Do Not Feed The Monkeys is a voyeurism simulator and Time Management Game developed by Fictiorama Studios and BadLand Games Publishing S.L., and published by Alawar Premium.
You, the player, have been nominated to join "The Primate Observation Club", a shadowy group that observes other people through surveillance cameras and compromised webcams. In order to remain in the group and learn its greatest mysteries, you are required to continuously purchase "cages", or access to new feeds. This might be difficult at times, as you will also have to afford rent and food, but the group is willing to pay you back for gathering requested information. Of course, there is one rule that the player is asked to follow at all times: to not directly interact with the people they have been spying on... or in other words, do not feed the monkeys.
A sequel set in the distant future, Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099, is set for release in May 25th, 2023.
Do, however, list Tropes here.
- Blackmail: A valid tactic when trying to profit off of the monkeys.
- Creepy Doll: The Enigmatic Doll, aka Jimmy Tender Hugs. A clearly possessed toy that is heavily implied to have murdered its original family. It then finds its way to you as a collectible. You can sell it, but it keeps coming back and you get less money.
- Death by Irony: Alice Cassady, the call center worker, accidentally killed a father and his child in a drunk driving accident. The player can send her alcohol twice, causing her to relapse into alcoholism and result in a fatal car crash.
- The Illuminati: The Primate Observation Club is a secret organization that spies on random people and has the power to control people's lives. The app's symbol is also a reference to the Illuminati triangle.
- Interface Screw: If the restfulness meter is emptying, the screen might become blurry at times, or parts covered up while trying to keep your eyes open.
- Multiple Endings: The conclusion changes depending on if you were able to gather all the information the club requested, and how much you "fed the monkeys". There are also various ways to end the game early, such as by failing to pay your rent, or uninstalling the spying app.
- Nebulous Evil Organization: Aside from the rampant spying, the Primate Observation Club will occasionally send special requests for information on the cages, which usually ends poorly for the cage's monkeys. This can range from theft to fraud to 'disappearing' an activist.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Fiona Bates portrays herself as a caring self-help author, but in private, she's a foul-mouthed Mean Boss who exploits her ghostwriters since she can't actually write.
- Our Demons Are Different: A demon shows up as the happy father of a soon-to-be-born baby. He's not malicious, and he seems to legitimately care for his partner and child.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: After a few days pass, a "new neighbor" wearing a suit and earpiece will introduce himself to the player, and claim that he's definitely not monitoring illegal activity in the area.
- Both in Universe and out, one of the "cages" is an elderly man reliant on a caregiver. In reality he is a former dictator who sparked a massive global conflict, speaks with a noticeable German accent, believes in genetic purity, and is definitely not Adolf Hitler.
- The Peeping Tom:
- You, though your reasons for doing so aren't necessarily for perverse reasons.
- Ironically, one of the "monkeys" you might get access to is a more conventional example, with a driver taking illicit photographs of an actress she chauffeurs.
- Randomly Generated Levels: A light version; at the start of a New Game, it randomizes which of the various feeds you'll get in your run, and in what order.
- Rule #1: "Do not feed the monkeys". Which, according to the friend that gets you into the group, is violated by members all the time... though it can still have consequences.
- Save Scumming: Once a save file is created, the player can jump back to the beginning of any previous day, in case they miss a deadline or accidentally shut down a feed.
- Schmuck Bait: Guess what happens if you delete the surveillance site that the game revolves around? Game over.
- Something Only They Would Say: In order to help save the trapped janitor, you have to call his wife and tell her about her husband's love of romance novels, something the janitor only revealed to close friends.
- Time Keeps On Ticking: The only occasions when time pauses is when you're in a dialogue; at all other times, events will continue regardless of the player's situation. This can cause challenges when events you need to observe are happening on different feeds at the same time, or the player needs to stop watching altogether in order to sleep or leave to get money from a part-time job.
- The Unintelligible: One cage revolves around a woman who speaks a pseudo-Polish language that is never fully translated. You can learn some of her language through observation, but not much.
- Video Game Caring Potential: While the player can extort the people they watch, they can also provide assistance that wouldn't come otherwise, such as rescuing a man trapped in an elevator.
- Wizard Needs Food Badly: The game keeps track of restfulness (which can be refilled by sleeping, though you may miss events while unconscious), hunger (which can be refilled by grocery shopping or ordering fast food, the latter of which refills the meter faster and more cost-effectively), and health (which decreases when fast food is eaten, but refills by grocery shopping).
