I don’t watch much television. When I’m not in school, I’m playing videogames. When I’m not playing videogames, I’m working. When I’m not at work, I’m doing homework. You get the idea. I do, in fact, own a television, but it only plays DVDs and console games. I tried once to get my TV hooked up to basic channels, but my attention span resembles that of a small kitten and I gave up after a few minutes. Even in my isolated state, however, I have heard of the television show The Office. One show was enough to turn me into a raving lunatic hungry for more and I have been hooked ever since. As most fans know, the show was put on hiatus when the Writer’s Guild strikes began, and since then DVDs of seasons 1, 2, and 3 have become some of my most treasured possessions. Needless to say it was almost embarrassing how excited I was to find a PC game based on the show on a recent trip to my local game store. Visions of a true The Office immersion filled my head; I had already planned to have a marathon of the DVDs going on while I played diligently through the game. I couldn’t wait to get home with my newest purchase.

As soon as I left the store I headed home to my computer and impatiently installed the game. Immediately I noticed that the characters, while in cartoon-like little bodies, bore a striking resemblance to the television characters. The humor was similar to that in the shows and there were even quotes and references to specific jokes in the television episodes. Based on the fact that Karen Filipelli is included in the character list, Ryan Howard is still a temp, and Phyllis’s full name is labeled as Phyllis Vance, I assume that this game takes place sometime in the last half of the third season. This only makes sense as the third season was the last completed season and one that viewers would still be familiar enough with to pick up on the inside jokes.