Created in the summer of 2002, Vagamundo examines the issues faced by immigrants. Unlike other projects, which focus on crossing the border, here we witness the experiences of immigrants as they try to adapt to North American life, in this case in New York City.
The game consists of moving through three levels, each one a rung on the US social ladder, overcoming any obstacles that emerge. Time passes and opportunities escape us. During the first level we must simply fight to stay where we are, even if it is Harlem. In the second level, we will have found a job at a florist's in the East Village. By the third level we will have become a waitperson at a fancy restaurant on the Upper East Side, working hard for tips. This extra level will bring us up against a dilemma: to report them to the police or to help the new immigrants. Ricardo Miranda defines these levels as Culture of Poverty, Assimilation, Prosperity and, finally, Ignorance.
This ascent can also be seen in the stereotypical phases of the character. From the rural or provincial Cantinflas to the integrated immigrant, who fits into his or her environment.
As well as being found online, Vagamundo is essentially an itinerant art project, born on the streets and living on the streets: the computer, monitor and joysticks are stored in something resembling an ice-cream cart, which is rolled around New York, as if it were one of the many carts pushed by immigrant street vendors around the city.