I’m sure we’ve all been there. You’re sitting at your desk working away and your entire insides gurgle. “Oh no”, you think I need to poop. You continue to work away ignoring the inevitable or perhaps waiting for a moment to slip away. This is the basic premise of Gotta Go.
As a player it’s your goal to get to the bathroom before critical mass occurs. A meter of gastric pressure slowly ticks down as you travel. If it reaches zero…you crap your pants… and everyone laughs at you. To complicate matters you work in an office building and everyone wants to talk to you as try to make your escape to the porcine palace. When confronted with co-workers players engage in a quick time event to progress conversations until they end and you’re free to take care of business. If you feel like a jerk you can use quick timing and avoid a conversation, but your employees will report you to HR. This meter stays with players throughout levels and results you getting fired if it’s filled, making the worst day ever getting fired and crapping your pants.
The best tactic within the game is to avoid your co-workers altogether. I got pretty good at positioning myself so my co-workers would get blocked by cubicle walls as they tried to tell me about their favorite YouTube videos. If that doesn’t work you can always comically hide behind plants within the office. Who hasn’t done this once or twice to avoid Susan and her cat stories? Running is always an option, but will decrease your gastric meter faster. My personal favorite aspect of the game is that it has a key that allows you to fart. I’m simple, but I can’t help but giggle when the games tutorial told me to press “F” to fart. Doing so in the game, will relieve some gastric pressure, but if a co-worker smells it you get reported to HR. Who knew flatulence was a write up?
In the early build of the game I played, the game was simply finding the bathroom in a level and then progress to a slightly bigger level with the goal of completing 10 levels, but an arcade mode was teased as well. Obviously, due to the content of the game, Gotta Go isn’t going to be for everyone. It’s simple and silly, but I’m ok with that. I’d rather play out rushing to the bathroom from the safety of PC then experience it in real life.
Be sure to check GWW’s Interview with the Gotta Go Devs, Dire Nerd