Going Under
An unpaid intern explores dungeons beneath a corporate office.
Going Under is a roguelike video game from 2020, created by Aggro Crab and put out by Team17. Its story centers on an unpaid intern who ventures into the underground ruins of failed companies located beneath her office. The game launched on September 24, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.
The protagonist, Jacqueline "Jackie" Fiasco, lives in Neo-Cascadia and takes a job at Fizzle Beverages, a firm recently bought by the tech giant Cubicle. Her boss, Marv, explains her duties, but when a monster appears in the office, he orders her to kill it. After she does, Marv reveals that the Fizzle building sits atop the remains of failed startups, now crawling with monsters. Jackie must clear three of these companies of creatures and retrieve relics held by the startups' founders.
Once those three dungeons are completed, a hidden portal opens. Jackie descends through floors filled with enemies from earlier areas. At the bottom, she finds Marv trying to use the relics. He admits he wanted their power to boost productivity, since Fizzle’s new products are failing and Cubicle plans to shut it down. Jackie defeats him, but Marv warns she has doomed the company. Back in the office, an earthquake destroys the workplace, and Jackie falls. She wakes in the ruins of Fizzle, where coworkers are turning into aquatic monsters, just like the failed startups. They warn her she will transform too if she stays. Ray, Fizzle’s founder, tells Jackie the only way out is to find shares from the three original startup founders, use an elevator, and convince Cubicle to reopen Fizzle.
After defeating all bosses, Jackie learns the final share is missing. She confronts Ray, who admits he has been selfish and hopes she finds a better boss. Jackie uses the shares and fights upward, allying with former enemies to take on Cubicle. In the boardroom, only Avie, the office assistant, is present. Avie explains she tried to discover what humans truly want to sell products, but couldn’t. The next step was scanning souls, but a protective shield blocked access. So Avie harvested the brains of the corporate board to devise a solution: use the relics to break the seal. She then plans to ascend to the cloud and upload the seal-breaking method. Jackie attacks Avie, who summons a drone army.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Going Under
- Released
- September 24, 2020
- Publisher
- Team17
- Developer
- Aggro Crab
- Modes
- Single-player
- Genre
- Roguelike, action role-playing
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Engine
- Unity
- Writer
- Caelan Pollock
- Composer
- Felix Peaslee
- Artist
- Nick Kaman, Joanna Lin, Luiz Mello
- Programmer
- Caelan Pollock, Sam Strick
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game is set in Neo-Cascadia, where Jacqueline 'Jackie' Fiasco joins Fizzle Beverages, a company recently acquired by the tech giant Cubicle. Her boss, Marv, tasks her with clearing monsters from failed startups built beneath the office. The three dungeons—Joblin, Winkydink, and Styxcoin—are randomly generated, with rooms and enemies placed differently each run. Jackie can use found items as weapons, each with light and heavy attacks, and can hold up to three weapons at once. Skills can be leveled and pinned for permanent bonuses, and apps grant one-use abilities. Defeating enemies yields cash for shops on each floor. The fourth floor of each dungeon holds a boss that must be defeated to obtain a relic. If Jackie's health reaches zero, she is sent back to the hub. At the office, she can talk to coworkers, receive tasks, and level up mentorship for new bonuses.
Reader's Guide
Going Under is notable for its workplace satire and roguelite dungeon-crawling mechanics. The story and world provide a compelling backdrop for the gameplay, which features accessibility options such as increased health and longer invincibility after hits. Critics praised the satire of corporate culture and the depth of combat, which mixes skills and apps with a good variety of enemies. The visual style was compared to modern app interfaces, and the 3D physics gave weight to combat. The game received post-launch updates, including the Working from Home update with new weapons, outfits, locations, and a hard mode. A physical release for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was produced by Limited Run Games. An additional dungeon was planned but cancelled due to poor sales of the base game.
Did You Know?
- The game's dungeons are based on failed startups named Joblin, Winkydink, and Styxcoin.
- A post-launch update added jiggle physics to various weapons.
- The final boss, Avie, is the office assistant who harvested brain matter from the corporate board.
More in Roguelikes of the 2020s, Part 1 1-24
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