Video Game / Say No! More

Say No! More is a 2021 video game developed by Studio Fizbin and published by Thunderful Publishing that claims to be "the world's first NPG (NO!-Playing Game)". In it, you play as as a fresh intern in a world where everyone sticks to the status quo of saying "YES" to everything. After getting their lunchbox stolen by one of their Bad Bosses, a mysterious tape soon gives them the confidence to shout "NO!" at any absurd requests fired your way in their quest to reclaim it.

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Say TROPES More:

• Affably Evil: The President of the company. She is quite the jerk towards her employees, but she acts less of a jerk towards the player character and wants to push them to break their limits as an employee. During her boss fight, she keeps pushing the player character to try harder. When she's beaten, she gives them a perfect score on their evaluation, despite the player character's rebellious streak earlier.
• Ambiguous Gender: The intern is only referred to with gender-neutral writing.
• Arc Villain: Every chapter has you face off against a person in a higher position while trying to reclaim your stolen lunchbox.
  • The Supervisor for chapter 1.
  • The Manager for chapter 2.
  • The President for chapters 3-4.
  • The fake CEO for chapter 5.
  • The real CEO for chapters 6-8.
• Arc Words: "Yes" and "No". The former is about toxic positivity, while the latter is the main weapon of the game.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: The President can wield the power of "NO!" like the player character can and will use it against them with other techniques. Ditto for the real CEO.
• Berserk Button: Despite the player character's friend being selfish and lazy by not paying the rent, they do not take kindly to anyone making fun of them. The President mocks the player character by calling their friend a loser, which gives them the fire needed to stand up to their boss and make their "NO!" a lot more potent.
• Big "NO!": The whole game is based around this, and takes it up to eleven. The biggest "NO!" of them all comes from the entire world to put the real CEO in her place.
• Big Stupid Doo Doo Head: While everyone in the game are clearly adults, they'll resort to using childish insults like nerd, butthead, dweeb, and doofus.
• Brick Joke: At the start of Chapter 2, the Manager puts a picture of a window in the Intern's cramped office area in an attempt to brighten up the room. At the end of the game, the Intern's new office space in the rebuilt office building now includes an actual window... with the original window picture now stuck onto the side of the vending machine nearby.
• But Thou Must!: While you do have the option to not say no to most characters, there are a handful where you can't progress unless you actually say no. There's also one instance where you'll be stuck in a loop if you keep saying no unless you hold back.
• Came Back Strong: The player character dies at the end of chapter 7 after the real CEO's powers pushes them out a window and plummet to their death. After meeting the grim reaper who informs them that they are dead, the player character rejects this with their signature "NO!", which has them coming back to life and achieving a Super Mode.
• Crapsaccharine World: This funny workplace where everyone says "Yes" is actually a harsh and unforgiving environment where people are judged for saying "no", supervisors run amok, co-workers are always asking others to perform the most menial of tasks for them, and most employees are all spineless cowards incapable of talking back and care only about promotions. Becomes a full-on Crapsack World when the real CEO reveals herself and cracks down on the word "No", having cameras everywhere, robots ready to replace the workers, and the ever looming threat of being unable to work in the city should someone say "No" again.
• Crossdresser: It's possible to have your character dress up in the opposite gender.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: When the real CEO reveals herself, she declares that all forms of fun are forbidden and that saying no at all will have her making sure that not only you are fired, you will also never find work in the city ever again. She then transforms the office into a dystopian hellhole where there are cameras everywhere, robots ready to replace the workers, and lots of steel structures everywhere, replacing the colorful workplace from before. When the player character confronts her, she goes on a rant stating how she had nothing and had to work her way up to the top. Ergo, everyone else has to suffer like she did and she deserves everything she believes she earned as CEO.
• Deus ex Machina: It's never made clear just where the tape came from, only that it was in the ventilation system. At the end of the game, the intern places it back where it came from, having no further need of it and so that someone else can find it.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Steph, the fake CEO. After beating her, its revealed she's a fake and it's the female intern who is the actual CEO.
• Enemy Chatter: Your co-workers will talk a lot and holding back your powers of no is the only way to fully hear some of the funny things they will say to you.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The player character and most of the boss characters are only called by their titles, save the fake CEO whose name is Steph and the real CEO whose name is revealed in the ending to be Maja.
