The longer I play and write about videogames, the more I feel like they can often be separated into two types: you have games that are driven by intricate and smart mechanics, and games that have great aesthetics and atmosphere. Personally, I prefer the latter type. I don’t care if something is simple or even repetitive to play, just so long as it looks good and the mood is right. But the greatest games do both. Mixing the granular strategy of FTL, the colorful, pixel style revived by Sea of Stars, and the road trip overtones and turn-based encounters of classic Fallout, Keep Driving is the greatest RPG I’ve played in 2024, and available to try right now.
Played from a side-scrolling perspective, Keep Driving casts you as a carefree youngster during a particularly lazy summer. There’s a music festival on the other side of the country. You’ve got a few dollars, a map, and you’ve just bought your first car. It’s time to hit the road. Rock music flows freely from the stereo, day turns to night, and you cruise from gas station to gas station, slowly making your way to the best party of your life. So far, it doesn’t sound much like an RPG.
But Keep Driving isn’t just about the feeling. Your car is like the main character in a turn-based RPG. Instead of HP, it’s got wear and tear. Instead of mana, it’s got fuel. As you drive, you hit ‘road threats.’ Maybe there’s a slow-moving tractor blocking the lane, or a group of potholes, or even a flock of sheep that’s roaming across the highway. These are Keep Driving’s equivalent of ‘battles.’ Each turn, the road threat will ‘attack’ to deplete either the gas in your gas tank, the condition of your car, or your own energy.
When it’s your turn, however, you can counter the road threats with either your own skills or items from your glovebox. It’s kind of like a game of rock, paper, scissors. If a road threat is damaging your car, maybe you use the Quick Drive ability that makes you more nimble behind the wheel, essentially ‘blocking’ the ‘attack.’ You can also use the items stored in your glovebox – if a road threat is making you stressed and sapping your energy, chill out by firing a cigarette.
Instead of recruiting party members, you pick up hitchhikers, who come with their own abilities. Every time you hit a new town, you can stock up at the grocery store, refill your gas tank, go to the mechanic for some repairs, sleep, or earn some extra bucks by taking quick, cash-in-hand jobs like waiting tables. On the outside, Keep Driving is all about the style, the tone, and the ambience, but pop the hood, and it’s got some seriously robust RPG mechanics.
And now it’s back on Steam. Originally released for Steam Next Fest, the demo vanished back in October, but developer YCJY has brought it back due to “popular demand.” The two-person team says that, since its reveal a month ago, Keep Driving has already been wishlisted on Steam 140,000 times. We’re still waiting on the full release date, but if you want to try one of the best upcoming PC games, just go right here.
Otherwise, try some of the other best indie games, or maybe the very best racing games on PC.
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