itch.io

BatMario, this night I'm going to upload a newer version again, since in yours there is a big bug later in the game. As you may have noticed, now there is a official Leaderboard.

Hi everyone!

I released the first solid version of BUMS back in November 2025. This summer, however, I finally added what I believe is the game's most meaningful feature: worldwide online high scores.

If you don't know the original, BUMS is a faithful remake of Rags to Riches for the Commodore 64, published in 1985 by Melody Hall Publishing and wrote by mysterious Bob Keener. You play as Bentley, trying to survive life on the streets of a big city and eventually become a millionaire. The game is universally considered a gem, because of its anomalous gameplay.

The original game had a clear objective, but once you reached it there was little reason to optimize your strategy.

Now there is.

Trying to make Bentley rich in as few days as possible finally has a purpose. Every in-game day counts, every decision matters, and if you manage to reach one million dollars, your run is permanently recorded on the worldwide leaderboard.

It's a small addition, but it completely changes the long-term challenge without changing the original gameplay.

If you're a fan of Commodore 64 games, retro arcade-style score chasing, or faithful remakes, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

https://tanner85.itch.io/bums

BatMario, I have implemented the fullscreen mode (press F11) as requested. CTRL+X to quit. There is also a worldwide high score for those who beat the game! Enjoy

I found a serious bug in how hotels behaved and fixed it! I was trying to beat my own game when I found it. By the way, this is my first time I beat the game and I was really happy! Feel free to post your scores and see who plays better! :D

Hi BatMario,
unfortunately I haven’t implemented fullscreen mode yet, but I can give it a try if you think it’s essential.
Aside from that, how did you find the game overall? Do you appreciate the focus on perfectly reproducing the original gameplay dynamics?

I’d also like to know whether you feel the difficulty has become too high compared to the original, since the money spawn glitch is now fixed — the game takes on a completely different survival aspect. The dog and the bones are now far more important than the money you find on the streets.

In my development branch, I’ve introduced a new enemy spawning system that results in a more relaxed gameplay experience compared to the current release. Depending on player feedback, I might publish this version instead.

I’ve also been considering changing the role of alcohol in the game — in the original it had little to no impact, but I think it could become a more meaningful survival factor. For instance, it could offer short-term advantages at the cost of long-term drawbacks, forcing the player to balance between staying drunk but alive or sober but at risk of gameover. This is just an idea for now, not an implemented feature.

Hi BatMario64, unfortunately it's a common false positive issue on many Antiviruses. See here: https://medium.com/@markhank/how-to-stop-your-python-programs-being-seen-as-malware-bfd7eb407a7

I assure you my game is not a Trojan, but surely is written in Python, and that's seems to be the problem. I suggest you tell Defender to add the game to exclusions and play peacefully :D