Thank you, that’s a very thorough analysis. You’ve picked up on some of my intentions, such as the ‘pointless’ work (which serves only to earn money to spend on useless things) and the fact that, as the game progresses, buying items would become less interesting. Actually, the home was supposed to be interactive so you could ‘play’ with your purchases, but frankly I didn’t have enough time. The balance between status and happiness definitely favours status over happiness, yet there are some mechanisms that allow you to increase happiness, such as certain random events and (spoiler) a particular strategy that can lead to an alternative ending where you manage to beat the system. Thanks again for your comments.