Bum Simulator

About

Bum Simulator is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Ragged Games and was released on May 12, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

You lost everything and ended up on the streets. What will you do? Adapt and survive? Take revenge on those responsible? Become an urban legend?

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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88%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,760 reviews

story131 positive mentions

grinding40 negative mentions

Unique and hilarious humor with absurd and creative scenarios including weaponized pigeons and a talking shopping cart companion.
Engaging open-world gameplay with crafting, base building, scavenging, and various side missions, providing a GTA-like sandbox experience.
Strong voice acting and character development enhancing the quirky, offbeat narrative and overall immersive experience.

Gameplay and missions become repetitive and grind-heavy after initial hours, with crafting and inventory management being tedious.
Controls, especially shopping cart handling and key bindings, can be clunky and unintuitive, affecting player experience.
The game feels incomplete with a short main story, limited post-story content, occasional bugs, and perceived abandonment by developers.

story
438 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
63%
7%
The story in this game is a quirky, humorous, and absurd narrative centered around a homeless protagonist and his sentient shopping cart companion, filled with colorful characters and unexpected twists. While several reviewers praise its comedy, unique premise, and engaging missions, others find it short, sometimes repetitive, and incomplete, with base-building and timed quests feeling more like padding. Overall, the story offers a fun, GTA-like experience with campy charm, though its limited length and occasional lack of depth may leave players wanting more.
- “The story is completely absurd, but it's still a lot of fun to play all the way through it.”
- “Story - living on the streets of bumsville can be rough, made even rougher by the fact that an evil corporation has stolen half your brain, and turned your best friend Carl into a shopping cart. Doing your best Christopher Reeve impression you and Carl decide you won't stand for this and embark on a mission to take down the evil corporation to get back what they stole. Using the wits you have left, and Carl's savvy street smarts, the dirty old man and his shopping cart along with a slew of crazy, outrageous and zany characters will turn bumsville upside down.”
- “Everything from keeping a gang of rival hobos at bay and rebuilding your own gang (won’t go into details, that’s story) to helping out a disgruntled hot dog stand owner get back at mean customers in a very crude but funny as hell way to helping a well-endowed and androgynous voiced cop weed out corruption in her department, you’ll be unraveling a story that will have you asking yourself “what the heck am I playing?” but at the same time you’ll be laughing like crazy and just want to keep going to see what your next ridiculous adventure is.”
- “Wasted money... played for 7h and got to the point where story should start but it ends there... so no story at all.”
- “The story is short; I would say 5-10 hours long, highly dependent on your playstyle.”
- “The story also drags on about 5 hours longer than it should, making the end of the game excruciating to get through.”
humor
330 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its hilarious, absurd, and often dark or toilet-style comedy that blends satire and irreverence without being disrespectful. Many reviewers compare it to games like Postal 2 and Goat Simulator, noting the unique comedic writing, memorable characters, and quirky scenarios that keep the experience fresh and entertaining. While some find the humor occasionally cringey or repetitive, the overall consensus is that the game delivers a fun, offbeat, and engaging comedic experience perfect for players who enjoy unconventional, adult-themed humor.
- “It’s hilarious, weirdly heartfelt, and way more mechanically deep than it has any right to be.”
- “At it’s heart, bum simulator takes the negative stigma or “stereotype” (I use that term lightly) of “homeless people are invisible to the community” and over exaggerates that stigma with a splash of unorthodox, over the top, no-nonsense humor akin to the likes of Postal or Leisure Suit Larry (without being as excessively violent, grotesque or lewd when comparing it to those two titles) and applies that aspect of humor/design to an open world survival RPG game.”
- “Everything from keeping a gang of rival hobos at bay and rebuilding your own gang, to helping out a disgruntled hot dog stand owner get back at mean customers in a very crude but funny as hell way, to helping a well-endowed and androgynous voiced cop weed out corruption in her department – you’ll be unraveling a story that will have you asking yourself “what the heck am I playing?” but at the same time you’ll be laughing like crazy and just want to keep going to see what your next ridiculous adventure is.”
- “It's loaded with far too much cringey try-hard humor, the kind you might see geeks and other socially-undeveloped man-children try to pass off to each other during their game nights and conventions.”
- “Not hard enough to be a survival sim, not funny enough to be a meme game.”
- “Not funny or interesting.”
