Rags to Riches, alternately titled the Wall Street Manager, is an interesting simulation game. It was released by Melody Hall Publishing Corporation in the middle eighties and was developed as a single player game, originally for the Commodore 64. In the game, the user begins life as a bum, hence the title, and works his way up to a wealthy tycoon trying to avoid the IRS.
The game begins with the user on the streets of a modern city, simply trying to stay alive.
He will have to collect money in order to advance in the form of loose change that can be found laying about, selling empty bottles, and changing neighborhoods to work wealthier districts with more good stuff to scavenge. The perils of this beginning portion of the game include police officers who do not like vagrants laying about and the bum’s own stereotypical desire to drink alcohol. Thieves will also take your things, such as they are, and the vagrant must be constantly vigilant.
As the game progresses, the user’s character may be able to land a job if he acquires enough money to get a decent haircut and some clothes that make him look presentable. As he secures other odd jobs, he will also be able to complete
his high school education and eventually attend college. The overall focus of the game is to accumulate a million dollars, basically starting with nothing.
There will be a subway system that will allow the user to move around the four sectors of the city. Of course, tickets will have to be purchased in order to use the system. Also, as the nameless bum becomes more respectable, he will have to get off the streets and start sleeping in hotels or wherever he can afford. The stores he visits will become more places to purchase the items he needs in order to advance, as opposed to buyers for empty bottles that he has collected. The user will have to pay more attention to store hours and frequent the ones that are open at convenient times and offer the best deals. In the later stages of the game, the user will be making investments and making money by playing the stock market, and will have to have some knowledge of the trading game.
The game plays similar to a side scrolling platform game, but has an entirely different feel to it…more like a simulation. It is certainly a unique play, especially for its time, and still has merit today for being different, although it does play on many practically ancient stereotypes.
