Stop Helping Me: Meet Clippylike RadOS

The '90s revival is in full swing. Teenagers are wearing Nirvana t-shirts over denim over flannel over denim over denim, Kickstarters are reviving faded video game genres, Sleater-Kinney and Babes in Toyland have reformed, and Dale Winton has somehow been here all along. I suppose it was inevitable that someone would bring back Clippit. What utter gits Rad Sandwich Studios are.

Their short, free game RadOS [official site] offers the nightmare scenario of trying to save your work before your computer restarts to install updates, hindered by the comments and directions of a cartoon character who wants to assist you but is a total bastard and will make you lose hours of work OH MY GOSH YOU ARE THE WORST HELPER.

It's not your actual computer, I should stress, so your own precious unsaved documents aren't at risk (but for goodness' sake do save them now you ruddy fool).

RadOS launches into its own imaginary desktop full of important windows: to-do lists, letters to your doctor, instant messages, banking, game design documents, hot artwork and so on. You have thirty seconds to save everything before your desktop 'helper' restarts the system, sending you scrabbling to complete forms and save documents.

Then the helper realises it can help you more, sparking horrible wizards and guides to go through saving, exporting, and absurd procedures that you don't care about and wish would leave you alone. No, I don't want to note how the picture makes me feel, thanks.

At the end, you get a score for all you saved. The best I've done so far is only 'losing' two hours of work. It's different each time too, with help coming in unexpected places. What a horrible little thing RadOS is. You might enjoy it for a few minutes.

Thanks to Offworld for spotting this one.