Bo Hobo
A Terrible Game Review by Paul Harrington
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Bo Hobo was a game made for the 2004 48 Hours Contest that quickly gained a reputation for being enormously awful. This was the same contest that I made Scottie Goes to Hell for, so it was undoubtedly a year of horror. I’ve decided to take a look back at Bo Hobo after all these years, because how bad can it really be? I mean, it’s about a hobo and it made contest goers angry. That’s two points in its favor already.

The game’s story is simple; Bob is a hobo who wants to learn how to read and write. He wakes up in a puke-stained alleyway and embarks on this journey of epic proportions after attempting to read a newspaper about robots and computer jokes. He soon learns that the only way to get the lessons he needs is to do a... favor... for an old man.

The favor turns out to be stealing a nuclear warhead.

Bo Hobo's graphics are without a doubt hideous, but it's clearly intentional and clearly part of the joke. I personally love the fact that I can guide a drunken, illiterate version of E.T. through the streets of a dark city on a quest for knowledge.

The gameplay involves walking through a maze trying to find the warhead and avoiding guards. If caught by a guard, you’re sent back to the last door you used, but other than that there’s no real punishment.

There’s no doubt that this is a terrible game, but it is, from start to finish, quite clear about what it is. It’s a hilariously ugly joke game that never takes itself seriously and actually manages to be pretty funny for the ten or so minutes it lasts. While the gameplay isn’t good, I’ve seen worse in plenty of well respected games, and at least it isn’t painful.

I am honestly surprised that I enjoyed this game. I barely even remember playing it in 2004, but now I’m sorry that I didn’t give its author more praise back then. I’m surprised that in a community that loves unbearably long, one note jokes like Arfenhouse, Bo Hobo had such a cold reception. It’s a terrible game, but it’s one of the better terrible games I’ve played, and its author had the good sense to make sure the game’s length didn’t overstay its welcome. We even learn something valuable in the end! I happily give Bo Hobo FIVE OUT OF FIVE stinking pigs.