A good game worthy of recognition

The graphics in Karoshi are somewhat simplistic, yet still nice. Everything has a similar style and all together it looks really good. My only complaints about the graphics would have to be that though the ground was fine, it could have had a bit more variation into it. The same goes with the background. And the other complaint would be that since some of the sprites were simply resized to be huge, they were extremely pixelly, and looked somewhat ugly. Regardless, it all flowed together well, and the minor things are easily ignored.

There are few sound effects in Karoshi (really only 2 - the squish sound effect of the person dieing and the sound of the transitions between levels) but regardless, those are really the only sound effects it needs. It does have 3 background musics though, which (although somewhat repetitive) are very fitting to the game's overall feel. The third out of the original 2 from the first Karoshi, however, is really really bad and I wonder as to why 2Dcube placed it into the game.

The game revolves around a simple concept that differs greatly from that of other games - kill yourself. Though it sounds like an easy task, there are several barriers preventing you from doing this. You must use the things around you to somehow shoot, squish, or impale yourself to death.
The actual task of finding ways to do that is cleverly woven into the game. Almost every single one requires you to think outside of the box, and some more need you to have patience or follow instructions. The game has a variety of wacky ways to kill you, from a giant plant to a microwave to a giant head. The game has plenty of things to it and if you ever manage to get past all the levels, the boss is quite a challenge. I won't go too much in depth into that because I wouldn't want to spoil something for someone, but it's definitely worth passing all the other levels just to "fight" the boss. The game flows smoothly and is responsive. All this coupled together forms a really fun experience that is a definite challenge to beat. I can guarentee you almost right now that you're going to get stuck on at least one level and will have to resort to cheating. Though my one complaint would have to be that it's extremely hard to tell when another room is connected to a level.

The game is filled with several extra goodies that will keep people occupied for a while even if/after they pass the game. The Karoshi 1 Speedrun gives you 7 minutes to pass the original Karoshi. It's pretty tough, but darn me if it isn't cool. Another cool extra is the stage builder. It's top notch, letting you build almost any kind of Karoshi level you want.

Overall, Karoshi is a game that is fun for almost anyone. Any flaws it has are easily ignored and the game is a challenge and a good way to test yourself on thinking, you're going to spend at least 30 minutes trying to pass it (and that's if you cheat every now and then XD).

5/6. How hurry up, play the game, and go kill yourself.