"Layoff" casual game launches

20 March 2009 13:53 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

A new casual game is keeping worried workers occupied in the current economic climate.

"Layoff" from Tiltfactor Labs and the Rochester Institute of Technology's Game Design and Development program is said to "examine the federal bailout of financial institutions".

High-falutin' aims aside for a second, it's a "Bejeweled" style simple puzzle game that gets players to line up similar workers in order to "lay them off".

Bankers can't lose their jobs in the game, but other professions, such as those in the construction industry, are fair game.

"The game has an unsettling feeling", said Mary Flanagan, the director of Tiltfactor Lab. "It is cute and fun to play, but when you realize how frightening the situation is, the game in fact functions as a very dark portent".