Roadtrip RPG Keep Driving teaches you that a hitchhiker is just a friend you haven't met, and that friend might have weed

There's a saying: A stranger is just a friend you haven't met. Here's a revision, courtesy of roadtrip RPG Keep Diving: A hitchhiker is just a friend you haven't met who might have weed.

As I said in my Keep Driving review, I grew up in the US in a town that had—like many towns in the US—no real public transportation, so my first taste of real freedom was when I got my first car, a heavily used hand-me-down green Plymouth Horizon hatchback. I loved that clunky car, mostly because of what it represented: a chance to escape my house and my town and set out on the road with no real destination, only occasionally checking the map, blasting music, and paying for gas a few dollars at a time. Gotta save some cash for snacks.

Keep Driving delivers impeccable vibes from a time when the stress of school was slowly being replaced by the clawing panic of having to figure out what comes after school. A real job. Real responsibilities. Real life. But between graduation and whatever came next, there was that last summer vacation, eight aimless weeks that delivered a chance to pile into a car with some friends and have an adventure.

That's where Keep Driving begins: you're heading out on one last summer trip to see a buddy you've mostly lost touch with, who has invited you to attend a concert with them. You unfold your map, choose your route, and start driving, dealing with hazards along the road as they come up, and stopping only to fuel up, buy snacks, and sometimes get a bit of shut-eye. It's a solo journey—but not for long.

I never once picked up a hitchhiker in real life like you do in Keep Driving, but the people you meet on the road are not in your car for long before they start feeling like friends, probably because you already have friends like them. There's the punk rocker who only wants to talk about music. The burnout whose marriage and career are falling apart. The wildcard who keeps encouraging you to do stuff you probably shouldn't. The guy who spends the whole roadtrip sleeping so you can't even have a conversation. We all know that guy.

And there are a few hitchhikers who are a bit further out there, like a guy you see on the side of the road in a prison jumpsuit. You're not gonna pick him up… are you?

At first these hitchhikers only amount to the skill cards they bring to your car so you can deal with road hazards you encounter on your trip: traffic jams, potholes, speed traps, biker gangs, and milder events like a bee getting into the car and distracting you—which you "battle" by using your own skills and your passengers' talents. But between these challenges you're treated to little snippets of conversation floating above your car in text, letting you get to know these strangers a bit more and learn that, like you, they're all a bit lost and a bit damaged, but still hopeful of finding something better down the road.

You won't just collect friends in Keep Driving, but music: you can find CDs during your adventure, buy them in shops, and meet people who will exchange music with you. Earning new music in Keep Driving feels great, like when you meet someone in real life who turns you onto a band you've never heard of. I usually turn the music down a bit in games, but if the volume slider went to 200% I'd put Westkust and Makthaverskan on full blast as if I were bombing down the highway with the windows down.

Keep Driving is also refreshingly casual about crime. You can drink and drive (one hitchhiker nicknamed "The Hurricane" has a quest that requires it), or drive while high (it makes you happy but hungry), or buy harder drugs if you run into the right person in the wrong town. You can sometimes even shoplift from stores (The Hurricane's influence again).

At one point I wound up driving with a bag of cocaine in the trunk and an illegal handgun in the back seat. Yes, I had picked up that escaped prisoner I mentioned earlier. It's the last trip of the summer: you've gotta take a few risks. Just watch out for the fuzz.

I eventually made it to that summer concert, but there are so many diversions and endings in Keep Driving that each time I play I find some new main quest to follow. I wound up with a pet dog. I returned a missing kid to their parents. I turned my jalopy into a racecar. One time I got in so much trouble I had to do the unthinkable: call my parents for help. You never know where and how the summer will end.

Keep Driving, from Swedish indie developer YCJY Games, is easily one of my favorites this year, and I've been diving back into it lately since it's been updated to work really well on Steam Deck. It's also on sale for 25% off until January 5. So go ahead. Take a hit. Drink and drive. Pick up that convict. You'll love the vibes.