Toiletocalypse

Toiletocalypse is a roguelike survival game about getting through a shift in someone else’s flat while your bowels threaten to end it. You start on a random map with a task list; finish jobs to get paid, or earn nothing. The jobs can include putting up partition walls, and each run can shift from calm to chaos.

Survive the shift

Four needs shape each shift: water, urge, sanity and stamina. Neglecting one affects the others, and stamina determines whether you can reach the toilet in time. You search cupboards for random loot, then use what you find—such as tea, unlabeled pills or expired cola—and hope for the best.

There is no inventory: you have two hands, with two pockets available as an upgrade. Hold a button to pick things up or throw them; holding longer sends an item farther. Crafting works by trial and error, without a recipe list. Consumables each have their own effects, which can help or make things worse; for example, coffee and a cigarette taken half a minute apart have predictable consequences.

Water has quality and temperature. The kettle gets dirty, the stove-top pot can burn, and appliances can catch fire during a power surge. Light bulbs can go out, and the ladder needed to replace one may or may not be available. Work can require tools or materials, and some tools speed it up. Jobs include furniture assembly, cleaning and wall construction, and a botched job can cost you part of your pay. Some tasks lead to others: building a wall means bringing materials, building it and cleaning up, while mopping requires a mop, a bucket and clean water.

You can speed up work at the cost of stamina. Optional quick-time events offer four types of interaction: a win completes a job immediately, while skipping the event costs nothing. Missing one sets the job back and raises your urge. You can mash the button or hold it. Shifts also involve toilet clogs, toilet paper and substitutes, hygiene, dirty hands, gloves and showers, as well as day and night.

Progress between shifts

Completed jobs earn points toward your score, and post-shift rewards bring new items and effects. In Roguelike mode, you choose reward cards; in TOILETOCALYPSE mode, rewards are determined by luck. Even a failed shift can earn rewards if you complete enough work. Winning raises the difficulty, which you can adjust manually, or you can switch to Casual mode.

Mr Shitty watches from the corner of the screen, commenting on accidents and offering occasional advice. At the end of a shift, you get a breakdown of events, including how many times you soiled yourself or clogged the toilet, what mess you left behind and whether you left with clean hands. If you fail, the game identifies what killed you. Runs last from 10 minutes to 4 hours.

The Dump scenario

In The Dump, you clogged a toilet, flooded a flat and then defied a lenient court sentence by defecating on the judge’s gavel block. Your new sentence is to clean the entire county dump, down to the last kilogram. The scenario has its own save and continues until the job is done; you begin empty-handed with nothing in the bank.

You dig through the trash by hand and later with a shovel, hauling it in a bag, wheelbarrow or shopping cart. You can burn garbage in a furnace or sort paper, plastic, glass, metal and aluminium. Expand the sorting operation, buy machines and pallets, and earn more money. You can also hire your brother-in-law, Stan, Kev from the estate and a security guard to deter night-time scrap thieves; each has their own needs and leaves their own mess.

The scenario includes day and night, stink, hangovers, trash fires and county inspections that count everything, including you. Something very heavy awaits at the end. After serving the sentence, you can return as a Repeat Offender.

Other systems

The phone lets you order tools, deliveries and upgrades for the current shift. Building management may call, as may telemarketers you have to get rid of. The game also includes random cupboard loot in several categories: tools, containers, consumables, ingredients and trash; events, buffs and debuffs; and a water-boiling system.

A tutorial puts a goal on screen and gives you a task after every board. An encyclopedia covers items, buffs and debuffs, events, crafting, water types and a collection from the dump.