You recently graduated from college. A whole world of possibility awaits! What do you do?

>apply for a job in your career field

You spend hours crafting your application and cover letter. Your resume gleans with the polish of your meticulous editing. You submit your precious package of application materials, and immediately receive a form reply: “Thank you. We will contact you if you are a match for this position. Please do not reply; this inbox is not monitored.” What do you do?

>wait

Your student loan payments are due. You cannot wait. What do you do?

>apply for a job in food service

Congratulations! You are hired for the wage of $5.25/hour. Tips bring your salary to $7.00/hour. Unfortunately, this is not enough to pay for your student loans, rent, groceries, phone bill, and car insurance. What do you do?

>live with parents

You cannot live with your parents. After you left for college, a decision you wisely made in order to secure your future, they turned your room into a home gym. What do you do?

>live with roommates

You are already sharing a three-bedroom apartment with eleven people and six cats. What do you do?

>apply for a job in your career field

You spend hours crafting your application and cover letter. Your résumé gleams with the polish of your meticulous editing. You submit your precious package of application materials, and immediately receive a form reply: “Thank you. We will contact you if you are a match for this position. Please do not reply; this inbox is not monitored.”

The next day, your roommates keep you up all night. When you finally fall asleep, you are so exhausted that you sleep through your food service shift. Your boss calls to fire you. What do you do?

>collect unemployment

You are not eligible for unemployment due to having been fired.

You are hungry, but have no groceries. Your student loans are now in collections. What do you do?

>buy groceries

Your bank account is overdrawn. You cannot buy groceries. You are still hungry. What do you do?

>ask roommates for food

Your roommates’ bank accounts are also overdrawn. They, also 20-something college graduates, cannot share food or loan you any money. You are still hungry. What do you do?

>apply for another food service job

It is summer, and the still-matriculating college students have taken all of the food service jobs in your area. You are still hungry. What do you do?

>apply for a job in retail

Congratulations! You are hired for the wage of $9.00/hr. Unfortunately, after two weeks, you get sick, but have no health insurance. You miss your shift and are fired. Your student loans go back into collections. What do you do?

>apply for a job in your career field

Congratulations! You have received an offer for an unpaid internship. What do you do?

>accept the unpaid internship for the experience

You cannot accept the offer. Your bank account is overdrawn and your student loans are in collections. Also, your rent, car insurance, and phone bill are due. You are still hungry. What do you do?

>negotiate a paid internship

Unfortunately, this angers the multibillion-dollar corporation, and your employment offer is redacted. What do you do?

>wait

You wait, but receive no responses to your outstanding job applications. Your roommates kick you out for lack of rent payments. Also, your car insurance and phone bill are due. You are still hungry. Your bank account is overdrawn and your student loans are in collections. What do you do?

>give up

You cannot give up. Your parents instilled in you too much optimism; surely, things will get better! What do you do?

>beg your roommates for another chance

They, also 20-somethings who cannot find jobs and are drowning in student loan debt, are sympathetic to your plight. They generously allow you one more month. What do you do?

>apply for any job

Congratulations! You are hired at a fast food restaurant for $6.25/hour. Unfortunately, your car breaks down, and you cannot afford to fix it. What do you do?

>take the bus

After a week of paying for the bus every day, you are out of bus money. Although it’s cheaper in the long run, you cannot afford the upfront cost of a monthly bus pass. What do you do?

>walk

You walk to work for a week, but after making the 5-mile roundtrip during a blizzard, you fall and hurt your leg. You cannot work in your condition, and your boss replaces you. What do you do?

>beg your parents to move back home

They are on vacation and ignore your phone calls. What do you do?

>don’t know

You must make select an action, even though you are only 20-something and do not have enough life experience to know what to do in a world that has made it both necessary for you to take on student loan debt and impossible for you to find employment. What do you do?

>nothing

You cannot do nothing. Debt collectors are calling every five minutes about your student loans. You are hungry. Your bank account is overdrawn. Your car is still broken. Your phone is out of service due to non-payment. Your roommates are reminding you of the one-month deadline to pay rent. What do you do?

>sink into a depression

You indulge a hearty cry on the living room couch you call a bed. You feel slightly better, but nothing else has changed. What do you do?

>sink deeper into a depression

You are already as depressed as you’ve ever been. You cannot sink any deeper. What do you do?

>apply for a job in your career field

You spend hours crafting your application and cover letter. Your resume gleans with the polish of your meticulous editing. You submit your precious package of application materials, and immediately receive a form reply: “Thank you. We will contact you if you are a match for this position. Please do not reply; this inbox is not monitored.” What do you do?

What do you do?

WHAT

DO

YOU

DO?

~ THE END ~

Play again?

>no

You cannot opt out of playing again. There is no end to your plight. The game will now restart.