Keep Driving
"A chill, atmospheric RPG about life on the road—fix up your car, pick up odd jobs, and meet strangers under open skies. All while listening to good music.
“You’re Young, take it easy, you have time.”
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1. The Perfect Road Trip Simulator
The game nails the vibe of a spontaneous summer adventure. Your old friend invites you to a music festival across the map, and suddenly you’ve got three months of open road ahead. Pack your car (glove box for tools, trunk for supplies, seats for hitchhikers), pick a route, and just go. No rush, no grind—just the joy of seeing where the highway takes you.
2. A Soundtrack That Stays With You
The music isn’t just background noise—it’s a highlight. Keep Driving introduced me to artists like Weskust, Zimmer Grandioso, and The Honeydrips, and now they’re permanently in my playlist. The tracks fit the game’s cozy, wandering spirit so well that I’d sometimes idle just to let a song finish.
3. Chill "Combat" That Feels Like Part of the Journey
Road events replace traditional combat:
Potholes, traffic jams, rogue bugs—each drains your car’s stats (gas, cash, durability, energy).
Solve them like puzzles: Match threats with skill cards or items (duct tape for repairs, cigarettes to stay awake).
Simple but strategic: Prep matters. Run out of supplies mid-highway, and you’ll regret skipping that last gas station.
It’s stress-free challenge—less about winning, more about savoring the trip.
4. Hitchhikers With Quirks
Every passenger adds something special:
Unique skills (their cards help in road events).
Slow-burn stories: Conversations reveal their quirks, backstories, and even side quests.
Distinct personalities: Pixel art somehow makes them feel real, from their outfits to their restless reasons for traveling.
At first, they’re tools; by the end, they’re friends.
5. Cozy, Endless Detours
The festival’s your excuse to leave, but the game rewards wandering:
Odd jobs for cash.
Hidden stops with quirky locals.
Tiny moments (like a sunset drive with a dog in your backseat).
Who’s It For?
Fans of road trips, atmospheric RPGs, or "slow gaming."
Players who love discovering music/characters organically.
Anyone craving a fairly priced ($17.99), polished indie with soul.
Final Thought
Keep Driving isn’t about the destination. It’s about rolling down the windows, turning up the music, and letting the road surprise you. A rare game that gets the romance of the open highway—without any of the real-life stress.
Gameplay
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Gameplay *
The Freedom of the Highway
Keep Driving doesn’t just simulate a road trip—it embodies one. From the moment you name your character and define their backstory (your occupation grants a unique starting trait, like my Fast Learner perk), the game hands you the keys and says: Go wherever. The map is sprawling but purposeful—every route has trade-offs. Need cash? Detour through a town for odd jobs. Low on gas? Plan stops carefully. The freedom is intoxicating, and the game never punishes you for taking the scenic route.
Survival Meets Strategy
This isn’t just about driving—it’s about staying on the road. Your stats matter:
Hunger, fatigue, weather (get too cold/hot, and you’ll regret skipping that jacket).
Car upkeep: Durability, gas, and trunk space dictate your preparedness.
Inventory management: Store tools in the glove box, supplies in the trunk, and hope you packed enough duct tape when a pothole wrecks your suspension.
The deeper you travel, the more these systems intertwine. Run out of energy mid-highway, and you’ll be forced to sleep in your car (wasting precious time). Forget to eat? Your focus wavers during road events. It’s a delicate balance that feels rewarding, not tedious.
Turn-Based Road Events: Stress-Free Tension
The "combat" is a clever twist on turn-based strategy:
Obstacles: Mud pits, biker gangs, even an angry bee in your car.
Solve them by matching threats with skill cards (hitchhiker abilities) or items (cigarettes for energy, jumper cables for repairs).
Resource scarcity keeps you on edge: Use too much gas in a traffic jam, and you might not reach the next station.
It’s simple to learn but demands foresight. Later, with multiple passengers, you’ll juggle their skills to optimize every encounter—like using a mechanic’s "Quick Fix" card to save durability, or a musician’s "Distract" ability to avoid confrontations.
Hitchhikers: The Soul of the Journey
Your passengers transform the game from a solo drive into a shared adventure. Each one:
Brings unique skills (a convict might intimidate cops; a dog wards off boredom).
Unfolds stories through organic dialogue. Drive long enough, and they’ll reveal personal quests—like reuniting a runaway with family or helping a veteran find closure.
Changes the vibe. A car full of rowdy strangers feels chaotic; a lone poet brings introspection. One wrong turn with an escaped felon? Suddenly you’re hiding contraband from cops.
The pixel art shines here, with distinct designs that tell stories before a single line of dialogue.
