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A Queens, New York, man tired of backstabbing and office politics quit his job as a technical consultant and created a board game — about backstabbing and office politics.
Sysifus Corp. mirrors the “death by 1,000 papercuts” Wonmin Lee, 30, said he felt while working for software company Citrix
CTXS,
“You can only write so many stupid corporate emails before it really gets to your soul and you ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’” the Astoria native told The Post.
The goal of the four-player game is for each player to visit three executives in their corner offices, suck up to them and then make it back for a performance review in the last corner. Along the way, players draw cards like “start a rumor” or “shift the blame” that slow down opponents.
For anyone tired of toxic office culture, Sysifus Corp is “the closest you can get to legally stabbing your coworkers in the back ”according to its website.”
The board looks like a standard office – sterile and gray, full of cubicles, fake ficus plants and workers at keyboards. Spaces that dictate where players move resemble Post-it-laden computer screens which feature jargon-filled emails with messages like, “Remember to CYA before EOD when you are OOO on PTO or WFH.”
“It’s jargon that makes no sense, but everyone still agrees to use it,” Lee said.
The game, which has sold 500 copies and can be purchased online and at Gamestoria in Queens for $40, was released in September, a month when 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in the ongoing trend economists have dubbed The Great Resignation.
“I’ve been able to ride the wave of that. A lot of people resonate with quitting their jobs and trying to do their own thing,” said Lee, who left his job in 2016 and has turned game design into his full-time work. “I’m kind of like a hipster in that sense. I did it before the pandemic.”
