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Model Employee art: Penny, the green-haired AI with a headset and tie, sitting above a pink-lit city

Horror visual novelsPsychological horrorSci-fi and space horrorHorrorShort horror

Model Employee

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Your new job comes with an AI that watches every step.

Platforms
PC, Mac, Linux
Stores
itch.io
Price
Free
Rated
Rated 4.9 of 5 by 116 players on itch.io; Judges' Favorite and Grand Prize winner of the Spooktober VN Jam 2023
Length
90 to 120 minutes
Players
1
Controls
Left mouse or Space to continue, Esc for the pause menu, Ctrl to fast-forward, A for auto
Made by
Nth Circle
Released
2023
Get it on itch.io

What frightens The maker calls it a corporate horror visual novel: in 2086 you start work in one of Tethys's labyrinthine warehouses, deep in debt for life-saving cybernetics, and Penny, the artificial personality that controls security, waste disposal and employee surveillance, takes an interest in you. It warns of blood, death, drug use, surreality and glitching of the screen and UI.

Content: blood, death, drug use, screen glitch effects, strong language.

Model Employee is a free corporate horror visual novel. In 2086 you start work at the warehouse of the world's biggest online store, and Penny, the AI that runs its security and surveillance, decides you are worth her attention. It has four endings and takes about two hours.

About Model Employee

Model Employee is a horror visual novel by Nth Circle, written and directed by Brian Mulholland and made in a month for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2023, where it took the Grand Prize. It is free on itch.io for Windows, macOS and Linux.

It is 2086. Tethys is the largest online marketplace and shipping company on the planet, and you are its newest team member, just out of hospital and deep in debt for the cybernetics that saved your life. Its warehouses are vast, and every worker is tracked by Penny, a Personalized Employee Neural Network that handles security, waste disposal and surveillance. Penny takes an interest in you.

You read, choose replies and answer text messages on a screen framed like a work terminal, with a heart monitor, a balance in the corner and a feed of trending posts. The art mixes PC-98 style dithered character sprites with live 3D backgrounds. Much of it is darkly funny about work culture, and the horror creeps in through how far Penny will go to make you a model employee, with glitching scenes and blood.

A run takes about two hours, and there are four endings. The maker gives hints for the others on the itch.io page after your first playthrough.

How to play Model Employee

  1. Download the free build for Windows, macOS or Linux from the itch.io page and unzip it.
  2. Name your character and pick one of the two looks.
  3. Click or press Space to read on; pick replies when choices appear.
  4. Pay attention to what Penny asks of you; your answers to her decide the ending.
  5. After the first ending, open the Details hints on the itch.io page to reach the other three.

Screenshots

Model Employee screenshot: Donna in the green-lit waste disposal area, inside a work-terminal interface with a heart monitor and balance
Model Employee screenshot: a job interview held over text messages, asking what you have been doing for the past 18 years
Model Employee screenshot: the screen breaking up in red and blue glitches as Penny speaks
Model Employee screenshot: Scotch on the warehouse workfloor with a small Penny beside him and two reply choices
Model Employee poster: a giant grinning face with blue wings above a tiny worker, and the Model Employee logo

Tips

  • Your dialogue choices with Penny build affection points that matter for one ending.
  • Use Ctrl to skip text you have read when replaying for other endings.
  • Expect it to run longer than the stated time if you read at your own pace; one player took over three hours.
  • The download is about 1 GB.

Questions

Is Model Employee free?

Yes. It is a free download on itch.io for Windows, macOS and Linux.

How long is Model Employee?

The maker says 90 to 120 minutes, about 25,000 words.

How many endings does Model Employee have?

Four, depending on how you answer Penny.

Is Model Employee scary?

It is more unsettling and darkly funny than jumpscare horror: surveillance, manipulation, blood and glitching scenes.

  • visual novel
  • corporate horror
  • ai
  • surveillance
  • cyberpunk
  • pc-98 style
  • dark humour
  • jam game
  • naninovel

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Model Employee is played on nthcircle.itch.io and its makers' stores; this page links to them and is not part of it. Pictures are from the game's own pages and remain its owner's. Terms and pictures.

Sources: nthcircle.itch.io