Sorry, folks. Your typical teenage swordsman and his friends couldn't show up. So instead, we got these guys to take their position.
Lord Hasim has been overthrown, plips run rampant, and a menacing evil lurks in the shadows... or is it a cactus? What hamster is spiffy enough to save the world? Bob!
Wandering Hamster is a freeware RPG made by James Paige using OHRRPGCE, or rather was a data-editing tool that he made to build this game and then realized its potential for letting other people make their own homemade games. It casts Hamster Republic's mascot Bob the Hamster as a freelance monster-hunter and adventurer who finds himself (as well as others) getting involved in various JRPG-style escapades. Currently playable yet still remains unfinished despite actual development going as far back as 1997. Current version can be found here
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Wandering Hamster spiffifies the following:
- All Trolls Are Different: The Troll Fraternity in the mountains.
- Author Avatar: James the bubble mage is James Paige, the programmer of the engine and author of the game. Later replaced with Misa du Hamstre when his young daughter asked why there weren't any girl hamsters playable in the game and he couldn't think of a good reason why not.
- Bad with the Bone: Dusty the Wiener-Dog-In-Trousers uses bones as weapons.
- Broken Bridge: Poked fun at during the beginning of the game.
- Bubble Shield: Misa du Hamstre's bubble-manipulating skills include a spell that covers her allies with bubbles that reduce incoming damage.
- Cats Are Mean: Subverted mainly due to the Sibling Team mentioned below.
- Combat Medic: James, Misa, and Skeppio. Various enemies also count.
- Elemental Powers: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Electricity, Poison, Shadow, and Light.
- Esperanto, the Universal Language: James is a member of the Esperanto League of Flanat (ELF). Bob the Hamster completely misunderstands both the acronym and the conversations that James has with the local guildmaster (he assumes that the two are talking mean about him). It's hilarious for the player, not so much for Bob.
- After taking over Lord Broaste's castle, James decides to make Esperanto the national language of the land that he named Jamesland.
- Fantastic Racism: The cats make it clear how much they despise hamsters, especially Bob.
- Fed to the Beast: Skeppio and Rathmara's plan isn't to have Bob help them fight Jorungandling, it's to have the snake be distracted with eating him while they attack it.
- Genre Savvy: Bob delves into this territory at times, especially during the Broken Bridge scene at the beginning.
- Hilarity Ensues: A good chunk of the field and NPC interactions delve into this category.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Your last encounter with Lord Broaste is exactly this. Though you do get a second chance to beat provided you found the necessary weapon to weaken him.
- The fight with the Jormungandling somewhat counts, though it is possible to defeat it, if not
extremely difficult.
- The fight with the Jormungandling somewhat counts, though it is possible to defeat it, if not
- Horny Vikings: Gisli Bearbreaker wears a helmet with horns on it.
- Improbable Weapon User: Most of the playable characters. The only notable exceptions are Hasim, who only joins for one fight and is marked as capable of equipping swords he'll never encounter in the game, and Skeppio who uses swords and clawed gloves.
- Bob, in addition to using hammers and other clubs, can also whack enemies with the detached tails of Plips, a fish, and a teddy bear.
- James and Misa throw cans of SPAM.
- Dusty the Weiner-Dog-In-Trousers whacks things with a femur.
- Rathmara, in addition to using swords, can whip enemies with the whisker from Dusty's stress cat.
- Mini-Game: Quite a few, such as a plot-mandatory golfing course and a pearl clam minigame in Flanat Village.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Mersheep, anyone?
- Random Encounters: Played straight. They even occur in Flanat Village, despite the fact that regular battle encounters are usually off limits in villages. Luckily, one the NPCs makes it clear that they don't show up if you walk on the rocky path.
- Rape Pillageand Burn: Gisli Bearbreaker mentions raping and pillaging in his intro. However, he soon clarifies that he "rapes" women consensually and by "pillage" he basically means "trade".
- Retcon: In 2016, the Author Avatar James was replaced with Misa du Hamstre.
- Revive Kills Zombie: As mentioned above on Turn Undead, the Glimmer is a healing item which can be used on enemies. Undead are harmed by healing.
- Rightful King Returns: Early in the game, you have to rescue Lord Hasim and get him to reclaim his throne.
- Shout-Out:
- "Hey, that's like Kain's jump attack."
- Gisli Bearbreaker has the same surname as the berserker Olaf in Vikings Of Midgard, the engine's other default game made by a different author. Gisli's surname was not revealed in updates predating the Vikings berserker getting a full name and Gisli indicates that one of his relatives is named Olaf.
- Status Effects: Somewhat downplayed, but they are there. And yes, there are items designed to cure them.
- Swallowed Whole: Bob, Gisli, Gisli's ship, and some ducks. By Jormungandling.
- Sword of Plot Advancement: A freakin' teddy bear. Yeah, it's THAT kind of RPG.
- Teleporters and Transporters: There is a teleporter in one of the houses in Flanat Village which leads to a hidden wall in an outhouse behind the castle. The outhouse is under guard surveillance due to mysterious disappearances in the area.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Misa du Hamstre is basically Bob wearing a bow on her head and a yellow sundress.
- Turn Undead: The Glimmer item, which is bought from a dwarven merchant in the mountains, can be used specifically to destroy the undead permanently since standard attacks won't do so. It also heals you if you use it but if you want to be funny.
- It's also effective against the ghost of Lord Broaste, mainly due to ghosts being aligned with the undead.
- Useless Useful Spell: Averted. James' Poison Suds and Soap Shield spells are surprisingly efficient, especially during boss fights.
- Same goes for Bob's spells, though part of the reason why they might be classed as useless is the fact that Bob uses Vancian Magic as opposed having his spells be fueled by Mana, which prevents MP restoring items from restoring his magic points.
- Ditto Skeppio's Unguard spell, which makes it easier to defeat meatshield enemies.
- Same goes for Bob's spells, though part of the reason why they might be classed as useless is the fact that Bob uses Vancian Magic as opposed having his spells be fueled by Mana, which prevents MP restoring items from restoring his magic points.
- Useless Spleen: Jormungandling's spleen is a relatively dangerous enemy which taunts you throughout his belly. Killing it doesn't seem to affect the snake in any way.
- Warrior Prince: Both Lord Hasim and Lord Broaste
- Whole-Plot Reference: Those who are familiar with Pinocchio will recognize the part where Bob has to escape the inside of the Jormungandling.
- Womb Level: Jormungandling's Belly is an entire dungeon that takes place inside the gastrointestinal tract of a giant snake. It includes a minigolf course, an inn, and a wrecked Viking ship. Bob can raft across the streams of some sort of orange liquid on gigantic red blood cells.
