"Hark Elm! We've been missing you back at the party, it's such a shame you got laid off," reads a scroll on my desk in the opening minutes of Dungeon Bodega Simulator. "I heard you opened a shop! What a quaint way to bounce back, I'll try and stop by next time we adventure in that area."
I can actually feel my heart rate spiking, reading those words. Early in my career I was laid off from game development. Twice. Sadness, anxiety, even a little bitterness as still-employed coworkers "reach out" with hopes that you'll "find something soon" are all swallowed stones that fester in your stomach. You start asking yourself if you deserve to "bounce back," if everyone is quietly condescending to you, if you should cut your losses from the industry entirely.
