Sometimes you play the game, and sometimes the game plays you. Very occasionally, you make a literal game about the metaphorical game you’re playing and then you lose. Last month game developer David S. Gallant made a game about his customer service job at the Canada Revenue Agency. This week he lost that job.

The game itself – titled I Get This Call Every Day (a personal tale of unwinnable realities) – takes players through a point-and-click day at a call center job, dealing with stupid and annoyed callers while trying to follow protocol and not get fired. As someone who worked in a call center briefly I can verify that it accurately portrays the mind-numbing and happiness-sucking qualities of a career in customer service.

I Get This Call‘s fail conditions are failing to stick to protocol and getting the caller annoyed enough to want to speak to a supervisor – either one leading to your premature exit from the workforce. Gallant’s own firing cause is currently a mystery, although inferring that the game had something to do with it doesn’t seem too mad. Gallant isn’t talking to the press at the moment, tweeting ”Please understand that after the next tweet, I cannot and will not provide any further comment on today’s situation.” He followed with “Anyone hiring?”

Later, he commented ”I can still get myself into trouble if I say the wrong thing about my former employer, or be perceived to have said these things.”

The story spread through Twitter and the press, leading to something of a miracle of circumstance – and probably a helping of sympathetic feelings. As a result of the coverage there was a huge boost in game sales. “”The outpouring of support (including a huge sales boost),” Gallant tweeted, “has been utterly overwhelming.” He added, “The community has flooded me with support. I’m gonna be all right.”

I Get This Call Every Day is available from Gallant’s website for a minimum of $2 and a maximum of your own generosity. Watch the trailer below and try not to be a complete nodule the next time you deal with a customer service representative.