Homeless

Homeless – Demo Impressions

Homeless is a Xbox Live Indie Game (XBLIG) that tries to put the gamer in the shoes of a homeless man. Developed and published by Silver Dollar Games (who else would make a game like this right?). Homeless released December 18, 2011. “Do you know what it is like to always be wet?” The hobo asks you this at the beginning of the game.

The main menu screen of Homeless featured Play, Silver Dollar Games, Music and Unlock Full Game. This game is another “simple” type game where you press one button to play. That button being “A” when begging for money via the Xbox 360 gamepad. At first the concept of Homeless was odd to me. Why would anybody want to be a hobo? Then i thought, is it any more weird to want to shoot everything with a carbine on screen? Its all fantasy in the end and Silver Dollar Games are just trying to bring a different “fantasy” or market to gamers which is being a hobo.

The Homeless demo is really short in nature. You only get to play one stage. However i did learn about the gameplay from the time i did have. The goal of Homeless is to meet your goal (money) in a certain amount of time and before you run out of energy. I didn’t know being a hobo was so strenuous till i played Homeless<—-sarcasm. The screen is 2D with the hobo standing still in the center. People walk by left to right, right to left. Pressing A when a group of people are in your zone nets you more money when begging. People wearing Redties nets you more money then people without.

The on screen HUD located on the top left portion of the screen shows the Day, Energy Bar, Time, Goal and Money you have. As you can imagine now the gameplay is simple in nature. The draw of Homeless (if there is one) is that your a hobo begging. While playing Homeless you listen to the hobo talk about being a hobo. The voice actor is average at best. He goes on about what its like being a hobo, how he became one etc. When you press A and collect money he stops and says something regarding how much money pedestrians gave him.

The visuals are more art than technical. The screen is in 2D with a city background featuring buildings in a run down part of town. There is mostly black, grey and white with colors with a few different colors sprinkled in designed to stand out. You can see how the hobo protagonist looks somewhat. The pedestrians are all black silhouettes which slide back and forth across the screen looking quite lifeless. I guess normal working people appear to be lifeless to a hobo? Hey, i’m trying to put my soul into the protagonist of Homeless here lol. The music is good in Homeless. Its dramatic and helps the mediocre voice actor create a believable tale. The sound design is decent as well.

Like i alluded to earlier Homeless is a very short demo and will last a few minutes depending on how good you’re at begging. I can’t say Homeless wasn’t a fun game to play. It was sorta but its even more interesting in my opinion. If you were ever interested in playing an indie game based on being homeless i think i found one for you. Thanks for reading.