I spent a lot of time on Reddit. I'm sure you do too. I'm on a lot of video games subs,

and in particular, one's about text-based games. I'm talking games like Zork. I wasn't

alive when Zork came out, but I got really into it in high school. When I made it to college,

I took an even deeper dive, playing all the sequels, all the knockoffs, and every shitty game

that people had covelled together and released online. I had to refocus a bit, adding work on top

of college courses so I could afford my shoebox apartment. But eventually, I came across a post

called Department Complex. Not a super promising name, but I was bored, and it was free. And the fact

that it was hosted on some weird site that I couldn't access from regular browsers appealed to me.

It added an element of mystery, so I opened a tour browser, entered the link, and got to a profile

creation page, basic stuff, username, preferred resolution, etc. It didn't ask for any personal info,

so I kept going. The screen went blank, then a text box opened up.

Welcome to Department Complex. You have been assigned your very own apartment building to run,

but this isn't any apartment building, because the tenants are going to be experiencing some pretty

scary or deals. You get to decide what happens next. Will your tenants survive? Will you accidentally

butcher them all? The power is in your hands. Are you ready? Why for yes? Or end for no?

Why not? I figured. I typed in a why. More text appeared. Excellent. We'll start you off with

an easy management level. You have six tenants, numbered one through six. None of them know each other

well. Enter a number to learn more about a tenant and begin to make decisions. A ground to six

sided die off my desk and rolled it. Three. Three, I typed. Intriguing choice. The tenant and

apartment three is Sheree. She's 19 and a sophomore in college. All her friends know her to be

outgoing and flirty, and she brings new guys back to her apartment multiple times a week. She doesn't

want a commitment. She enjoys sex, but mostly, she just likes not being alone. It's possible

...