Whether you can drive a car or not, we all have those road trip memories. Lost in our head, lost in thought, listening to the radio. Maybe on the way to the beach. Maybe visiting folks at the other end of the country. Whatever it is, catharsis in a car seat is something that can be related to. Keep Driving is reminiscent of those times we had and continue to have. It may not be the most exciting game, but it’s a great throw on and play title when there are a few hours to spare.
After receiving a letter from a friend, you embark on a road trip towards a music festival. It’s a simple premise that provides a reason for you to hit the road. Keep Driving is about resource management and encountering random threats along the way. There are no monsters to fight, but tractors and potholes. These myriad road events see you manage four different attributes; gas, money, energy, and the durability of your car. In order to beat whatever is thrown at you during these events, you need knock out their attributes with one of your own by matching them.
If one has money and energy, pick something from the glove compartment or a skill card to match it. It plays out like the card game Snap, and once overcome, the trip resumes. It can become a bit repetitive, but it’s the way Keep Driving tries to add a sense of accomplishment as you head towards the festival. Skill cards and items deplete, so that sense of resource management creeps in. Head to a shop to buy new items and pick up hitchhikers who might offer a card for you to use.
These hitchhikers also offer their own story, and it gives Keep Driving some mild narrative beats to get lost in. It’s not that deep, but it adds to the overall feeling of the quintessential road trip. It’s pretty chill, with these encounters and the road trips making no two journeys the same. Pick a destination and get there without depleting those four attributes. If your car runs out of gas, you might be able to head to a previous town or call your parents. There are options if this does happen, so do not fret.
There are opportunities to upgrade your car, and these can be retained through each run. If you do end up enjoying the flow of Keep Driving, there’s plenty of replayability due to how runs are always different. For those on Steam Deck, it’s a wonderful time sink that plays great in the palm of your hand. It has a sense of accomplishment the further you go, and thanks to the look of the visuals and the music, it will scratch an itch for those looking to kill a few hours.
The pixelated visuals are filled with plenty of details and help to flesh out this world around you. Locations all feel different the further you go. Minute details in your car’s interior and inside gas stations are impressive, as are the environments that are driven through. Not only is Keep Driving a relatively pretty game, there are some great tracks that play from the radio, adding to the overall tone of the game. While the road events do feel monotonous in the end, the journey is always pretty chill and relaxed.
Keep Driving provides a chilled out experience with simplistic ‘battles’ that help to flesh out the core experience. There’s always the the thrill of meeting new people, upgrading the car, and managing resources. Picking a location and reaching the destination is exciting albeit monotonous at times. As for the presentation, it’s a gorgeous-looking pixelated game with a cool soundtrack. It’s a great time sink for those not looking for anything too involving.
