Rags to Riches (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Rags to Riches is a side-scrolling action-adventure game
released in 1985 for the Commodore 64
, developed by Bob Keener and published by Melody Hall Publishing Corp.
living in a fictional city, divided into four sections, titled North, South, West, and East. The player begins in the South section. To complete the game the player must accumulate $1,000,000 cash by progressing from the life of a vagrant, cleaning up by getting a haircut, securing odd jobs, attending High School
, College
, and eventually becoming a millionaire
. Money is collected by finding dimes and $1 notes on the street and taking up employment. Bottles can also be found and exchanged for money at several stores.
Movement within the city is within a scrolling two-dimensional landscape containing non-interactive pedestrians and foes. A subway system with an entrance in each section of the city allows the player to travel between sections of the city. Before travel, the player must purchase a ticket, with a maximum of five tickets able to be held at any one time.
An alcohol, food/rest, and two education meters indicate the player's current status. If both the alcohol level and food/rest level reach zero, the player dies and the game ends. Restaurants, fast food outlets, and convenience stores offer the player nourishment, with price depending on the establishment; there is also a soup kitchen
in which a filling meal is available for free. Some stores have limited opening hours displayed on store windows and others are open at all hours. At night, it is usually advisable that the player find accommodation such as a hotel room, ranging in price from $2 per night to $40 per week; the food/rest levels deplete twice as fast during night time. Drinking alcohol is an inexpensive means of staying alive; however, the player cannot gain employment while affected.
Besides staying alive, the key focus in the game is accumulating money. The amount of currency possessed by the player is shown in three areas. The majority is represented in a green dollar readout at the bottom of the screen. However, that only shows multiples of $10. The balance of currency (dollars and dimes) are represented in unary notation
. Up to nine dollar bills and up to nine dimes are shown, representing how many the player holds. Ten dimes are automatically converted into a dollar bill, and a tenth dollar bill results in the equivalent amount being moved to the green dollar readout section. In late stages of the game, the player can make investments in increments of $10,000. Once an investment is made, the money is removed from game play, aside from the generous 20% interest paid every morning. However, investments don't count towards winning the game.
Robbers carrying guns steal any dollar bills you are currently holding (but not dimes or larger amounts).
IRS
agents take all money the player is currently carrying in the game, except for dollar bills and dimes. Police arrest the player for not having a recent haircut. (A haircut is also a precondition for employment.) On the fifth day the player's facial hair regrows, requiring another haircut. If arrested, the player is transferred to the City Jail in the South End for a brief period, which can be inconvenient.
Shops and institutions located throughout the city can be entered for special purposes including purchasing alcohol or food, attending school and work, obtaining a haircut and travelling the subway. Bottles can also be collected from a junkyard and traded for money at an adjacent convenience store. Before entering the junkyard the player is required to purchase dog bones to appease a guard dog
.
A common complaint about the game was that it was sometimes impossible to avoid the IRS character when exiting the subway. As the IRS character would remove the bulk of money from the player, the player would be required to continue the game almost as if starting again. It was also sometimes impossible to evade a policeman or robber, but the consequences were not as dire. As was usual for many games of the era, no save game feature was available; there was also no pause function. The game also lacks a formal ending. After players reach the $1,000,000 goal, nothing changes in the game - the total keeps increasing but does not show any digits past $999,999.00.
The music in the game is taken from the theme in the first movement of Mozart's Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Viola in E flat major (K498).
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
released in 1985 for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, developed by Bob Keener and published by Melody Hall Publishing Corp.
Gameplay
The game starts with the player assuming the role of an unnamed homeless vagrantVagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
living in a fictional city, divided into four sections, titled North, South, West, and East. The player begins in the South section. To complete the game the player must accumulate $1,000,000 cash by progressing from the life of a vagrant, cleaning up by getting a haircut, securing odd jobs, attending High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, College
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, and eventually becoming a millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
. Money is collected by finding dimes and $1 notes on the street and taking up employment. Bottles can also be found and exchanged for money at several stores.
Movement within the city is within a scrolling two-dimensional landscape containing non-interactive pedestrians and foes. A subway system with an entrance in each section of the city allows the player to travel between sections of the city. Before travel, the player must purchase a ticket, with a maximum of five tickets able to be held at any one time.
An alcohol, food/rest, and two education meters indicate the player's current status. If both the alcohol level and food/rest level reach zero, the player dies and the game ends. Restaurants, fast food outlets, and convenience stores offer the player nourishment, with price depending on the establishment; there is also a soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
in which a filling meal is available for free. Some stores have limited opening hours displayed on store windows and others are open at all hours. At night, it is usually advisable that the player find accommodation such as a hotel room, ranging in price from $2 per night to $40 per week; the food/rest levels deplete twice as fast during night time. Drinking alcohol is an inexpensive means of staying alive; however, the player cannot gain employment while affected.
Besides staying alive, the key focus in the game is accumulating money. The amount of currency possessed by the player is shown in three areas. The majority is represented in a green dollar readout at the bottom of the screen. However, that only shows multiples of $10. The balance of currency (dollars and dimes) are represented in unary notation
Unary numeral system
The unary numeral system is the bijective base-1 numeral system. It is the simplest numeral system to represent natural numbers: in order to represent a number N, an arbitrarily chosen symbol representing 1 is repeated N times. For example, using the symbol | , the number 6 is represented as ||||||...
. Up to nine dollar bills and up to nine dimes are shown, representing how many the player holds. Ten dimes are automatically converted into a dollar bill, and a tenth dollar bill results in the equivalent amount being moved to the green dollar readout section. In late stages of the game, the player can make investments in increments of $10,000. Once an investment is made, the money is removed from game play, aside from the generous 20% interest paid every morning. However, investments don't count towards winning the game.
Robbers carrying guns steal any dollar bills you are currently holding (but not dimes or larger amounts).
IRS
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
agents take all money the player is currently carrying in the game, except for dollar bills and dimes. Police arrest the player for not having a recent haircut. (A haircut is also a precondition for employment.) On the fifth day the player's facial hair regrows, requiring another haircut. If arrested, the player is transferred to the City Jail in the South End for a brief period, which can be inconvenient.
Shops and institutions located throughout the city can be entered for special purposes including purchasing alcohol or food, attending school and work, obtaining a haircut and travelling the subway. Bottles can also be collected from a junkyard and traded for money at an adjacent convenience store. Before entering the junkyard the player is required to purchase dog bones to appease a guard dog
Guard dog
A guard dog, an attack dog or watch dog is a dog used to guard against, and watch for, unwanted or unexpected people or animals. The dog is discriminating so that it does not annoy or attack familiar people.-Barking:...
.
A common complaint about the game was that it was sometimes impossible to avoid the IRS character when exiting the subway. As the IRS character would remove the bulk of money from the player, the player would be required to continue the game almost as if starting again. It was also sometimes impossible to evade a policeman or robber, but the consequences were not as dire. As was usual for many games of the era, no save game feature was available; there was also no pause function. The game also lacks a formal ending. After players reach the $1,000,000 goal, nothing changes in the game - the total keeps increasing but does not show any digits past $999,999.00.
The music in the game is taken from the theme in the first movement of Mozart's Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Viola in E flat major (K498).