Cart Life (Game)

Cart Life

GAME » on March 18, 2013

A monochrome business/life simulator written and developed by Richard Hofmeier. The game focuses on the lives of street vendors in the western US.

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Overview

Cart Life is a lo-fi business management simulator indie game centered around a person's working and personal life. All playable characters are self-employed street vendors. Every day, they must earn income to pay for their expenses whilst dealing with their own personal matters.

On March 2014, the first anniversary of the game's release, Cart Life was pulled out of Steamand went open source.

Gameplay

Each character owns and personally runs a stall which acts as their primary source of income throughout the game. Depending on the stall, they sell certain items but they can expand their inventory to serve more customers. The work required to prepare and run the stall (e.g. putting inventory onto shelves, giving change to customers) is sometimes presented as minigames. Moneyis highly important as everyday needs such as food and rent require payment. Careful management of sleepand "addiction" are just as important. Failing to maintain those needs will result in poor work performance and/or eviction.

Gameplay is quite open ended as players are allowed to travel to specific points throughout Georgetown using various modes of transport (taxi, public transport, and walking). They can explore the town, talk to its inhabitants, make friends or buy items for personal use or for restocking supplies. With enough money, upgrades can also be bought for the stalls. The game takes place over a week with each shop and NPC's running on their own unique schedules. Every now and again, scripted special encounters can provide bonuses or penalties depending on how they are handled.

Characters

There are three playable characters, and each one has their own goals to achieve before the next Monday. Each of them also has an "addiction" that needs tending.

Melanie Emberly

Melanie and Laura

A recent divorcee who had to quit her job at her office as a result. Now, Melanie runs a Coffee Hut. Her goal is to amass a sum of one thousand dollars in sales by custody hearing on Monday whilst taking care of her daughter, Laura. Melanie's "addiction" is her love for her daughter, so it is important to spend time with Laura every day (pick her up from school, etc). Melanie is a very friendly person and thus customers warm up to her easily. Her sister Gina cooks dinner every night.

Andrus Poder

An immigrant hailing from the country of Ukraine (Location), Andrus moved to the U.S. in hopes of starting a new life. He runs a newspaper stand that sells the local newspaper, The Georgetownian. He lives in at Breezy's Motel with his beloved cat, Mr Glembovski. Andrus has an excellent work ethic (meaning longer working days) and is not a picky eater therefore he does not get hungry as quickly as other characters. Unfortunately, he started smoking at a young age and thus craves cigarettesfrom time to time.

Vinny*

An owner of a bagel cart. Vinny must earn at least five hundred dollars to pay for his rent. Vinny has recently started to drink coffeeand as a result he has become addicted to caffeine. While caffeinated, Vinny walks faster but lack of it leads to fatigue and impaired speed. He is an excellent baker which allows him to make a variety of bagels to sell.

Vinny is only available in the Everything Edition, which is now also available for free.

System Requirements

Minimum

OS: Windows 95
Hard Drive: 200 MB HD space
Additional: 640x400 Resolution

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