Some unexpected titles in this bunch. I can't even be sure I own them, which must mean many of them came in bundles. I've played a lot of the Pathfinder Adventures game, so that's an instantly avoided one. Thought I bought it earlier, but evidently not. Firewatch has been completed too, so there's no need to hop into that, though I would like a second playthrough to approach the story differently. I've forgotten how I approached it the first time around, though, so that might be tricky.
Of the leftovers, Passpertout was a frontrunner for allowing you to pass yourself off as an artist selling crap on the streets, but it was Jalopy that won out, the car repair and road trip simulator.
Mixed reviews in recent days, but it was in the last Humble Monthly Bundle, so it's fresh enough for a 'Can't Wait', I think.
Jalopy has you woken up by a guy straight out of the 1970s who wants us to fix up a car and head out on a road trip. That sounds pretty cool - a bit of car customisation, some love and attention, some engine rebuilding... I'm looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
The car, a Laika 601, modeled on the real-life Trabant 601, is a beaten up shell in need of an engine, fuel tank, battery, wheels, a passenger side door... luckily, you've been sleeping in the back of a garage, and while the shelves are mostly empty, they contain exactly what you need to sort the car out.
I found that a little sad. I was hoping to have to scrounge for parts and get excited when new stock arrived that I could use for my own purposes, but no, that's apparently not what this game is about. Pick up the thing and put the thing where the thing needs to go.
Once everything is ready, you can fill your trunk with spares, should you want to (always good to put the jack in at least) and should you have anything spare, and then it's time to take it for a drive. Not even a test drive, a straight up 'We're going to Dresden' drive.
Controls are simple in Jalopy, with point and click mixed with WASD for the most part. If something can be used, hovering over it with the cursor will highlight what it is, though what it does will require you to read the in-game car manual, or else just press all the buttons and see what changes.
As you can tell, I didn't find the wiper fluid for the first part of my journey, having to navigate the thankfully empty roads out of the corner of my eye, but my passenger pointed me in the right direction - not that you can go wrong on a linear road.
Pulling off the autobahn had us stop outside a scrapyard where we might find supplies and alternative pieces for our car. Another lovely idea that I hope see's a lot of time, especially when combined with puzzles.
The gate to the scrapyard was running off an old car, but of course it was not working and the gate was shut. Moving parts from our car to the gate mechanism allowed us to open the gate and see what was inside.
It's pretty dark at night, but I did find some things. Parts will have a mix of stats, pros and cons, weight and durability limits and so on, and the game wants you to think about your car set up. At this early stage, it doesn't appear to be an important factor - my car is smoking and running out of fuel, sure, but I fail to see how weight limits are going to affect fuel consumption right now. They will, I'm sure, but to what extent I don't know.
Back to the car and on into town for our overnight stop at a motel.
My passenger was rather tired, but the briefcase he had been holding for every moment of the game so far has mysteriously fallen open and revealed a letter that smells suspiciously like plot.
Perhaps we're not just on a fixer-upper road trip after all... but I don't know, for that's where I left Jalopy for now, in a motel in Dresden.
It's a nice game, but not what I was expecting. It's dark, at night certainly, and has a style that puts it into that bracket of games that are set in the second world, where times are tough but people manage. Will it sacrifice the gameplay to tell its story? I'm a little concerned that it might just do that, but I'll have to find the time to play more to find out, and I think I intend to.
Jalopy isn't taxing, isn't quite relaxing either, but is interesting enough to warrant a look at the very least.