The Human Performance Show

The Human Performance Show makes you the human adviser behind an alien broadcast: arrange room events, tune their fairness, cue the stock music, and learn what each captive contestant will tolerate before the network turns on you.

What is The Human Performance Show?

This short management prototype puts the player on the comfortable side of a deeply uncomfortable television contract. During setup, you move between rooms and schedule events; once the show goes live, the contestant reacts while ratings and sanity pull in opposite directions. Different participants are described as favoring different kinds of spectacle, so the interesting work is pattern recognition rather than direct control. Clickable buttons cover the interface, with keyboard shortcuts for room selection, clearing the schedule, starting the broadcast, and switching audio cues. The result is a compact, mean little production desk with a knowingly flimsy humane-treatment policy.

What you can do there

• Schedule events across show rooms
• Choose how fair each event will be
• Change music cues while the show is live
• Balance ratings with participant sanity

Why we picked it

The joke lands because the mechanics and premise tug in the same direction: better television may mean worse conditions for the person on screen. That makes every fairness setting feel like both a strategy choice and a tiny ethics hearing conducted by aliens with a ratings dashboard.

How to get the most from it

Set events in each room, decide how fair they should be, then start the show and watch how the participant responds. Use those reactions to adjust future schedules instead of assuming every contestant wants the same spectacle. Mouse controls are available throughout; the page also lists arrow, Enter, E, Q, Cancel, and number-key shortcuts.

Good to know

The page labels this an English RPG Maker prototype made in two weeks for Pirate Software Game Jam 18. A browser build is playable, while a separate 116 MB Windows jam build is offered name-your-own-price. Expect dark jokes about coercion, alien oppression, sanity, and cruel entertainment. Mobile, touch, save, accessibility, and browser parity are not documented.

Who made it, and when?

ChXris is the credited creator or organization.