iPhone News Updated

Wanna throw an egg at your boss? There’s an app for that

Wanna throw an egg at your boss? There’s an app for that

Feeling unsatisfied after throwing glares or backhanded barbs at your keener co-worker who works overtime for free and never bellyaches about your boss?

Now’s your chance to throw eggs at him, plug his gob with an eraser or feel smug after beaning him so hard with a stapler he spits out in disbelief.

After all, more than five million people across the world -including one in Niger, 298 in Moldova and 1,039 in Kazakhstan -are doing it already, taking out their frustration with their colleagues on Office Jerk, a wildly popular Edmonton-created app for the iPhone and iPad.

The weapons are varied, depending on how much you’re willing to pay to launch your virtual battle behind cubical walls. You can hurl erasers, sharpened pencils and crumpled up pieces of paper for free, scoring big by hitting Office Jerk in the shoulder, then following it up with a peg to the face.

For only 99 cents, you get a coffee cup and a stapler, and for the sweet deal of $1.99, you can egg Mr. Keener, pie him with a Boston Creamer or fry his hair with an explosive load of TNT.

The app -soon to be upgraded so you can also fire off a bruiser of a golf ball, a shriek-inducing fan, a suction-cup dart and a gooey chocolate cupcake with sprinkles at the human target -was created by downtown Edmonton’s Fluik Entertainment in partnership with Vancouver-based Big Fat Simulations.

First available April 28, the game was the No. 1 app downloaded in Canada within 24 hours. Since then, it’s been the No. 1 app in 51 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Lebanon, Venezuela, Lithuania, Madagascar and India. And Victor Rubba, boss at Fluik Entertainment, has been forced to look over his shoulder for his own taste of Boston Cream Pie.

“I don’t have to tolerate an office jerk too much, I have that luxury,” said Rubba, 40, top dog who has a team of gamers to help create the product. “I’m the boss, so I’m probably the jerk here if anyone is.”

Indeed. One of the gamers remains surly after being the butt of reality simulations. He had copious numbers of paper balls launched at him to see if he flinched involuntarily. No eggs or cupcakes were involved.

Rubba believes the game went viral because it’s a simple concept that people can relate to. Games involving chickens in space or air traffic controllers require leaps of imagination or learning curves.

Throwing objects at a detested colleague? No imagination required.

“Everyone has that person at work that they hate and they want to throw stuff at,” Rubba said, adding that it’s regular folk who are downloading the app, and typically not serious gamers. They recognize the app’s cartoon model of the real office jerk who has a coffee mug with “I Heart the Boss” on it and a wall-mounted photo of himself winning the employee-of-themonth award.

Users have been so keen they’ve asked if they could replace the male Office Jerk with a 55-year-old woman with a fake tan and cropped hair. They’ve asked if they can add personalized faces to the man at the desk. And they’ve requested more missiles: from tomatoes to toy trucks, throwing stars to doughnuts and photocopiers.

[Thanks: http://www.calgaryherald.com]

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