Keep Driving mixes Oregon Trail with roguelike elements to create a trip down memory lane.

I'm telling you right now, the dog is one of the best hitchhikers in the game.

It's 1997, me and a friend of mine are driving my Ford Ranger on a long drive across Ohio. We get off a toll road and realize we miss read the toll info and we don't have enough change. I was young and it was my first big trip, okay? We caused the big awkward moment of having everyone back up so we could get out and we parked near the gates. We took out a binder of CDs (after removing some select ones) and, on cardboard made a sign that said, "any CD in the binder, fifty cents". It was roughly about how shy we were of getting through the toll.

We didn't have a phone, Cashapp didn't exist, toll booths are weirdly devoid of payphones even back then, it was wild. We were there for only about 45 minutes before someone stopped and just gave up money. But during that 45 minutes you started getting that weird feeling like, "maybe my adventure ends here", "maybe I'll never get through". You get trapped, you start panicking, and eventually you get through and that weight lifts off your shoulder.

Few things have captured the slipshod nature of some dumb punk kid deciding to get in their car with a small bit of cash and some random shit in their trunk and pretend to be prepared for a cross country drive. Until I had a chance to play Keep Driving.

Keep Driving has you start on the west coast with a few bucks, some random junk in the trunk, and an invite from your friends to meet them at a concert on the east coast. You have a paper road map and a four door sedan (you can unlock a pick up or a muscle car as you play more) and you're off.

Along the way you have to get gas, buy food, make sure you're stopping to get some sleep. You'll also encounter events similar to in Oregon Trail where random things can happen. In road trip fashion, depending on where you are in the country, it can be anything from traffic jams, sheep in the road, angry tailgater, to being stuck behind a tractor (and a lot more). But, instead of Oregon's method of picking a random option and hopefully being on your way, this one has more of a modern roguelike solution.

Your rear mirror has space for five card, your glove compartment has space for four items. Each of these have combinations of symbols at the bottom and their own set of conditions. And the problem themselves will cause a series of warning signs (that match the symbol under the cards and items) to appear on your dashboard.

When it's your turn, match the symbols from your cards with the ones on the dash to the best of your ability. The more turns it takes the more money, health, or gas you lose. Your car might even take some damage as well.

A close up of the dashboard as symbols are cleared off of it.

You don't get more slots for more cards so you have to be careful on which five cards you have. Luckily, the ability for some more abilities comes in the form of hitchhikers. You'll encounter them randomly on your drive. Some have a set destination, some are more "anywhere but here". But if you decide to take them with you, you pick where they sit and they come with their own special abilities. You can switch to them by clicking on their face in the rear view mirror. They'll have their own batch of cards that appear on the mirror giving you more to play with.

The dog I mentioned above is a person favorite of mine because it's simple actions (bark, fetch, pet) take out one specific symbol and is awesome for setting up bigger moves.

Not only do they change up how the game is played but they each have their own personalities and stories. My all time favorite is the Runaway Bride who hops in with her big ol' dress on and just wants to get out of there. She rides with you for a while before she asks to be dropped off at her mothers house. While not the most useful character she provides a ton of positive story beats. My least favorite is the Gambler. He has some decent ways to help, but there is also the thing where every time you go to sleep he steals some of your money and goes gambling with it. Sometimes that pays off, sometimes you wake up pissed. You AND your character.

But no matter what you do, the choices you make take you on all sorts of different paths. Ranging from really good and moving, to just really really bad. Much like life itself.

And, ultimately, that's what Keep Driving is. It's a video game about life that feels like life. It captures the bravery and stupidity of being young with a license. And while the endings itself may not always be the most exciting things, remember, it's all about the journey.

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Keep Driving is available on Steam starting February 6th where its demo has had over 100,000 downloads and has ended up on over 170,000 wishlists.