gameplay
228 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
64%
10%
The gameplay of Bum Simulator is a mix of survival, open-world exploration, base building, scavenging, and absurd humor, often compared to GTA and Postal 2 for its chaotic and quirky mechanics. While praised for its originality, humor, and satisfying crafting, combat, and begging systems, it is sometimes criticized for repetition, clunky controls, shallow mechanics, and bugs. Overall, it provides an entertaining but imperfect experience that shines with its unique style and comedic elements, best enjoyed as a casual, low-stakes game.
- “The gameplay leans fully into its absurd premise and commits to it without hesitation.”
- “The gameplay mechanics are surprisingly deep, offering a mix of exploration, scavenging, and downright absurdity.”
- “The gameplay is a riot, with a mix of scavenging, crafting, and good ol’ street shenanigans.”
- “The gameplay is riddled with bugs and glitches, and the overall experience feels unfinished.”
- “The game's mechanics are clunky, making it a frustrating and unenjoyable ordeal.”
- “Feelf stiff and unresponsive making timed missions really annoying to complete, and that's a decent portion of the gameplay loop.”
graphics
85 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
60%
8%
The graphics in the game are generally described as simple, cartoonish, or low-poly, fitting the game's humorous and playful tone rather than aiming for high realism or AAA-level visuals. While some users find the art style charming and appropriate, others criticize the visuals as cheap, glitchy, and poorly optimized, with performance issues on various systems. Overall, the graphics receive mixed feedback but are often accepted as secondary to the game's humor and gameplay.
- “Graphics are simple but charming, with enough exaggerated animations to make even the act of tripping over a trash can entertaining.”
- “Visually, Bum Simulator adopts a low-poly, cartoonish art style that balances the gritty subject with a playful tone.”
- “The graphics of the city is absolutely great, decent size starting map.”
- “Terrible game, with brain-dead AI, awful graphics (it's built in UE4 engine yet the game manages to look like it's from 2003), plenty of texture problems with 1 meter drawing distance, very bad story mode with even worse repetitive side quests, way too easy combat and survival mode (you are basically immortal from the beginning), and stupidly plain basic base-building mode.”
- “The graphics are subpar, the gameplay is riddled with bugs and glitches, and the overall experience feels unfinished.”
- “Amazingly janky controls, bad bounding boxes, completely unbalanced resource economy, lazy graphics with lots of tearing.”
music
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
57%
9%
The game's music is widely praised for its energetic, quirky, and memorable tracks—especially the standout main menu song, which many consider a highlight worth the price alone. While the soundtrack effectively complements the game's chaotic and humorous atmosphere, some users note that the limited variety can become repetitive during longer sessions. Overall, the music significantly enhances the experience with its unique style and engaging vibe.
- “The best opening menu music ever, yes better than Oblivion.”
- “The music is crazy and really adds to the crazy experience, whether you decide to piss on the cops or save your friends.”
- “The soundtrack maintains a mix of relaxed and upbeat tracks depending on the situation.”
- “The soundtrack becomes monotonous after 45 minutes of continuous play.”
- “The game is boring with annoying background music.”
- “The worst part is that the soundtrack loops repeatedly with just one song, becoming mind-numbing after thirty minutes.”
grinding
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
7%
89%
Grinding in the game is generally seen as a necessary but often tedious aspect, particularly due to manual inventory management and slow crafting processes like smelting. While some players find the grind rewarding and balanced, others feel it becomes repetitive and detracts from the experience, especially in the late game or with resource-heavy tasks like base building and achievement hunting. Quality-of-life improvements such as batch processing and better inventory handling are commonly desired to alleviate these frustrations.
- “Building was fun and not too grindy.”
- “I understand that you need to fill the game with content, but not grinding!!!”
- “That said, it could use quality-of-life improvements—for example, crafting aluminum sheets is a tedious process: each sheet requires 2 bars, each bar requires smelting 2 scraps, and you can only smelt one scrap at a time while manually adding fuel.”
- “Overall the game is extremely annoying, very grindy, and it has a lot of very annoying mechanics especially the inventory system.”
- “The inventory system makes the looting and grinding part not enjoyable, I consider myself a hoarder, and it's the reason I like this kind of game, but this game made me hate hoarding things.”
stability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
The game’s stability is generally acceptable but plagued by numerous minor to moderate bugs, including NPC pathing issues, glitches with items and achievements, and unresponsive mechanics. While performance is smooth in many cases and it runs well on platforms like Steam Deck, the overall experience feels unfinished and occasionally buggy, impacting polish but often adding unintended humor. Users recommend caution, noting that these issues may detract from enjoyment unless purchased at a low price.
