''Cart Life'' is a
simulation
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by Richard Hofmeier using
Adventure Game Studio
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an open source development tool primarily used to create graphic adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an integrated development environment (IDE) with a scripting language ...
for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
released in 2010. The game was added to
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
in March 2013 but later removed when Hofmeier released the full
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
for free. The game is designed on a pixel-grid in
grayscale
In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysca ...
, with minimal detail, to better allow the player to deduce the mood of each of the three vendor characters.
In ''Cart Life'' the player controls one of three
street vendors
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...
, and attempts to run their shop while looking after their health, interests, and families.
The game was received well by critics, with particular praise for the relatable characters, though some critics criticised technical issues. In 2013 ''Cart Life'' won the
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is na ...
, Nuovo Award, and Excellence in Narrative award.
Cart Life made a return on March 20th, 2023 and is published by Adhoc Studio. It is set to release later in 2023
Gameplay
In ''Cart Life,'' players control one of three characters, each of whom has a different street vending job; Vinny sells
bagel
A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is first ...
s, Andrus runs a newspaper stand, and Melanie sells coffee from a cart.
While at their stalls players interact with customers by selling them items and can manage their stall by selecting stock, setting prices, and buying new equipment. Players must also look after the character's day-to-day lives, including having adequate food, drink, and sleep. Each character has unique situations to address; Melanie, for example, is a single mother of a daughter. When she's not working, she yearns to bond more with her daughter, in the midst of her difficult busy life. She struggles to have time to walk her daughter to and from school each day, as she seeks custody on limited wages.
Development
Richard Hofmeier's inspiration for the game came from aspects of his own work-life experiences, as well as from playing other games like
Little Computer People
''Little Computer People'', also called ''House-on-a-Disk'', is a social simulation game released in 1985 by Activision for the
Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of ...
and
River City Ransom
''River City Ransom'', later released as ''Street Gangs'' in the PAL regions, is an open world action role-playing beat 'em up video game originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Technōs Japan and originally relea ...
. He drew inspiration from
Han Hoogerbrugge
Han Hoogerbrugge (born October 11, 1963) is a Dutch digital artist.
Hoogerbrugge was born in Rotterdam, where he is still based, and started out as a painter and cartoonist until he found the internet in 1996. He is the creator of the series Mode ...
's ''Modern Living'', saying that he thought about it "almost every day" while developing ''Cart Life''. Hofmeier credits his partner with supporting him throughout the game development.
''Cart Life'' is Hofmeier's first game, drawing upon his experience as an illustrator. He developed the game in his spare time using
Adventure Game Studio
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an open source development tool primarily used to create graphic adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an integrated development environment (IDE) with a scripting language ...
while working what he describes as a "bunch of bad jobs".
He initially planned to finish the development in 30 days but he worked on development for three years.
He wanted to make a game which had no high scores, points, or action, and originally envisaged it as a comedy.
Of the game's
pixel art
Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphics software, graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers a ...
design, Hofmeier said that he did not choose it to be nostalgic but rather because he wanted players to fill in the extra details with their own thoughts and experiences, saying that it took more time and effort than other possible styles.
During development Hofmeier spoke to a number of
street vendors
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...
to research their work who were enthusiastic about the creation of the game.
During development Richard Hofmeier experimented with many elements which were eventually removed, including a fourth character and a number of extra stores and locations.
At the 2013
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
, Hofmeier spray-painted his own booth to instead display
Porpentine's game ''Howling Dogs'', saying that he thought "''Cart Life'' had already overstayed its welcome... I wanted people to see this game."
In March 2014, with Hofmeier saying he was finished supporting the game, the game was removed from
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
while
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
and game were made available for free (
Freeware
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...
) on his website under the ''"CART LIFE'S FREE LICENSE"'', a
public domain like license. Hofmeier's webpage went later offline due to the increased traffic but the game and source code was mirrored on
GitHub
GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous ...
.
Reception
''Cart Life'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
Reviewers commented positively on ''Cart Life''s characters and
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
. Carolyn Petit of
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
described the characters as "wonderfully expressive", particularly because of the attention to small details like eyebrow movements, and having to make tough decisions.
In ''
PC Gamer UK
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
''s review Alex Wiltshire said the game portrayed "a convincing, empathetic set of portraits."
Another well received feature was the game's art style; Ben Lee of ''
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
'' found the pixel art to complement the game's portrayal of the mundane aspects of life.
The main criticisms of the game were due to the technical problems and
bugs present in the game.
GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
' Ben Moore said that he experienced "more than a handful of crashes, scripting errors, and freezes" while playing the game. Petit said that the issues were common and reduced the impact of the game's story for her.
In 2011, ''Cart Life'' won two
AGS Awards
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is an open source development tool primarily used to create graphic adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an integrated development environment (IDE) with a scripting language b ...
for ''Best Programming'' and ''Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS''.
''Cart Life'' was a finalist for the 2012
Indiecade
IndieCade is an international juried festival of independent games. IndieCade is known as "the video game industry's Sundance."Fritz, Ben"IndieCade, the video game industry's Sundance" Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2009, accessed July 21, 2011 ...
and won the
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is na ...
, Nuovo Award, and Excellence in Narrative award at the 2013
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
.
See also
*
List of open source games
This is a list of notable open-source video games. Open-source video games are assembled from and are themselves open-source software, including public domain games with public domain source code. This list also includes games in which the engine i ...
References
External links
* (archived)
*Official download of the free release
Cart Life 1.6an
source code(archived)
mirror.
GitHub repository
{{Portal bar, Video games
2010 video games
Adventure Game Studio games
Humanitarian video games
Indie video games
Simulation video games
Windows games
Windows-only games
Seumas McNally Grand Prize winners
Freeware games
Commercial video games with freely available source code
AGS Award winners
Video games developed in the United States
Public-domain software with source code
Monochrome video games
Independent Games Festival winners