What does survival in a survival game look like? Running from dinosaurs is a start. Building a shelter to keep out the rain works too. Sometimes survival is about things even smaller: catching a quick nap on a public bench or burning an old newspaper to dry one’s hands and warm up a bit on a mid-winter night.
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Hobo: Tough Lifeis about surviving in a city as a homeless person, a very different and more realistic kind of survival than gamers are typically faced with. Though the player isn’t hunting for coconuts on a desert island and evading hungry sharks, that doesn’t mean their trials will be any easier. The game is tough but rewarding, doing its best to tackle serious subjects in a way that’s still fun and engaging. In this kind of environment, every bit of advice helps. Here are some tips forHobo: Tough Lifethat every beginner should know.
7Pay Attention To Stats
The inventory screen is used for more than just tracking the things the player has scavenged throughout the city. It also displays a number of crucial stats that fluctuate throughout the game, including Health, Hunger, Morale, Energy, Temperature, Illness, and even Odor and Alcohol.
Most of these are self-explanatory, and many of them the player may already be familiar with from other survival games, even if the player isn’t using them tokeep their hero safe from zombies.Hobo: Tough Lifecan be just as tough as the title says if the player isn’t paying attention.Most of these stats are easy to maintain as long as the player is paying attention, but it’s always worth taking a moment to check in and make sure that nothing is being neglected before the problem becomes too late to fix.
6Rest For Success
The player only has a limited amount of energy to spend, and that energy decreases more the longer the player is awake, and having less energy means the player isn’t able to sprint or take a beating the way they normally would. Maintaining a good energy level is vital for traversing the city safely and quickly. To boost one’s energy, the player needs to rest.
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The player can sleep at their base or nap on public benches in order to restore energy.Not all benches are the same, however, with some offering better bonuses for napping there than others. If the player grows too cold, they will automatically wake up, so trying to restore energy by napping on a park bench in the middle of a storm isn’t going to get the player anywhere. Though there are items that restore energy, they almost always have a downside, so it’s better to nap when possible.
5Keep Morale Up
Morale is one of the game’s more interesting stats, especially because it isn’t common in the survival game genre. In most survival games, the player can simply do whatever they like, stealing, killing, and committing other negative acts with no consequence other than the punishment that NPCs might be able to dish out in response.
InHobo: Tough Life,Morale decreases automatically over time.It decreases even faster if the player commits immoral acts such as stealing. Thanks to thisunderrated survival game mechanic,when the player’s Morale falls below 20%, they will start to lose health, making it possible for the player to kill their character through bad deeds alone. Morale can be raised by reading lewd magazines, smoking, or drinking alcohol, all of which have their downsides.
4Stay Warm
Staying warm is one of the most difficult survival tasks in the game, so keeping one’s hobo alive can be difficult depending on the time of day.There are several ways to ward off the cold,and because all of them have their pros and cons, it’s worth taking some time to consider each.
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Finding or buying warmer clothes is one of the most obvious solutions, with the only major downside being that good clothes can be expensive. Other items such as Wine can help keep the character warm, but these are a temporary and often pricey solution. The best way to stay warm is to find the trashcan scattered throughout the map in which the player can light a fire. Newspapers and boards can both be burnt within, and trashcan fires are easily one of the best overall ways to stay warm.
3Stay Healthy
One feature thatHobo: Tough Lifeincludes that few other survival games focus on is alcohol. The hobo protagonist can find, purchase, and consume alcohol throughout the game, which has a variety of affects. Certain items such as Kombucha will help the player sober up, as will simply waiting. Drinking has strong benefits such as boosts to Warmth and Morale, but the player will need to carefully weigh these against the negative effects of alcohol.
Taking good care of one’s character also includes avoiding illness and keeping clean,proving thatHobo: Tough Lifecan bea brutal survival game.Digging through trash too much will eventually increase the character’s stench, which will make NPCs less likely to help the character. Sometimes a quick trip to the laundromat is necessary to clean the character’s clothes and purge any offensive smells.
2Talk To Maisner
Life on the streets is difficult, but the player isn’t alone in trying to survive. Scattered throughout the city are a number of NPCs who are in almost as bad a position as the player, if not even worse. Getting to know these NPCs will prove enormously beneficial in the long run, so it’s worth taking some time early on to meet and befriend some of the most important NPCs who will be along for the journey.
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Maisner can be located just outside the pit in which the player begins the game.This is the NPC who will offer the player their first quest and get them started in the story, so it’s worth dropping by for a chat early on Day 1. Talking to Maisner regularly is important because it will increase his trust level, which will make Maisner more inclined to help the player.He’s a good friend to have.
1Scavenge Everywhere
As a homeless person, the main character starts the game with few possessions, and it’s up to the player to make do with the little they have. That’s not to say that they will always be doomed to possess nothing, however. On the contrary, the city is full of items that can be used or traded. The trick is to keep an eye out for them. If the player does that,they can earn money fast.
The player must scavenge everywhere.Nooks and alcoves, trash bins and filthy alleys, piles of garbage, and other unpleasant or unassuming places contain items that will be key to the player’s survival. One of the most important things the player can do inHobo: Tough Lifeis to keep their eyes open at all times, ready to seize whatever opportunity–or scrap metal–presents itself.
Hobo: Tough Lifeis available now available for PC and Nintendo Switch.
