game, now I know what Im doing this evening :)
muku

Damn. I’m on level 5 too, and indeed pressing X does not shoot. I must be missing something…

This is much harder than the first one…
muku

Oh, shit. That was mean.
crackers

Everything up to the ending was good. The author really needs to learn when a joke has been stretched too far because it just ended up sucking.
agh

For those who get stuck, there is a walkthrough on IndieFAQs:
http://www.indiefaqs.com/index.php/Terry_Karoshi2
muku

Ha! I finished it. Man, this is this year’s Portal…
Richard

I’ve downloaded it three times now, and every time it says the .exe file is corrupt )-: I can’t get it from the YoYoGames either.
whocare

“press any key to skip loading” nice intro.) stuck once on “die”. cool game)
Pip

:O I absolutely loved the first game. Really out-of-the-box stuff. I was never expecting a sequel so quickly!
will

It make me real “idiot”.
mots

yeah, some nice little puzzles there..

what’s on the menu?

hint * you can’t eat anything off of it
Advenith

I found it a lot easier than the first one, actually. Damn great, though.
FishyBoy

No CD version doesn’t work for me. I reused a save file, so maybe that’s it? If I press escape, it just goes to the menu and nothing new happens.
mots

fishy, you don’t get the puzzle or it just doesn’t work?
Pip

Fish, you need some SPACE in your life.
Chiguire

Level 15, man… I fell off my chair… Hilarious.
gnawingonfoot

anybody know what the xfire url thing is on level 5?
Dusty Spur

Level 5 has some random stuff. I’ve only gotten a youtube link and a Paula Deen’s Home Cooking recipe. I’ve actually had the dish it was a recipe for: Bananas Foster with French Toast Croissants.
Tim

Dusty Spur/gnawingonfoot: hahaha

Now I know what you guys have been doing!
Andersonger

Gustav:

Interesting, also showed Karoshi (albeit number 2) to my girlfriend (whom had no previous experience with games at all) as a joke. She totally loved it! Was great fun working through the later levels together.

We were originally going to watch a movie, but after finishing she wanted to play more games! So we went through Samorost 1 and 2, and after that I got her addicted to Ouendan and DJ Max Portable and some puzzlers for the DS and PSP.

Conclusion: Karoshi works magic with the ladies. New pickup line: “Want to go to my room and kill yourself?”.
Disraptor

This game oozes extreme awesomeness from every cyber-pore.

And thanks to playing Karoshi 2, I discovered Karoshi 1.
http://www.venbrux.com Jesse

Andersonger, that’s really funny and great. I was surprised too when my younger sister really liked the game. It has broader appeal than I thought.

By the way. Level 5 just pastes what’s in your clipboard.
Andersonger

Oh, I was wondering about level 5.

I had been discussing Xbox360 achievement whoring with a friend on MSN earlier, and I ended the conversation by saying something like:
“Oh well, I’m off to the volleyball practise.
Gotta grab me some achievements!”

For some reason, I must have copy-pasted the “Gotta grab me some achievements!”, ’cause that’s what popped up in the game. I didn’t, however, remember having said that, so I thought it was some kind of nod to how there’s only violent, gun-toting games on the 360 (first time I saw the gun; started with Karoshi 2). Never mind that the copy pasted portion actually was in Swedish (Oh, the creator is from Sweden as well? Neat!)…

Not sure how I managed to make it through the game with a brain like this.
http://www.venbrux.com Jesse

Haha.. You just don’t expect it can be something from outside the game, especially I think because it’s also in the game’s font.

There was another game creator who thought the level was a nod at one of his own games. Apparently he had his game’s name in his clipboard.

I’m not from Sweden, even though it says so at TIGdb >_>