Dilbert's Desktop Games

{{Short description|1997 video game}} {{Infobox video game | title = Dilbert's Desktop Games | image = Dilbert's Desktop Games cover.gif | caption = | developer = Cyclops Software | publisher = DreamWorks Interactive | released = {{vgrelease|NA|October 1997<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' |url=http://www.gamespot.com/puzzle/dilbert/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980121151234/http://www.gamespot.com/puzzle/dilbert/index.html |archive-date=January 21, 1998 |access-date=July 22, 2024 |website=GameSpot |quote=Released: 10/97}}</ref>}} | genre = Puzzle, action | modes = Single-player | platforms = Windows }}

'''''Dilbert's Desktop Games''''' is a 1997 video game developed by Cyclops Software and published by DreamWorks Interactive for Microsoft Windows. It is a series of ten casual games and activities based on the characters of the Scott Adams comic strip ''Dilbert'', with Adams having contributed to the creative direction of the game. The games, many being imitations of arcade games, feature Dilbert competing with or thwarting his colleagues and bosses in the office. Upon release, ''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' received a mixed reception upon release, with some critics praising it as a humorous budget title, and other critiquing its limited content and play value.

== Gameplay ==

[[Image:Dilbert game 01.png|thumb|right|The ''Techno Raiders'' minigame.]]

''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' is embedded into the computer desktop.<ref name=AG/> Gameplay consists of a collection of ten games and activities undertaken as Dilbert and supporting characters,<ref name=site>{{cite web|website=Dreamworks Games|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games|date=1997|accessdate=13 April 2026|archivedate=6 December 2000|url=http://www.dreamworksgames.com/Games/dilbert/index.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001206051600/http://www.dreamworksgames.com/Games/dilbert/index.html}}</ref><ref name=CGW>{{cite magazine|magazine=Computer Gaming World|title=Dilbert's Desktop Distractions|issue=159|date=October 1997|pages=60|url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_159/mode/2up?q=%22Dilbert%27s+Desktop+Games%22}}</ref> with an overarching objective of assembling the pieces of a Game Machine by completing the seven games.<ref name=GS/><ref name=CGSP>{{cite magazine|magazine=Computer Games Strategy Plus|title=Road to Nowhere: Dinos and Dilbert at Dreamworks|pages=98|last=Yans|first=Cindy|issue=81|date=August 1997|url=https://archive.org/details/CGStrategyPlus_assorted/CG-StrategyPlus-81/page/n99/mode/2up?q=%22Dilbert%27s+Desktop+Games%22}}</ref> Completion of the Game Machine allows players to print a certificate of merit as a "big reward of time well-wasted".<ref name=AG/><ref name=APC/><ref name=GS/> Players can also press a button to quickly hide the game and save their progress.<ref name=ND>{{cite magazine|magazine=Newsday|title=Off the comics page, Onto Your Computer `Dilbert` leaps into cyberspace|last=Gill|first=Ronnie|date=7 January 1998|pages=C04|url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/plug-play-cruising-entertainment-highway-reviews/docview/279102188/se-2?accountid=196403}}</ref>

There are seven games, with many imitating arcade games.<ref name=PCG/> ''Boss Evaders'' is a satire of ''Space Invaders'' in which Dilbert runs across the screen, avoiding "pink slips" from his bosses, and firing back with "status reports" from behind shields taking the form of paper trays.<ref name=APC/><ref name=PCG/> Players earn points for targets that Dilbert hits, including 10 for hitting his executive, 20 the vice president, and 30 his boss.<ref name=APC/> ''Can-O-Matic 2'' is a shooter similar to ''Missile Command'', where Catbert can shoot his employees from a giant cannon at randomly-generated targets.<ref name=CGW/><ref name=PCG/> ''CEO Simulator'' is a business simulation game,<ref name=CGW/> where players build a company and its employees, managing employee morale by operating a slot machine.<ref name=PCG/> The game features incremental elements, with players monitoring progress that occurs in the background whilst they explore the other games in the software.<ref name=LH/> In ''Elbonian Airlines'', players launch company employees into the air to hit randomly-generated targets using a giant slingshot.<ref name=PCG/> ''Enduring Fools'' is a whack-a-mole type game that places irritating characters on the player's desktop which can be shot with Dogbert's stun gun, distorting the screen.<ref name=CGSP/> The game has no win or lose state.<ref name=PCG/> In ''Project Pass-Off'', Dilbert and Zimbu compete in air hockey set on a meeting table. As Dilbert, players pass good work projects that fall onto the table into their zone, and pass bad projects onto their opponent.<ref name=CGW/><ref name=PCG/> ''Techno Raiders'' is a platformer, which requires players to vertically navigate mazelike levels of an office, collecting donuts and gadgets whilst zapping co-workers with his cell phone and avoiding secretaries.<ref name=CGW/><ref name=LH/><ref name=PCG/> Each of the game's 120 levels must be completed to obtain a Game Machine piece.<ref name=AG/><ref name=CGSP/>

The game also features three additional activities. ''The Final Word'' is a tool allowing players to use rubber stamps with phrases from Dilbert, such as ''This has long day written all over it'', onto their desktop screen.<ref name=PCG/><ref name=GS/> Using ''The Jargonator'', players take text input and exchanges words with corporate jargon:<ref name=CGSP/><ref name=PCG/> for instance, the phrase ''the project should be completed soon'' is converted to ''the undertaking should be completed real soon [and] analyses of the situation must be transformed into strategy alternatives''.<ref name=CCH/> ''Intrusive Mode'' is a switch which, turned on, plays "irritating sounds and images" on the desktop.<ref name=site/>