• Extreme Doormat: The player character, who cannot say no to anyone unless they have their cassette that gives them the courage to say no. Several co-workers also can't say no to their bosses and do whatever they are asked of, even when they spend their lunch trying to work up the courage to protest.
• Extremely Short Timespan: The entire game's events takes place over the course of a single day. It's lampshaded in the end by a co-worker how much happened in a single day, with a worker who had the day off yesterday commenting how everything seems like a whole new office (both figuratively and literally).
• Face Fault:
  • The power of "No" can make people fall over, and even be Blown Across the Room by the sheer force of it.
  • A more straight example comes from the real CEO, when their aid tells them that a scheduled "Unruly Mob" is here to see her over a lunchbox.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the prologue, while playing the Wizards of Nay, it's revealed that the Devil King is in fact the wizard's best friend, and are unable to use their powers on them due to their bravery stat being too low. It foreshadows the fact that the Intern's relationship with their own friend; being unable to say "No" to them, even when their unknowingly being a jerk to them for being a leech and lazy, due to lacking courage. The loss of the wizard's hat also foreshadows that the player can't use their power no without their cassette. Also, the Janitor Imp hints at you having the ability to not say no to some things to still pass.
  • While observing the intern workspace, the female intern comments its sorry state as being 'authentic', something rather odd to say for a new intern. Which makes more sense in hindsight knowing she's the real CEO speaking from past experience.
  • The female intern always seems to be a stickler for the company rules of saying "Yes", and seems way more invested over your fall. After beating the CEO, its revealed she's a fake, and that the female intern was the real one all along.
• Freudian Excuse: The real CEO tries to justify her totalitarian actions and rules in the workplace by saying how she had to endure and suffer through many crappy jobs as an intern herself and she had to build herself up to rise above all that. She also wanted not to be selfish for saying no, so she went with anything people wanted her to do and just wanted to fit in. Your coworkers point out that she's just perpetuating the cycle and she has the chance to break it so no one will suffer like she had.
• A Friend in Need: In chapter 5, the male intern, Noah, sticks up for you in several ways; despite winning the debate, he tries to give your lunchbox back. When the CEO tries to take it back, the intern stands up to her knowing that he could be fired for his actions. He also sneaks in the player character's cassette player in their cell to help them bust out. Likewise, several co-workers attempt to stand up against the President and real CEO alongside with you knowing what they're putting at risk.
• Game Within a Game: "Wizards of Nay", which is about a wizard who tries to rescue their best friend from the Devil King, only to find out that their best friend is the Devil King, and loses due their bravery stat being too low. It foreshadows the Intern's relationship with their best friend.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: The Supervisor, Manager, and President keep running away when they take the player's lunchbox. The President eventually stands her ground and trounces them easily.
• Gold Digger: A downplayed and rare male example. The player character's best friend is a mooch who never pays the rent and hasn't paid in about nine months. After asking the player character to let them slide by another month's rent, they are told no, which gets them huffy at first, but later apologizes realizing how selfish they've been and promises to find a job.
• Graceful Loser: When beaten, the President gives your evaluation a 5/5 and warns the CEO to not underestimate you.
• Grew a Spine: Noah, the male intern, starts out as a suck up who is willing to do whatever his bosses tell him to do, but he quickly grows out it and starts rebelling to stick up for the player character. The player character also helps their co-workers grow a spine by having them get the courage to say no. The player character grows a spine themselves when they finally stand up to their best friend.
• The Grim Reaper: Appears in chapter 7 where he takes on the form of a crocodile with a goofy voice.
• HA HA HA—No: You can use sarcastic laughter to soften enemies up before following it up with a "NO!"
• Happy Ending: After defeating the real CEO, everyone at work can say no to requests without risking their jobs over it and the people who have their requests rejected learn to deal with it without making a fuss. The President and manager also get their jobs back and are a lot nicer to their co-workers. The real CEO also becomes a lot nicer to everyone and helps out in the office instead of barking orders. Meanwhile, your best friend has finally found a job; cooking.
• Hope Bringer: Your co-workers are completely awestruck seeing you standing up to the President that not only they want to spend their lunch break with you, they also want to learn how to say no and learn to stand up for themselves. Sadly, they still flee and ditch you to face her alone when she gets angry. A more brighter example comes from chapter 8, where after the Intern gains a Super Mode and recuses several of the imprisoned co-workers, they all gain the courage to be themselves, rally behind them, and take back the Intern's lunchbox. By the end, the office's policy on saying "Yes" is removed, the workplace becomes much healthier, and even your friend, who was lazy and kept making you pay rent, has found a job.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: The President can't be beaten and will soundly trounce you during chapter 3. Once you unlock a second charge meter that makes your "NO!" more powerful, the tables turn. The real CEO also can't be beaten at first.
