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	Title: (After Hours: Games) Bureaucracy: More Grief for the Frustrated
	Author: Michael W. Muchmore
	Source: PC Magazine, v5(15)
	Date: September 15, 1987
	Transcription by Steve Derby
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"Yap, yap, yap" is probably a good approximation of what bureaucratic
talk sounds like. It's also what Bongo the bank dog
says on the phone in the Murphy's-law world of *Bureaucracy*,
an interactive fiction game from Infocom.

The chirpy British humor is supplied by Douglas Adams,
author of *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*.

*Bureaucracy* challenges you to overcome a group of puzzles
culminating in the ultimate conundrum — how to make it to Paris
for a session of training and relaxation at your new employer's
expense.

To achieve this end you respond to the game's changing
situations, trying to say the right things and outwit the game's
logic. While offbeat places tempt you and shady characters
hinder your progress, at the same time they provide clues. If
you make it through this maze, you'll get your address change
form and paycheck so that you'll have enough money to
take the Get Lost cab to the airport. Meanwhile, a beeping
monitor of your "blood pressure" mirrors your rising frustration.

A Save command allows you to stop playing at any time
and continue your quest later: Infocom states that finishing
can take months.

Everyone to whom I showed *Bureaucracy* laughed, because
it does things unexpected from a computer; for one thing, it recognizes
most profanity. It is, however, a true challenge.

*Bureaucracy* would be a good gift for anyone who wields
large spools of red tape, or for anyone who enjoys solving
problems. But those who have no need for self-imposed frustration
would do well to leave this one alone.

**List Price:** *Bureaucracy*. $39.95.<br>
**Requires:** 128K RAM; 5¼-inch floppy disk drive; DOS 2.0 to 3.0.<br>
Not copy protected. Infocom. 125 Cambridge Park Dr., Cambridge,
MA 02140; (800) 262-6868; (617) 576-3190.
