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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperDesignMy game idea where you play as a tax collector
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Author Topic: My game idea where you play as a tax collector  (Read 1859 times)
rj45
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« on: May 28, 2014, 10:31:35 AM »

Your day starts by talking to people coming into the Tax Office and working out a payment schedule for them to pay their taxes on a regular basis. Then there will be occasions where you have to do tax seizures by going to people's factories, offices or houses to seize items for sale. You can mess this up by seizing the wrong item and the guy will complain to get it back and you get a black mark.

Next the seized items will be sold at an auction and if you seize some useless crap, you will get very little money collected for payment. The aim of the game is to earn enough money to meet your target set by the tax office every month.

Any comments?
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javierecf
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« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2014, 01:09:10 AM »

This sounds interesting, but the whole seizing of items needs more thought into it, maybe something like categories and values of stuff.

Other than that, It will have to be really interesting, I dont think people like the word "Tax" that much in anything.
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rj45
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« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2014, 02:30:47 AM »

Yeah, I may not even use the word tax in the game. But something more bureaucratic, such as Internal Revenue Office or something along the lines
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Kolba
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« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 02:06:40 PM »

Cool. Will there be a political/moral angle?
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snoodleking
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« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2014, 04:27:05 AM »

The idea sounds similar to Papers, Please - at least in that it's taking a rather mundane job and turning it into a game. I personally didn't really enjoy it - as it honestly felt like work to me, but obviously that opinion is in the minority. Maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough...

What I would consider, and something that I think Papers, Please did really well, is having the end goal/ or aim as you describe it be something more personal. For example, the whole point is to do well so that you earn money and don't get fined, thereby taking home more money. The money is automatically put to use to feed/keep your family healthy. If you don't make enough, your family starts to get sick, and die I assume.

Anyway, I think that makes it a little bit more interesting than just "hit the monthly target goal."
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Chris Koźmik
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« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2014, 11:58:00 PM »

Your day starts by talking to people coming into the Tax Office and working out a payment schedule for them to pay their taxes on a regular basis.
I would remove that part, that's now how it works (the tax schedule is dictated by law, not by the tax collector).

The rest is fine.


What is the period? Will there be Robin Hood that tries to steal your hard earned taxes? Will you syphon a part of taxes to your private purse? Will you have a family to feed like in Papers Please?
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« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2014, 09:00:51 AM »

They've made a very good game about customs, so why not?
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valrus
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« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2014, 10:21:30 AM »

I think setting is really important for "mundane job" games.  Papers, Please wouldn't have made such a splash without its interesting setting.

My interest would be piqued more if the pitch were "You're a tax collector in an RPG kingdom", "You're a tax collector in the first moon colony", "You're a tax collector inside a near-future virtual world", "You're a tax collector in Berlin in 2020, five years after the beginning of the alien occupation."  Doesn't have to be a crazy speculative setting either, just somewhere interesting enough to want to spend a bit of time in.
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rj45
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« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2014, 10:48:27 PM »

Cool. Will there be a political/moral angle?

Moral angle will be a yes. Political angle not so much. I love the old RPGs such as Ultima which brought a moral angle to the conventional RPGs of the day and also games like Jagged Alliance or Fallout where the results of your action will affect people's reaction to you down the road.
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rj45
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« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2014, 10:50:19 PM »

The idea sounds similar to Papers, Please - at least in that it's taking a rather mundane job and turning it into a game. I personally didn't really enjoy it - as it honestly felt like work to me, but obviously that opinion is in the minority. Maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough...

What I would consider, and something that I think Papers, Please did really well, is having the end goal/ or aim as you describe it be something more personal. For example, the whole point is to do well so that you earn money and don't get fined, thereby taking home more money. The money is automatically put to use to feed/keep your family healthy. If you don't make enough, your family starts to get sick, and die I assume.

Anyway, I think that makes it a little bit more interesting than just "hit the monthly target goal."

I agree. I played a bit of Papers, please. But my inspiration for this game idea came across from watching quirk japanese dramas and filing my taxes during that same period. I also have an idea to recreate the classic D&D Gold Box games such as Pool of Radiance etc, but somehow this tax collection game idea is more quirky to me
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rj45
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« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2014, 10:53:41 PM »

Your day starts by talking to people coming into the Tax Office and working out a payment schedule for them to pay their taxes on a regular basis.
I would remove that part, that's now how it works (the tax schedule is dictated by law, not by the tax collector).

The rest is fine.


What is the period? Will there be Robin Hood that tries to steal your hard earned taxes? Will you syphon a part of taxes to your private purse? Will you have a family to feed like in Papers Please?

In my game, the laws have been changed to fit the game mechanics. As for period, I was thinking post modern as in 20xx era or medieval era. Or make it like a action packed type of game where 1 part of the game will be in office dealing with mundane stuff like discussing payment schedules, haggling with defaulters etc and the other part will be the kick ass part where you strap on your suitcase and seizure sticks to go out and kick butt and collect on defaults
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Chris Koźmik
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« Reply #11 on: June 07, 2014, 05:50:39 AM »

"You're a tax collector in an RPG kingdom"
LOL, a catchy one for sure :D I can see those knights begging to not auction their swords because they have a princess to rescue :D

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rj45
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« Reply #12 on: June 07, 2014, 01:55:03 PM »

Or seizing some magic staff and then auctioning it off to an orc at the end of the month who proceeds to use it to smack the wizard who previously owned the staff. Cheesy
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Whiteclaws
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« Reply #13 on: June 07, 2014, 04:05:11 PM »



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rj45
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« Reply #14 on: June 07, 2014, 07:41:33 PM »

That is definitely not what I had in mind Smiley
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Danny Hayes
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« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2014, 02:28:31 AM »

That sounds pretty interesting. I totally agree with the "Papers Please" comparison, I think being a tax collector is considered to be one of those jobs that people aren't proud of because it involves potentially ruining peoples lives. Just like a border agent or traffic warden.

I think moral/political choices would be great, some awesome feels could be generated by having moments like someone begging you to let them go this time because of their family or something. It depends on what direction you feel like taking the game in...  Smiley
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SamuSamu
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« Reply #16 on: September 19, 2014, 03:55:35 AM »

I also first thought of Papers, please. I do like your idea so far and can imagine it being a good game if implemented properly.

The seizing part could work out as a kind of a "bidding" game, where the person who gets seized tells you a value of an item and then you need to either accept it or decrease the value of the item. Maybe there could be something like a magazine with tons of products in it that you could go through to help you decide if the price is right or not. Of course there would need to be some negative effect if you try to value the item too low.  My Word!

I hope to hear more from the project! Smiley
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« Reply #17 on: September 21, 2014, 08:50:02 PM »

sounds like you play the role of the Repo Man from The Sims
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