“ | The Company is hiring! You'll have your very own ship, your very own crew. Your job, collect worthless garbage to return to the company desk. It's easy! | „ |
~ The misleading advertisement of The Company. |
The Employees are the main protagonists of the co-op horror game Lethal Company. They are player-controlled workers that are responsible for doing The Company's bidding, or risk death if failing to do so.
The sole purpose of the employees is to gather as much scrap metal as they can from different moons, which can be landed on with an employee-operated spaceship. The maximum amount of employees in a single group is four.
Appearance[]
The true appearance of the employees is a mystery, but it can be assumed that they look like normal humans. Even the gender of the employees is unknown, although it is highly likely the employees are male, given their build. They are always seen wearing environmental suits and obscure their appearance completely. They can order other suits of different colors.
Personality[]
Silent, enigmatic and with their history unknown, the true personality of the employees are difficult to pin down, but traits can be seen through their actions. They can be somewhat expressive, as they can point to something and dance. The employees are determined, hard-working and generally fearless, as almost every moon they travel to have dangerous enemies. The employees are also well-coordinated in their teamwork, which is needed for them to complete their mission.
It is also possible for an employee to act against their own allies, as an employee is able to harm and even kill another. When any employee takes damage, they do not emit any vocal sounds whatsoever. This could mean that they have an insanely high pain tolerance, or somehow have no voices at all.
Gameplay[]
The employees can work alone, or choose to work in groups of two, three or four. The sole purpose of the employees' job is to collect as much scrap metal as possible from different moons, and are paid based on the amount of scrap metal they give to the Company. They can man a spaceship that is able to travel to said moons, although the ability to travel to certain moons must be purchased. All employees are given a quota of how much scrap metal they need to collect, with only three days to make the quota. Based on their performance, they can gain or lose experience points. There are five ranks employees can have: intern, part-timer, employee, leader and boss.
On the final day of meeting the quota, the employees will travel to 71-Gordion and give the scrap to some sort of tentacle creature. If the employees fail to make the quota, they'll be sucked out of their spaceships in the vacuum of space. If the employees succeed in meeting their quota, they'll be given a new quota that increases each time. Employees can be paid in credits based on the amount of scrap that was sold, and can use those credits to purchase useful things to make future missions easier. This can include weapons, flashlights or teleports. Players can communicate via voice chat, but the audio is based on distance. The use of walkie-talkies can combat this problem.
All employees have the ability to scan for scrap metal, which will be revealed if it is close enough to them. The value of the scanned objects can also be seen during these scans. The employees' spaceships have a screen that acts as a GPS system that can detect the movement and location of players no matter where they are on a moon. For this to be useful, at least one employee must stay back and keep viewing this screen. If an employee dies, there will be a fine for each dead employee, however, if another employee retrieves a dead body and brings it back to the ship, then this fine can be avoided.
If purchased, the employees are able to defend themselves with certain weapons, which can include shovels, signs, zap guns and throwable explosives. Employees are also able to harm each other, if they so choose. When running and jumping, employees have very limited stamina, and can only run for a few seconds. The more an employee carries, the slower they move, and when they try to run while carrying too much, their stamina will drain faster. When carrying things, they have to carefully manage what to pick up in what order. If a scrap object is smaller, an employee can hold it in their inventory, but if it's a large object, the employee must carry it with both hands, and will not be able to pick up smaller objects while carrying things in this manner.
If an apparatus is removed from a building (which powers it down), there will be warning given to all players of a rise in radiation. However, this does not affect gameplay, meaning that the employees are immune from this. It could very well be the suits the employees are wearing that prevent getting radiation poisoning of any kind. The employees are also immune to extreme temperatures, as they suffer no negative effects from the harsh weather found on many moons.