- “Great character designs, the map feels smooth, and movement isn't buggy. It's a very fun and enjoyable experience.”
- “Runs great on the Steam Deck, which is great.”
- “It runs great, control is smooth, the city is detailed, and the humor is really on point and super refreshing to see it isn't too reserved.”
- “Buggy NPC AI pathing—they get stuck on swinging gates frequently (I had up to 7 pedestrians and a cop all stuck on one gate).”
- “Repairing your base after raids takes more resources than demolishing and rebuilding, which then glitches and doesn't let you replace items in spots they were previously removed from.”
- “The gameplay is riddled with bugs and glitches, the overall experience feels unfinished, and the game isn't polished enough to have a good time.”
replayability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
Replayability for the game is mixed, with some players appreciating additional content and exploration after completing the story, while others find little incentive to replay once finished. Overall, the game lacks strong replay value and may not encourage repeated playthroughs for many users.
- “Very good replayability after you've completed the game, there's a lot to do and explore. I never thought I'd enjoy playing as a bum. I'd also say the graphics are very good and the overall story as well.”
- “☑️ Infinitely replayable.”
- “✔ Replay value.”
- “Overall rating 3/5: good game but sadly there isn't replay value or continuing after the story is completed, unless you have some missing achievements.”
- “No replayability!”
- “I am not sure if I will return to the game after achieving 100%, so I would say the replayability is not that high.”
optimization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
37%
36%
Optimization in this game is generally poor, with many users reporting unstable performance, glitches, and subpar frame rates even on high-end PCs. While some improvements have been made through updates, the game still struggles with efficient performance, especially on platforms like the Steam Deck. Overall, optimization remains a significant area needing attention.
- “Performance is generally stable, though minor glitches and physics oddities occur, typical for indie sandbox titles.”
- “Additionally, as an indie title, the game can sometimes suffer from bugs and performance issues, though regular updates have improved stability over time.”
- “Performance is serviceable but there is room for improvement.”
- “Depressing, poorly optimized and derivative garbage.”
- “This game is very, very poorly optimized; I have games that look hundreds of times nicer and run a thousand times smoother than this.”
- “-Bad optimization. I have what is by today's standards a high-tier PC, yet I cannot keep stable high frames on this game when I get better performance on more graphically demanding games.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is a unique blend of humor and heartfelt moments, creating a surprisingly deep and compelling experience. Players form quirky bonds with characters like the loyal shopping cart Carl, while the story delivers both hilarious and moving moments that resonate emotionally. Overall, it's a wacky yet wholesome journey that evokes genuine laughter and tears.
- “It’s hilarious, weirdly heartfelt, and way more mechanically deep than it has any right to be.”
- “If you’re looking for a game that’s equal parts hilarious and heartwarming, with pigeons that will steal your heart (and maybe some shiny objects), Bum Simulator is a must-play.”
- “I loved the story and characters of this game, and it was waaay wackier and more wholesome than I first imagined.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
57%
The game's atmosphere is uniquely enhanced by its eclectic sound design, blending ambient city noises, quirky music, and comedic voice acting that vividly capture the chaotic, humorous, and immersive world. This combination effectively supports the game's distinctive tone, making the experience both fun and engaging.
- “The sound design complements this aesthetic with ambient city noises, lighthearted music, and amusing voiceovers, all of which contribute to the game's distinctive atmosphere.”
- “The sound effects, from the squishy footsteps to the offbeat conversations with NPCs, enhance the overall comedic atmosphere.”
- “The voice actors really captured that atmosphere of what it's like to be homeless and building your own shanty while fighting gangs off and waiting for your smelter to cook aluminium so you can build a lamp, truly a masterpiece.”
character development
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
29%
14%
The game features exceptional character development with creative, exaggerated designs that enhance its charm and humor. The storyline and character arcs are highly praised, contributing significantly to an engaging and enjoyable experience.
- “Completely outstanding game, storyline was peak, character development was peak, open world map with side quests, all around this game is one of my favorites.”
- “Great character designs, map feels smooth, movement isn't buggy, it's a very fun and enjoyable experience.”
- “The character designs themselves are pretty fun and creative with lots of visual gags and unique looks.”
- “The character designs, however, feel like I'm playing Conker's Bad Fur Day again.”