What kind of game is this?
Sorry, Doors Closing is a game about a morning office elevator: someone is rushing for the doors, and you have a split second to decide whether to wait for them (Open) or leave them behind (Close). You pick people up in the lobby and try to reach your own floor, the 8th, before work starts, and you do it five days in a row, Monday through Friday. One play takes about 3 minutes.
Reading the screen
- Top: the day and the clock, your goodwill so far, and the time work starts
- Middle: the doors, seen from inside the elevator, and the lobby beyond them (or the hallway, on other floors). People walk toward you from the back and get bigger as they come closer. Anyone already on board stands in front, with their back to you
- Bottom: the current floor and the floor buttons that have been pressed (the car stops at every lit floor; 8 is yours), plus the big Open and Close buttons
Controls
- Open: the doors stay open as long as you hold it. You can wait for people, but the clock keeps moving
- Close: the doors shut right away and the car leaves
- If you do nothing, the doors close in about 2 seconds (in the lobby and on other floors alike)
- If the doors are already closing, press Open to bring them back. They won't open while the car is moving
- On a computer, ↑ (or Space) is Open and ↓ (or Enter) is Close
How a day plays out
- Lobby: people walk toward you from the back. Each one has a different speed, expression, and things they're carrying
- Decide: hold Open and wait, or press Close and go. Anyone you could see but who didn't make it on counts as “shut out”
- Going up: everyone on board presses their floor. Every stop along the way costs you time (once everyone getting off is out, press Close to leave sooner)
- Other floors: starting Wednesday, people also come running on other floors. You'll have to decide all over again
- Arrival: you're scored on what time you reached the 8th floor and how much goodwill you earned that day
Who shows up
| Person | What to look for | If you wait | If you close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boss | Walks slowly. Red tie and a company pin | Goodwill goes way up | Goodwill drops a lot, and the next day you get “Ah. You're the one from yesterday...” |
| New Hire | Sprints at full speed | Very grateful | Dives into the closing doors and gets squished (the doors open again) |
| Coworker | Walks at a normal pace | Likes you a little more | A little awkward |
| Custodian | Comes at the same time every morning | “Thanks, you're always so kind.” | Almost no effect |
| Scroller | Walks while looking at their phone. Hard to tell if they're getting on | Sometimes just walks right past (pure time lost) | Sometimes, they did want this one after all |
| 2nd-Floor Rider | Light on their feet and full of energy | You stop at 2 and lose time | You think, “There are stairs, you know” |
| Courier | Pushing a hand truck (takes up the space of 3 people) | If the car is full, the over-capacity buzzer goes off | No real effect |
| Boss look-alike | Looks just like the Boss, but with a blue tie and no company pin (works for another company) | You just stop at 7 | No real effect |
| CEO | Shows up on Friday. Walks very slowly | Goodwill goes up enormously | Goodwill drops enormously |
How each day gets harder
| Day | People in the lobby | Who's new |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 4 | Only easy-to-spot people, like the Boss, the New Hire, and the Custodian |
| Tue | 5 | The Scroller |
| Wed | 6 | The 2nd-Floor Rider, plus people getting on from other floors |
| Thu | 7 | The Courier (over capacity) and the Boss look-alike from another company |
| Fri | 8 | Everyone, plus the CEO. Morning meeting, so be there by 8:55 |
Scoring and endings
Each day's score is “50-point on-time bonus + half the number of seconds (game time) you arrived before work started + that day's goodwill × 2.” If you're late, you get 0 points for the day. Your week's score is the total of all five days. There's also a hidden bonus if you wait for the Custodian all five days.
Your title depends on your week's score: 900 or more is “Morning Doorkeeper,” 700 or more is “Model Coworker,” 500 or more is “Average Office Worker,” 1 or more is “Close-Button Masher,” and 0 is “Chronically Late.”
After Friday, your ending depends on how many days you were on time and how much goodwill you earned. There are 5 in all, including “The Boss Knows Your Name,” “Nicknamed ‘the Door Holder’,” and “Perfect Attendance, Zero Friends.” The title screen shows how many endings you've seen.
Today's Week and Practice
- Today's Week: changes once a day, based on the date in Japan (UTC+9). For that day, every player gets the same people in the same order. You can play it once a day, and your first result is the one that's kept
- Practice: different people every time, as many times as you like. Your personal best is saved
Tips
- The Boss is really slow, so if you're going to wait, commit early. And check the tie color on anyone who looks like the Boss
- The New Hire is running, so a short wait is usually enough to get them on
- On other floors, once everyone getting off is out, press Close to leave early and win back some time