JOKESTICK

The office Christmas party, with a plot.

Bring the in-jokes out.

Turn the team into a video game: every colleague a character, every office in-joke a level. Play it at the party or drop it in the team chat on the last day. From £30.

Make onePlay a sample
A Jokestick game: four blocky characters in a front room, name tags over their heads, and Kev saying "I'm not moving. That's my chair."
A real scene from a sample game. Yours stars your lot.

TRY IT

JOY

Who in the office would moan first about how they've been drawn?

Nothing you type here leaves your browser. See a whole game

Better than Secret Santa.

Secret Santa gets everyone a candle nobody lights. Put the money into one present for the whole team instead: every colleague a character, every running joke a level, and the boss's catchphrase finally a boss fight. A Director's Cut is £99 for up to fourteen of you. That's about £7 each.

Every game comes with the Mayor's Address.

Joy, our Mayor, has a word with your lot, by name, then hands over the game. Every edition gets one. This one's for the Joneses, the family we made up for Christmas Eve at Auntie Val's.

Captioned, so it works on mute. Sound up for Joy.

The Director's Cut gets a Hollywood trailer.

The Director's Cut comes with a Hollywood trailer: a movie-trailer voice reading the team out like a cast list. This one's for the Joneses, a family we made up. Yours plays at the party, with the whole office in it.

Captioned, so it works on mute. Sound up for the voice.

Then the video drops in the group chat. No explanation.

Joy reading them out by name. Two days later, the game. Then the chat doesn't stop for an hour, and nobody can work out how you knew.

A made-up team chat. Yours will be worse.

Make one for your lot

What actually happened. 😂

The founders' school mates, the night their reunion game landed in the group chat. Our first game, so yes, they're friends of ours. Word for word.

  • Ah this is killing me 🤠
  • 😂😂😂😂😂
  • This would be a big hit on the Master System 2
  • Crying here, that is great
  • It's quality
  • Definitely has great playability
  • Trev that is class
  • Gets better and better
  • Was crying

The laughs are in the talking.

Every character sounds exactly like themselves. You tell Joy the stories; we write the wind-ups, the comebacks and the catchphrases. You don't have to be funny. You just have to remember.

A sample game: Bev says "Keith, those sausages are charcoal." Keith replies: "That's how we like them. Well done."
Real screens from Every Group Has One, a sample game with a made-up group.

Office party levels.

In your game they're your people, doing the exact thing they always do and saying the exact thing they always say. Each story becomes a level.

  1. LEVEL 1

    The dance from last year's party

    A rhythm game, graded S to D. Everyone remembers. Nobody says.

  2. LEVEL 2

    The meeting that could have been an email

    Keep the room awake while they take it from the top. Again. In full.

  3. LEVEL 3

    Who never replies to the team chat?

    Whack them every time they pop up. "Sorry, was on mute."

Big Phil Turns 50 is a made-up family. Yours is the real thing. Two minutes, sound up, any phone. Or put your own lot in one.

How it works

  1. Tell Joy the stories

    On your own phone, in your own time: stop and come back whenever. Talk or type. Nobody else finds out.

  2. We build the game

    We write the script from your stories: the wind-ups, the comebacks, the catchphrases. Every story becomes a level, built for your lot and nobody else.

  3. Joy goes first

    The Mayor's Address: Joy tells your lot she's heard all about them, by name. Drop it in the chat a day or two before. Let them stew. The Director's Cut adds a Hollywood trailer.

  4. Then the game

    Drop the link with no explanation, or open it at the table. Any phone, no app. Watch their faces.

  5. Take the credit

    Somebody has to have made it. That's you. Enjoy that for the rest of the year.

Pick your edition

Same box, different sizes. Pick by how many of you there are.

One price, everything in. No account, no app. One of us plays every chapter and reads every line before it reaches you, and if we got a fact wrong, we fix it.

Make your game.

A few questions, then pay, and you're straight in to Joy. Your link comes by email too.

The person being teased should laugh hardest. No health, money troubles or secrets told in confidence. Anyone in a game can have it taken down.

Joy, winking.

Optional. It tells us how long we've got.

Which edition?

We'll only use your email for your game. How we look after it.

Questions

Will it get anyone in trouble?

No. It's funny the way the team chat is funny. No health, sex, money, exes or anything told in confidence, and nobody gets picked on. The people in it should be the ones laughing hardest. If something's too close to the bone, we leave it out and tell you.

How many of us can be in it?

Up to fourteen in the Director's Cut, eight in the Full Game. A bigger team? Pick the ones with the best stories. Everyone can still play it: it's a link.

Can we play it at the party?

Yes. Open it on a laptop plugged into the big screen and pass the controls round, or send everyone the link and let them race.

Do they need to download anything?

No. It's a link. It opens in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer. Best played sideways, with the sound up.

How long does it take?

As long as you like. Tell Joy the stories in one go or a few at a time over a week: she keeps your place on any phone or laptop. Most people give her about twenty minutes all told. Once you press Send, it's ready within 48 hours. One of us plays it through before it reaches you. Cutting it fine? Tell us the date and we'll say straight if we can make it, before you pay.

What if I can't remember the stories?

That's Joy's job. Most people start with "he's always late" and stop there. Joy asks how late, what the excuse was and what the group chat said, and that's where the jokes are. You can stop and come back whenever you like.

Will anyone find out before I send it?

Not from us. Only you talk to Joy, on your own private link. Nobody sees anything until you send it.

Can I see it first?

Yes. It comes to you first and you choose when to send it. Got a fact wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.

Do I need to send photos?

No. You describe everyone and we build them from that: the hair, the glasses, the coat they never take off. We don't take photos at all.

What won't you put in a game?

Anything that would hurt rather than make them laugh. No health, sex, crime, money troubles or secrets told in confidence, no exes, and nobody under 18 is the butt of a joke. If we leave something out, we'll tell you and offer a gentler version.

What happens to my stories?

They're used to make your game. Your chat with Joy is deleted 30 days after we deliver it. The privacy notice has the detail.

How long can they play it?

The link works for a year, and you get a copy of the game to keep for good. It plays on a laptop or an Android phone with no internet; on an iPhone, put it on the home screen.

Big Phil Turns 50, a sample game

Make one