Shadows Over Loathing is a comedic side-scrolling 2D RPG set in a Lovecraftian version of the 1920s. This third installment in the Loathing series has the stickman graphics and oddball puns and dad jokes we’ve come to know and love: meat is currency, kitchen implements double as weapons, and you won’t believe the places you can go fishing.

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Your character is off to the bright lights of Ocean City, to answer a letter from his uncle to help with a problem. As you begin to investigate the city, you see strange glyphs painted on floors and walls. You soon find out this is a hobo code. And the more hobos you meet and help, the more of it you can learn. Below you'll find all the hobo locations you need to become a hobo code master.

How To Unlock The Hobo Code

It should go without saying, but always be nice to hobos. They often need a small amount of Meat to get by, but don’t we all? And by the middle of Shadows Over Loathing, unless playing on the highest difficulty level, you’ll likely have plenty of Meat to spare. The little you spend on them is worth it.

One of the core mechanisms in the game is the Hobo Code. You’ll pick up a perk called Hobo Literacy at the Hobo Camp in Chapter One, as long as you’re nice to some hobos. Eventually, a hobo will approach you (as you wander on the map) and invite you to the camp. After this, each hobo you ask about the hobo code can teach you more. You can then decipher the hobo codes you see, getting valuable information and items as you do.

Don’t panic if you’ve already played a bit of the game and a few of the opportunities below have already been and gone. By the end of the game, you’ll need to have 18 levels of the hobo code to interpret all the glyphs and there are more than 20 hobos in the game. So, you don’t need to speak to them all to get all the hobo clues.

The Prologue

The first two hobos appear in the prologue. While you’re yet to find out about hobo code, if you chat with these guys, they’ll head off to the Hobo Camp where you can find them later and learn their code.

• Howie: You’ll first come across him in the boxcar on the way to Ocean City when the bus breaks down.
• Gus: After you get off the bus in Ocean City, head left along the street before you go into Murray’s Antiques. Gus is the hobo on the bench.

Once you go into the store and go to sleep, the prologue will end. You can’t go back to the bus breakdown location later, and Gus will be gone when you get up in the morning.

Chapter One

Three hobos can be found at locations outside the Hobo Camp, around Ocean City. They’ll all move to the Hobo Camp if you meet them before you know the code, as long as you’re nice to them.

• Dusty: You’ll find her on The Boardwalk.
• Obie: He is in Goldthwaite Park. There’s a sub-quest to make him leave, so you may want to wait until you have the code to talk to him. That way you can learn from him, and then decide about the quest.
• Samuel: You’ll run into him at Hiram’s Grocery.

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As mentioned earlier, you may need to wander on the main Ocean City map to get an invitation to the Hobo Camp. But once you have, it will be on your map, and you can visit it at any time. The names of hobos you meet while wandering seem randomized. You just need to give them some Meat until one gives you the invite. Once you go to the camp, several hobos are already there – each of which can also teach you some hobo code.

• Letters McCabe: In the Cryptography car. This is the hobo that will give you the initial Hobo Code perk, which you need to get first before other hobos will give you their code.
• Washy: Playing his washboard outside the Shuteye car.
• 52 Teeth Thompson: In the Grub car.
• Veronica: She is just to the right of the Cryptography car, by the fire.
• Johnny the Hobo King: To the far right of the Hobo Camp. You’ll need to level up a bit to get his code, but it won’t take you long and there is no rush.

Chapter Two

There are just three more hobos to find in Crystaldream Lake, the new location revealed in Chapter Two. But the extra code you learn is more than enough for all the glyphs you’ll find in the area.

• Beanie: Outside the entrance to the cave in the Junkyard, wrestling with a fridge.
• Doc: At Beppo’s Hole, trapped in a cocoon.
• Creamy Steve: Steve is a little hard to find at first. You’ll need to go to the past and alter the anti-hobo sign outside the Sandwich Museum. Do this by getting the proprietor of the Hardware Store to install his last outside latrine at the Museum, then use it to go to the past. Once you've changed the sign, when you return to the present, Creamy Steve will be standing where the sign is.

Chapter Three

Once you make your way to the S.I.T. University Campus, you’ll be able to find four more hobos.

• Ovid: He starts out as a random wander encounter, then goes to Ovid’s Store (which he marks on your map) where you can talk to him.
• Walter: He is under the Bridge, hiding. You’ll have to read the hobo code at that location to find him.
• Calendula Crabtree: She’s operating her still upstairs at the Zeta Omega Omicron frat house. You only get her name later, at the camp.
• The pencil hobo: You’ll come across this nameless outside Fission Chips. He will only give you a piece of code if you complete a simple fetch quest.

Chapter Four

Welcome to the Swamp! And to three more hobos to introduce yourself to as you wander around.

• Gator: You’ll need to find, and give up, a pretty meaty weapon if you want to talk this guy around, in Gatorman Hamlet.
• Mossman: While wandering, you’ll eventually discover the Monster Shack. Conversations here will lead you to Mossrock Grotto, where you’ll meet Mossman.
• Pepperidge Dauphin: In the Slanted boxcar. You’ll need to unlock all the padlocks in his old home (Dauphin House) to win him over.

Chapter Five

You’ve probably got everything you need by this point, but just in case not, you have three more hobos to meet in Gray County, the Heartland of Darkness. If you’ve recruited all the hobos up to this point, you should have all you need to read the rest of the glyphs. But what’s a little Meat for a cup of coffee in the end times?

• Beatrice: Head to McMgilligancuddy’s Farm. Once you’ve cleared out the ducks, speak to the Sheep with the hobo face.
• Cornelius: There’s a corn maze behind Drexel Stead. You’ll find Cornelius there.
• Croesus Vanderbilt: In Black Gold Mine. You’ll need to clear out all the vampires. Afterwards, do a good search to find Croesus.

Next: Shadows Over Loathing: Beginner Tips