A downloadable interactive story


Invisible: An interactive narrative about homelessness in Montreal

Go through a day as a homeless person and strive to change your future!


This game is made for the Integrating Activity at JAC.

This game is made by: Rui Ting Ji (@duckyrui)


TO PLAY:

Please download the swf file and play it via https://ruffle.rs/demo/
My apologies for the inconvenience! I am looking at ways to port the game to HTML5 in the meantime. If you know how to do so and can help me out, please reach out to me. Thank you! 


Attributions:

Music: "Mesmerize" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sound effects: Walking in snow: [x] / Dog bark: [x] / Restaurant background: [x] / Stomach growling: [x] / Store door chime: [x]

Fonts: [x],[x],[x],[x],[x]


There are many reasons why people become homeless, from the simple fact of losing a job to family violence and various types of addiction or abuse. This game, however, focuses on the everyday problems and setbacks a homeless person is likely to encounter in Montreal.




// A big THANK YOU to my project advisors, Marlon and Mrs. Serge, for giving me valuable information and guidance, and to Sandy, for encouraging and helping me throughout the process.//



Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

update 18/05/15: added "Homeless Simulator" to game name

Download

Download
Invisible (Interactive story).swf 26 MB

Comments

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the link is not working

when i download google chrome says it is a virus.....

Damn, sorry about that. It seems to be a blanket warning for all .swf files (due to the game being made in Flash). I unfortunately lost most of my source files and haven't been able to port it to another file type :( 

I was able to download it and play, but I totally understand that it is a huge hassle and mess

:( srry buddy chrome some times can be strict about files about itch.io games it not the first im always having problems like this.


and i dont have other browsers *i have* but idk how to use them

(+1)

Man, it's really sad that this game isn't playable anymore now that Flash is gone. Will there be a downloadable copy coming out at some point? I've been meaning to play this and now realized it's stopped being a possibility, it looks like it's a beautiful game.

Hi, I apologize for the late reply. I have made the game available for download-- it is playable by uploading the file here . Sorry for the inconvenience!

(+2)

I really loved the way it showed our main chracters thoughts. It helped me be more aware that any homeless people I see hate their situation too. That they might be embarassed and just trying their hardest in very difficult situations. Of course, some are dangerous, and not all police are as cold as the one in the game. But, alternate viewpoints of all types of treatment is important to creating change. :) 

love the art, the feel, and the motivations behind it. keep up the good work!! :D

(+1)

how do I download?

Hi, I apologize for the late reply. I have made the game available for download-- it is playable by uploading the file here . Sorry for the inconvenience!

(+5)

I loved this game, the story, artwork, fonts, everything.

TLDR; I can deeply relate in many ways, thank you for spreading awareness through this game.

It really hits home for me, I'm a US citizen and after my mother passed away from cancer when I was a teenager, her boyfriend lost his home and job, and no one would hire him anywhere, and was forced to be homeless in an extremely expensive, and dangerous area. I've done my best to help him get on his feet, but it's next to impossible with how the world works right now, you lose motivation, can't find a job, lose your car, your pets (sometimes), your home, your friends, sometimes even your family. He's tried everything and refuses to move in with me because he feels as if he would burden me emotionally and has once again turned to drugs and alcoholism to drown out the pains of the life he's living. I really appreciate you spreading awareness on this topic, thank you. Amazing game! Great message! 

I loved the game - so thoughtful and the choices really made me think.

(+1)

This voices out my deep thougts...Thank you. Amazing concept.

Stuck at "it's not her fault, but all you managed to say is..." the button appears under the text and cannot be clicked. Unfortunate since the story had some relevance.

(+1)

Sorry to hear that it got stuck! I just tested it and it works fine now, but Flash does behave a little unexpectedly sometimes, especially when you go through the clicks very fast. 

(+2)

I love this game! It will be good for my U.P.H. (Unfortunate People Helpers) school club I am making! I will have my members play this to make them more aware of people's tragic circumstances. I will also warn them of the curse words in it.

What an experience. A real eye opener. I enjoyed the game as whole very beautifully made with something to say about society. 

(+1)

I wish there where more to the game, Other than that great game!

(:

(+3)

Thank you for making this. People needed to see this.

(+4)

Amazing game, really. Simple style but it's so touching. Loved the artwork and the game with the choices, the reasoning when you choose one that doesn't make sense, the reality shock coming through...

It's a great way to create awareness on this situation. Thank you for making this game!

(+6)

Thank you for sharing this. It helps remind me that everyone has needs and feelings, and that I can be a little kinder.