Replayability: Three Cars, Infinite Trips
Your vehicle choice drastically alters gameplay:
Muscle car (2 seats): Stylish but cramped. Ideal for solo runs or one trusted companion.
Truck (4 seats): Balanced for group trips and cargo.
Sedan (5 seats + trunk space): The pragmatic choice for hoarders and long hauls.
Each playthrough encourages new strategies—will you prioritize passengers, storage, or style?
Verdict
Keep Driving is a love letter to the unplanned detours—both literal and emotional. It’s a game about the people you meet, the mistakes you make (why did I pick up that hitchhiker with a gun?), and the quiet beauty of a highway at sunset. Not every road leads where you expect, and that’s the point.
An Essential Companion to the Open Road
What truly elevates Keep Driving from a good game to an unforgettable experience is its masterfully curated soundtrack—a collection of underground Swedish indie tracks that don't just accompany your journey, but define it. This isn't background music you'll eventually tune out; it's a carefully selected roster of artists whose work deserves just as much recognition as the game itself.
A Deep Dive Into the Soundtrack's Strengths
1. A Who's Who of Underground Talent
The game features an impressive lineup of Swedish indie rock, synth-pop, and post-punk acts, many of whom remain criminally underrated outside niche music circles. Standouts include:
Westkust – Their dreamy, reverb-heavy shoegaze perfectly captures the meditative solitude of long drives.
The Honeydrips – Melancholic yet uplifting synth-pop that shines during late-night highway stretches.
Zimmer Grandioso – Energetic beats that make cruising through sunlit landscapes feel euphoric.
El Huervo – A familiar name for Hotline Miami fans, delivering hypnotic, retro-tinged instrumentals.
Makthaverskan – Raw, emotionally charged post-punk that adds intensity to tense moments.
What makes this selection special is that these aren't just "video game music" tracks—they're fully realized songs from artists with dedicated followings. If you've ever wished more games treated their soundtracks like a mixtape rather than ambient filler, Keep Driving delivers exactly that.
2. Music as a Reward (Not Just Atmosphere)
Unlike many games where the soundtrack is static, Keep Driving lets you unlock new cassette tapes as you progress, effectively building your own radio station over time. This progression system does two things brilliantly:
It rewards exploration—finding a new tape after helping a hitchhiker or stumbling upon a hidden stop feels like uncovering a rare vinyl.
It gives you control over the vibe. Want something mellow for a rainy drive? Pop in The Honeydrips. Need energy for a long haul? Zimmer Grandioso has you covered.
3. A Gateway to New Music
Let’s be honest: Most game soundtracks, no matter how good, don’t send players scrambling to Shazam. Keep Driving is the exception. The artists featured here are so compelling that I found myself:
Pausing the game to look up bands like Dorena and Holy Now.
Adding half the soundtrack to my personal playlists.
Discovering that several artists (like F*cking Werewolf Asso) have ties to Hotline Miami—a fun Easter egg for music nerds.
This isn't just a great game soundtrack—it's a legitimate introduction to a thriving indie music scene.
Why It Matters
In a game about the feeling of a road trip, music isn’t just decoration—it’s the difference between driving and experiencing a journey. The right song kicking in at the right moment (windows down, golden-hour light bleeding across the dashboard) transforms Keep Driving from a fun RPG into something genuinely transcendent.
Final Verdict
10/10 – One of the Best Soundtracks in Gaming
I’d recommend Keep Driving for the music alone. The fact that it’s attached to an excellent game is just a bonus. If you’ve ever longed for a road trip soundtrack that feels as limitless as the open highway, this is it.
The Soundtrack
Closing THoughts
Keep Driving isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is—a game about the open road, the people you meet, and the small moments that make a trip memorable. It doesn’t force drama or overcomplicate things. Instead, it nails the simple pleasure of just going, with no pressure other than what you bring yourself.
The gameplay is straightforward—manage your car, pick up hitchhikers, deal with random road events—but it’s the little details that stick with you. The way passengers slowly open up over time, how the music fits the mood, or how running low on gas actually feels tense because you weren’t paying attention. It’s not trying to wow you, just to make the journey feel real.
Is it perfect? No. Some road events repeat too often, and inventory management can get tedious. But like a good road trip, the flaws don’t ruin the experience—they just become part of it.
At its best, Keep Driving captures that rare feeling of being on the road with no real plan. It’s not about epic storytelling or deep mechanics. It’s about the quiet satisfaction of a long drive, good music, and the strangers who make it interesting.
If that sounds like your kind of game, you’ll love it. If not, that’s fine—this one wasn’t made for everyone. But for those who get it, Keep Driving is a trip worth taking.