難搵工 — a Hong Kong job hunting game, week by week, with the rent still due
Week one, you send out fifteen CVs. Week nine, you are weighing a job that pays less than the last one against a working holiday visa and the rent is still due.
A game about the part nobody makes a game about
Job hunting is mostly waiting, and waiting is not a game mechanic. 難搵工 solves that by compressing it into weeks: you decide how to spend each one, the applications go out, and the results — silence, an interview, an offer worth less than you hoped — arrive as event cards while your balance drops and the rent comes round again.
What makes it work is the specificity. The events are recognisably Hong Kong: the offer that gets revised down to $14,000 after the interview, the listing with the red flags, the relative who knows someone, the security guard licence as a fallback. The tone is dark and self-deprecating without punching down at the player.
How the Hong Kong job hunting game plays
A short loop, run repeatedly, with the pressure increasing.
- A week at a time. Each turn is a week, with the week number in the title bar as a running measure of how long this has gone on. It is a simple device and it does a lot of work.
- Event cards with choices. Situations arrive with two or three options and no obviously right answer: accept the reduced offer or hold out, take the certification course or save the money, chase the referral or keep applying cold. Each shifts your money, your morale and your prospects.
- Fake listings. Some postings are not real jobs, and learning to spot the flags is part of the game — which is genuinely useful pattern recognition dressed as a mechanic.
- Money running down. Living costs continue whether or not you have income. The pressure this creates is what makes the choices hard rather than academic.
- Titles that describe your situation. A tier system gives you a title based on how the hunt is going, written to be wry rather than humiliating when things are going badly — a deliberate design choice, and the right one for the subject.
- The working holiday route. Leaving is a real option in the game as it is in life: pick a country, work abroad, and then face the decision of coming back to Hong Kong or applying to stay.
- Multiple endings. Landing on your feet, settling, giving up, or staying abroad — each an ending, none of them presented as the correct one.
- News headlines. A running ticker of headlines that colours the whole thing in, the way the actual news does during an actual job hunt.
Written, not generated
The event text, the choices and the endings are hand-written in Cantonese, and the writing is the product. A generic job-hunting game translated into Chinese would not land; the specific phrasing of an offer being walked back, or of the relative's suggestion, is what makes players recognise it.
It is a small offline game. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and progress is stored on the device.
Who it is for
Hong Kong people who have looked for work recently, or are looking now, and would rather laugh at it than not. It plays as recognition more than escapism.
It also plays well for anyone who has quietly considered a working holiday and wants to see the decision framed with its costs attached. And, more soberly, it is a reasonable way for someone who has not yet job-hunted to see the shape of it — the ratio of applications to replies is not exaggerated.
What it is
This is a work of fiction for entertainment. It is not careers advice, it does not represent real employers or vacancies, and its outcomes are game mechanics rather than predictions.
It runs entirely offline with no account; progress is stored on the device. The app is free and ad-supported, with an optional rewarded ad for in-game continues.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real careers tool? No. It is a simulation game for entertainment — not careers advice, and it does not represent real employers or vacancies.
What language is it in? Cantonese. The writing is the point of the game, so it is not translated.
Are there different endings? Yes — landing a job, settling for less, giving up, or staying abroad after a working holiday. None of them is presented as the correct outcome.
What is the working holiday part? A branch where you leave Hong Kong to work abroad, and later face the decision of coming back or applying to stay.
Does it need an internet connection? No. It runs offline and progress is stored on the device.