(+6)

break into someone'else house and get whatever you need bro ;(

(+4)

Thank you for making this game. 

(+11)

This is beautiful and heartbreaking and genuinely left me with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Well done, this is a great little game with a powerful message. Rated 5/5 stars. 

(+6)

Heartbreaking and beautiful game. Thank you for making this and spreading awareness of homelessness in a way that forces players to empathize. 

Deleted 4 years ago
(+4)

again! please don't disrespect other people! i understand that you don't like the game, but that doesn't mean that you can go around thinking you have the right or that you are ENTITLED to disrespecting other people and their opinions! it's just rude! 

Hmm can't see

Surprinsingly Adobe Flash is still around. Didn't it go Dinosaur along with Shockwave?

(+1)

Hello!  This is an ongoing issue with Adobe Flash going "extinct" indeed. I am looking into porting the game to another platform.

I believe Unity has OpenWeb GL that is currently in-use

(+1)

Any chance this could be ported to a different platform? What did you make this with?

(+1)

Hi, this game was made in Adobe Flash and is an .swf file. I'm not too sure about porting to other platforms :/ 

(+1)

Thank you for answering! I have googled and found two resources that may be handy for you:
http://www.openfl.org/ - Which has a similar look/feel/functionality to the old Flash API
https://haxe.org/ - A very actively developed toolset/API that can be used with OpenFlL

You can also transfer the project to CC Animate and rewrite the project in Javascript in place of ActionScript.

There's also other resources out there for transferring Actionscript to Typescript!

(+5)

Thanks for the game experience. The various scenarios are frustratingly realistic (& familiar), although I'm impressed that $3.71 can get you 3 burgers from a fast-food joint in Montreal.

I notice that all possible game scenarios seem to lead to the player surviving to see another day. Providing 1 or 2 less optimistic outcomes would perhaps more strongly drive home (so to speak) the harsh reality of homelessness.

Furthermore, it might be worthwhile to provide the option to play as a female (instead of male) protagonist. Besides being more vulnerable to physical harm & exploitation, homeless girls & women also face additional difficulties & burdens that help organizations & members of the public tend to overlook.

(+4)

Thank you! I fully agree with your feedback, this game was done for a school project and barely scratches the surface of the complex issue of homelessness. There is certainly a lot more to be said and shown that I will definitely keep in mind if even I revamp the project. 

It says I need to download adobe flash, but I already have adobe flash.

Hi, sometimes you need to enable Flash depending on your browser, check this link: https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

(+4)

It is the sweetest game EVER!!

Though, it's very sad...

I'm going to follow in my Mother's steps and Give money to every homeless (unfortunate) person!!!

(+3)

wow i tried all endings and it just opens my eyes. its heart breaking to know that  this is what some people have to deal with.

(+1)

This is an amazing game! (here is a link to flash, it is the only way it works on my computer)

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

(+1)

Great one! Stuffs we don't stop to think about. Good job there, congrats!

(+2)

Thank you!

(+1)

Short, but well done game; it was a good prompt for discussing homelessness. It was particularly interesting for Nani, because she's unemployed right now.

We had a few questions about how you made the game. They're in the video. If you can, I hope you could comment on them for our audience. Nice work!

(1 edit)

Many thanks for commenting on our video with answers to our many questions about what inspired you to create this game and how you created it!

Super cool game with a great story! Check out my play through!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k92OE4ZxHHI

(+1)

Thank you for playing and for the video! I'm glad you are looking to raise awareness on the issue of homelessness, as it is also my goal with this game. Homelessness is a complicated issue (far beyond the scope of my simple story) and I encourage you to learn more about it!

(+2)

Awesome game dude! A real eye opener! Hope it gets the attention it deserves


Thank you for playing and for the video playthrough!

And thank you for creating this awesome game! Hope to see more from you soon

(+1)

The game was really sad, but it addressed really important things that should never be forgotten. Thank you


(2 edits)

Thank you for playing and for the video playthrough, I listened to your commentary and am glad that you care about the homeless!(Btw, yes, there are more than one ending :) )

(+3)

Hi! I am a Senior at Western Washington University in Washington State and am doing a project on Information Communication and Technologies for the homeless. I'm working with a group of students to develop a simulator similar to yours to help others understand the struggles of being homeless. I enjoyed playing your simulator and would love to talk to you more about how you created it. If you have any free time to talk about your simulator my email is dsand1126@gmail.com. Thank you!

Of course! I have emailed you :)