I Get This Call Every Day

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

I Get This Call Every Day is a 2012 point-and-click game by Toronto developer David S Gallant. It released for Windows and OS X on December 21, 2012. In the game, you play as David, a call-center worker who answers a call from Billy Swarth, a taxpayer who wants to change his address. You choose from a menu of responses to guide Swarth through security questions. Only one route lets you keep your job; all other paths end in being fired for either leaking confidential information or annoyance. A typical playthrough lasts a few minutes.

Gallant had previously made small flash games and started this project while working part-time at the Canada Revenue Agency in Toronto. The idea came after TOJam 2012. The art was created with GIMP, and much of the writing happened on his commutes. The two main characters share about 250 lines and are both voiced by Gallant. The game was built with Flixel and self-released on his website as a pay-what-you-want title with a $2 minimum. He tried to bring it to Steam via Greenlight, but withdrew in May 2013 in protest of the controversy surrounding its rejection; it was later relisted and approved on April 7, 2014.

Critics praised the concept but noted the game isn’t designed to be fun. By 2014, Polygon estimated earnings around $10,000 from sales. The game drew local attention in Toronto, including a Toronto Star feature linking Gallant’s CRA job to the game’s story, which the CRA criticized as offensive. Gallant was fired after the story. Some argued he was punished for his choice of medium. Sales rose after the press coverage, and popular YouTube channels, such as The Yogscast, released videos based on the game.