Change: A Homeless Survival Experience is another one of those unique Indie games that give players a look into an area that isn’t well known to people in modern society, the core focus of the game is to introduce people to the experience of being homeless.
Now I’ve experienced this firsthand due to poor mental health and state laws for several weeks and despite having a bit of support from my family during that time. It was not a fun experience; it presented a lot of challenges.
Some of these were touched on in this game and I have to say Change: A Homeless Survival Experience is a fairly accurate portrayal of these issues. In a society that prides itself on how great nations supposedly are, Change reminds us that homelessness is a serious issue faced around the world and we both criminalize it and judge it based solely on what societal definitions are applied to it.
In my case, my family had a spare tent I could live in while we all desperately tried to find a solution to what happened. Others however aren’t as lucky as I was during that time frame.
You play your selected character and the longer you survive you can even unlock other survival options such as a homeless Veteran. The goal of Change: A Homeless Survival Experience is straight forward you must get a new job, and an apartment, and survive being homeless during the cold winter and rainy days with little to no help. You have to keep yourself fed, and warm, and try to keep your mental health in check.
I played for a good while and as soon as I adopted a stray dog by chance I had to quit, I just couldn’t bear the chance that a dog might die as I can barely keep myself fed. The game gave me some flashbacks to what it was like living in a tent for several weeks as I mingled with individuals who were there by choice and not chance.
It took those issues of feeling powerless and made it into something that people could experience through a video game as a means to help teach people and educate people that those on the streets sometimes aren’t there from drug use. Sometimes they are people like me who are just victims of circumstance or bad mental health and society has made people look down upon them because of these issues.
But now in America due to COVID-19, this is now the reality for people, for families who cannot afford their rent or afford food and their only options are to keep working and face crippling issues from COVID-19 or face these situations.
Now I know, not everyone came to this website for realism a lot of people come because I’m funny, the game reviews are honest or you just think I’m cute I know I’m overselling myself here. But this is a reality for a lot of people and I’ve been included in this mixture before.
Being homeless doesn’t mean you’re a drug addict, it could mean you’re a victim of chance if you want to help contribute to changing things can I recommend a charity you can donate to?
There are people out there who need your help, and if you want to give the game a try here’s a link to it on Steam!
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!