• I Fell for Hours: The end of chapter 7 has you falling out of a window and plummeting to your doom. The fall takes many minutes to complete, during which you have a cell phone conversation with your best friend as you fall!
• Incompetence, Inc.: The company's actual workplace is very harsh and unforgiving. Supervisors run amok, co-workers are always asking other to perform the most menial of tasks for them, and every new employee is trying to be noticed and impressed.
• The Intern: You and two others start your jobs as interns. The female intern is actually the real CEO in disguise.
• It's All My Fault: After the real CEO realizes what her actions have done to people under her employ, she blames herself for being a bad boss and a bad person and feels nothing can be done to undo the damage she caused. Noah assures her that everything can be fixed if everyone works together.
• Jerkass Realization: The intern's best friend goes through one when the intern says no to them during their phone call, which makes them realize how selfish he's been acting and resolves to find a job.
• Just in Time: After the Intern gets their ass kicked by the President and is about to be fired, the lunch bell rings, and the President decides to continue their fight later, much to the frustration of the female intern.
• King Incognito: The female intern turns out to be the real CEO, who went undercover to watch how her lower management runs. She reveals herself after the Intern beats the fake CEO, and doubles down on the authoritarianism as well as imprisoning them.
• Large Ham: The trainer. He's practically yelling everything he tells you. So it's jarring when he says that it's impossible to say "No" to a friend in need in a sad, quiet tone.
• Little "No": As they're falling to their death, the intern finally musters up the courage to say no to their mooching friend. Despite it being a very subdued no, it's enough to get the friend to realize how much of a leech and jerk he was being. Likewise, when the real CEO is ranting and raving about her issues in outer space, the intern gives a quiet no to her.
• Loophole Abuse: There are a few achievements that are earned by saying no 99, 999, 9999, and 99999 times respectively. Even when your character is reduced to saying "Umm...", it still counts as saying no.
• Lost Food Grievance: The entire plot kicks off from the supervisor stealing the player character's lunchbox. It only escalates from there.
• MacGuffin: The intern's lunchbox, given to them by their friend. Its (continuous) theft is what motives the the intern to keep rebelling.
• Mook–Face Turn: One of the robot employees in chapter 6 covertly offer to just let you pass by, even though the CEO can clearly see and hear them doing so.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Just saying no to people is so powerful that it can knock people over and a stronger no can destroy entire rooms.
• My God, What Have I Done?: The real CEO looks on in absolute horror when their power causes the player character to fall out the window and to their death. When she finds out they're alive, she initially requests for an ambulance, until she finds out that not only are they fine, but rampaging through the office.
• Not What It Looks Like: After the player character gets thrown into a dumpster by the President, a whole lunch flies out and lands perfectly on the table. When the player character's best friend comes by to check on them, he sees the food and assumes that their friend hated the lunch that they were given and gotten their own food. Because the player character is too shy to explain what happened, their friend assumes the worst and sulks away.
• Oh, Crap!: The real CEO has this reaction when she causes the player to fall out of her office's window, thinking she killed them.
• Once More, with Clarity: During the final training segment in chapter 6, the trainer reveals that there is one last thing that he can't help you with. Chapter 7 reveals that it's impossible for him to help with saying "No" to a friend in need, even if said friend is unknowingly being a jerk.
• Only Sane Man: A downplayed version but Noah during Chapter 6. It's staged as a debate between saying "yes" or "no" with Noah being the yes side. As happy as he is to help business by being agreeable, it rapidly descends into abuse or exploitation by saying yes which he refuses to agree without asking questions. When he "wins" and gets the lunchbox he absolutely refuses to not give it back to the original owner because it was quite literally stolen from them even as upper management tries to make it a symbolic thing.
• Punny Name: The host of "Covert CEO" is named Mike Ro'Phone.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The President and real CEO are this. The former is Hot-Blooded where they treat the player character's rebellious streak as a game and their evaluation style involves flying around and shouting at them in a very Large Ham kind of way. The latter is cool, calm, and collected where they take everything seriously and they absolutely don't mess around or play any games when it comes to the player character. Fittingly enough, they both wear red and blue, though the latter switches to black later on.
