A homeless simulator. Yes, this is a thing, and when I first heard about it, my reaction was the same as what you may or may not be feeling right now.
How could they (as in “How the F*@k could they!”) make a video game about homelessness!? This is exploitation at its worst, I thought.
Out of morbid curiosity, I had to at least look at what this thing was, and in my initial image search for the game, and the 8-bit style graphics of side-scrolling urban landscapes only made me more suspicious and disgusted. However, I was ultimately taken aback...by how wrong I was.
It’s called Change: A Homeless Survival Experience. The object of every play-though is to get off the streets, which for the purposes of video game parameters means getting and keeping a steady job, and earning and saving enough money to rent an apartment. This game is very, very, very hard to win, and each run is most likely to end in failure, and that is the point.
It was developed and released by Delve Interactive, a small UK based independent (“indy”) video game company. Change is their second title they have released, and the first thing to know about these folks and their intentions is that 20% of all proceeds, that’s $3 per $15 digital download, is donated to charities focused on the issue of homelessness.
In their own words, explaining why they decided to make this game: “This is a hate letter to the growing indifference in the world. When members of the development team almost fell into homelessness some years ago, it inspired us to create something that gives a voice to the forgotten and the vulnerable.”
Their promotional introduction to the game on their company website asks the honest question with no easy answer: “If you became homeless, what would you do?”
I ended up downloading it for my pc, and I have to say it has earned a special place in this proudly liberal gamer’s bleeding heart. I play simcity to build clean, healthy, well educated, happy and economically just communities. I play civilization, and only consider it won with a world peace ending. In real life, my favorite group pastime is hacky-sack, because it is a cooperative sport.
I let my nephew play the game. He soon exclaimed how hard and frustrating it was. I myself came close to being homeless once, and have worked with people who actually were homeless in the past. I also worked in a San Francisco homeless shelter when I was a lot younger with my church youth group, and grew up in another large city in a different part of the country with a large homeless population. I simply told my nephew he had no idea, and neither did I really, and to keep playing. He agreed, but said he was going to loose. “Yeah, most likely,” I told him, and he did.
I asked my nephew what he thought of the game. He started by asking me if that’s what being homeless was really like. I told him it is worse, far more than he could imagine, but it is a truthful and respectful sample of what its really like. He asked to try again and I was thrilled, and told him to go for it.
His second attempt ended more or less like the first. He asked if the game is possible to win. Having done so a few times out of many, I told him it was possible, but it is very difficult. He thought for awhile, and finally just said it’s not fair, and referring to the character he chose, went on to say it wasn’t her fault. She did not deserve to be cold and hungry, and have to wash in a dirty public bathroom just because she got sick and lost her job and couldn’t pay her rent. Referring to some of the npc’s (non-player characters) in the game, he said “at least they could have treated her like a human being, they did not need to be so mean to her.”
My nephew is a good kid. He was sad, and I could see he needed to do something. I told him to look up the phone number for our county food pantry. He asked if he should go through my pantry at home for old can goods. I told him to take a look and ask himself if he would want to eat any of that stuff. No. I had him call the food pantry and ask what they needed that day. I took him to the grocery store, and we bought potatoes, onions, celery, oranges, grapes, carrots, garlic, orange juice, lean hamburger, cold cuts, bottled water, unsalted butter, cheddar cheese, diapers and chocolate bars. I drove him to the food bank, reminded him to put on his face covering, and let him deliver the goods. He’s a good kid.
Its just a video game, and the developers readily admit and repeatedly qualify their efforts can only illustrate an inadequate glimpse into the harsh reality of being homeless. I have to give them credit, however, between the quality of the game itself, its dignifying respectfulness, and the 5 years of research that went into its creation, this is not exploitation, nor is it cheap “edutainment,” it is a work of art. It has the potential to do what good art can do, and inspire an emotional reaction, that in turn can lead to action for positive change.
I have searched and found no evidence that this has been attempted, but if I were a teacher, I would consider adapting this game to a relevant lesson plan.