== Development ==

''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' was the first software title developed under the ''Dilbert'' license acquired by DreamWorks Interactive,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=For kids, a multimedia holiday of learning, 3-D Morphing and virtual Barbie|last=Olson|first=Catherine Applefeld|volume=109|issue=34|date=23 August 1997|pages=72|url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/kids-multimedia-holiday-learning-3-d-morphing/docview/227101828/se-2?accountid=196403}}</ref> and created by Cyclops Software under its ''Desktop Toys'' series of titles.<ref>{{cite web|website=Desktop Toys|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games|author=Cyclops Software|date=1997|accessdate=13 April 2026|archivedate=14 February 1998|url=http://desktoptoys.com/dilbert.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19980214194910/http://desktoptoys.com/dilbert.html}}</ref> Creator Scott Adams retained creative control over the project, which was developed with Santa Monica development studio Cyclops Software.<ref name=CGSP/> The game was marketed as a casual game for the work desktop,<ref name=CCH>{{cite magazine|magazine=Central Coast Herald|title=An easy Pacific holiday hunt|last=Quinn|first=Roderick|date=12 December 1997|url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/easy-pacific-holiday-hunt-interface/docview/365092534/se-2?accountid=196403}}</ref> with DreamWorks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg describing it as a "way to kill a few minutes whenever you're waiting on hold on the telephone".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Newsday|title=Cruising the Entertainment Highway|last=Gelmis|first=Joseph|date=24 September 1997|pages=C04|url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/plug-play-cruising-entertainment-highway/docview/279049828/se-2?accountid=196403}}</ref>

==Reception==

{{ video game reviews

| Allgame = 4/5<ref name=AG>{{cite web|website=Allgame|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games - Review|last=Smith|first=Nick|accessdate=12 April 2026|archivedate=16 November 2014|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=5481&tab=review|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116204841/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=5481&tab=review}}</ref>

| GSpot = 5/10<ref name=GS>{{cite web|website=GameSpot|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games Review|last=Foster|first=Hugo|date=28 October 1997|url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dilberts-desktop-games-review/1900-2539731/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624051538/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dilberts-desktop-games-review/1900-2539731/|archivedate=24 June 2014|accessdate=12 April 2026}}</ref>

| PCGUS = 24%<ref name=PCG>{{cite magazine|magazine=PC Gamer|date=December 1997|issue=43|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games|last=Whitta|first=Gary|pages=207|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/349.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990821060303/http://www.pcgamer.com:80/reviews/349.html|archivedate=21 August 1999}}</ref>

| rev1 = ''APC'' | rev1Score = 3/5<ref name=APC>{{cite magazine|magazine=APC|date=February 1998|title=Is Dilbert A Replicant?|pages=169-70|last=Holroyd|first=Eric|url=https://archive.org/details/apc-199802/page/n229/mode/2up?q=%22Dilbert%27s+Desktop+Games%22}}</ref>

}}

''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' received a mixed reception on release. Some critics found the game amusing as an outlet for time wasting at work,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Newsweek|date=3 November 1997|last=Gajlan|first=Tobias Arlyn|title=Counterproductive diversions}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=PC Games|date=December 1997|title=Dilbert's Desktop Games|pages=110|url=https://archive.org/details/pc-games-december-1997/page/110/mode/2up?q=%22Dilbert%27s+Desktop+Games%22}}</ref> and felt the game was appropriately priced as a budget title.<ref name=CGSP/><ref name=ND/> Nick Smith of ''Allgame'' wrote that the game was ideal for "quick minutes of occasional fun" as a workplace distraction although "not the kind of gaming experience which you would spend more than an hour at once".<ref name=AG/> Other critics felt the game offered limited value and was a missed opportunity for the use of the ''Dilbert'' license.<ref name=GS/><ref name=PCG/> Hugo Foster of ''Gamespot'' considered the games "entertaining but lightweight", finding many were derivative of arcade games and their humor fell short of that in the comic strip.<ref name=GS/> Describing ''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' as a "lazy cash-in", Gary Whitta of ''PC Gamer'' critiqued the lack of complexity, fun, and playtime across the games and activities, writing that "ten uninspired products bundled together just make one bigger uninspired product".<ref name=PCG/>

Retrospectively, ''GameSpot'' discussed the game as part of a series of satirical office-themed desktop software such as ''Microshaft Winblows'' or ''The Laffer Utilities''.<ref>{{cite web|website=PC Gamer|title=Crapshoot: The Stephen King 'game' that will take you to a dark place|last=Cobbett|first=Richard|date=18 July 2020|accessdate=12 April 2026|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-stephen-kings-f13/}}</ref> Nick Douglas of ''Lifehacker Australia'' stated the tone of ''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' matched the game's light satirical tone, and considered that ''CEO Simulator'' was the software's most effective imitation of office life.<ref name=LH>{{cite web|website=Lifehacker Australia|title=Officecore: 10 Games That Simulate Boring Jobs|last=Douglas|first=Nick|date=15 July 2017|url=https://au.lifehacker.com/news/95145/officecore-10-games-that-simulate-boring-jobs|accessdate=12 April 2026}}</ref>

=== Accolades ===

''Dilbert's Desktop Games'' received the award for the Best Home Entertainment Product/Game at the 1999 3rd Golden Satellite Awards held by the International Press Academy.<ref>{{cite web|website=International Press Academy|title=1999 3rd Annual Satellite Awards|url=http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards1999.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201175700/http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/awards1999.shtml|archivedate=1 February 2008|accessdate=12 April 2026}}</ref>

==References== <references />

{{Portal|1990s}} {{Dilbert}}

Category:Dilbert Category:1997 video games Category:Minigame compilations Category:Puzzle video games Category:Windows games Category:Windows-only games Category:Video games based on comics Category:DreamWorks Interactive games Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Single-player video games