• Rejected Marriage Proposal: Towards the end of the game, one co-worker proposes to another, only to be rejected. Subverted when the rejector tells the other that they have to marry them instead, to which they happily accept.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After coming back to life, you and your fellow co-workers storm the office building to confront the real CEO while blasting anyone that stands in your way with your super powered "NO!"
• Sarcastic Clapping: You can do one of these to lower your enemy's guard before unleashing a "NO!" on them.
• Shout-Out:
  • Not saying no to a certain co-worker will have them show you their game prototype Fight my Mons. The Steam achievement for seeing it is called "I'm gonna be the very best..."
  • "Covert CEO" is an obvious nod to Undercover Boss.
  • In chapter 6, the real CEO sending out her horde of office worker robots directly references the "EVE-RY-ONE!!!" scene from The Professional, with a character named Benny for good measure.
  • As the Intern falls to their death at the end of chapter 7, they recall some of the things the other characters have said over the course of the game... except for one worker, who simply states "Dental plan!"
• Shrinking Violet: The intern player character. They are too painfully shy to stand up for themselves and their best friend, co-workers, and bosses take advantage of that. The intern gets the courage to say no through a cassette tape, but they revert back to their shy nature if the tape is confiscated or destroyed.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The supervisor, who only appears in chapter 1, steals the player character's lunchbox and causes a big chain reaction where his superiors also steal the lunchbox and cause a huge mess of problems revolving around it. After the supervisor is fired, he is never seen or mentioned again, but his actions are felt throughout the rest of the game.
• Stance System: With the help of the trainer, you soon gain access to four different types of "No!", which are the Heated No, Cold No, Lazy No, and Wacky No. Along with that, their are also different actions you can take to lower the enemy's guard; laughing, Sarcastic Clapping, nodding, and going "hmmm..."
• Staring Contest: Some co-workers will challenge you to one and saying no at any point results in you losing because you "blinked." There turns out to be a hidden club in the office for staring contests, with a hidden staring contest that goes on for nearly a whole minute and resisting to say no there earns you an achievement.
• Super Mode: After coming back from the dead, you soon regain the power to say "No!", with even greater destructive capabilities. Your charge meter never drains and your body literally radiates with the power of "NO!", which can knock people on their asses as if you shouted it.
• Supreme Chef: The intern's friend is implied to be one, as the lunch they made for their first day is enough to prompt them to tear the office apart to get it back. Said friend ends up getting a job as a food truck vendor at the end of the game.
• Title Drop: Used as the chapter title of chapter 8 after coming Back from the Dead and gaining a Super Mode, and later at the very end by everyone just as the trainer finishes telling the player on knowing when to say no.
• Title Drop Chapter: The last chapter of Say No! More is titled "Say No! More". There is also an earlier chapter called "Say Yes! More".
• Took a Level in Kindness: Once everyone learns that it's fine to say no to some things, the President, manager, and CEO become a lot nicer and they are more willing to help out in the office instead of barking orders at everyone.
• Useless Without Powers: A few occasions happen where the player character is unable to say no if they don't have their cassette player and headphones. The end of chapter 7 has the player character finally having the courage to say no to their friend on their own.
• Villain Ball: The real CEO, who throws the player character in company jail instead of just firing them on the spot. Had they just fired them, the story would have ended a lot sooner with the player out of their hair. The fact that they attempt to fire them via robots instead of doing it themselves exasperates the situation further.
• Violation of Common Sense: You're encouraged to say no at every turn, but certain achievements and scenarios won't unlock unless you hold back the urge to say no to certain people.
• Virtual Paper Doll: You can customize your character's appearance in various ways.
• Vocal Dissonance: It's possible to give your character a voice that doesn't match their sex.
• Wham Line:
  • From the female intern at the end of chapter 5;
    Are you serious? Can't you read the room? I'm the REAL CEO!
  • From the trainer during chapter 7, which reveals what he told you during the final training session;
    But saying No to your best friend who's in need? Even if it's pushing your limit... and they're being a jerk themselves... it's... impossible. I'm sorry.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The supervisor doesn’t appear in the ending and isn’t mentioned.
• Yes-Man: Several people are this without shame, due to the nature of the world where saying "Yes" is the status quo. Noah, the male intern, is initially this, but he grows out of it fairly quickly.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: When you do finally confront and defeat the thief that stole your lunchbox, their superior takes it, starting the chase all over again.

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