Jalopy

Jalopy is an exciting adventure driving simulation game where you have to navigate the roads of the former Eastern Bloc after the fall of Communism and plan, trade and smuggle your way to greatness.

Well if that opening line above didn’t grab you, we don’t know what will! Jalopy is a game where you navigate the open roads of the Eastern Bloc after the fall of Communism, refueling, smuggling and slowly making your way across a procedurally generated landscape.

Your journey begins in your Laika 601 Deluxe motor vehicle (based on a real car, the East German “Trabbie”.) It’s not in the best of shape, but it’s a good car and it’ll get you to the next town. You’ll drive this car day and night, through slogs in the mud, heavy snow, and blistering sun, all while you try to keep your car from falling apart.

Every stop and encounter is an opportunity to upgrade your vehicle. Pick up tires, unique upgrades, increase your cargo capacity and improve fuel efficiency to go further and smuggle more contraband past the border guards.

Oh, that’s right. Smuggling is a major part of this game – so keep upgrading your car to gain access to new and inventive ways of smuggling materials past the guards, to speed up transit time and save money while making more.

But the game isn’t just about smuggling – it’s about scavenging too. Capitalism grows on the bones of the old Republic, and you’ll be able to root around for scrap and find materials to either sell or use to upgrade your car.

It’s important to note that the Random Number Generator can be a harsh mistress (one reviewer noted that when they started their car for the first time all of their tires exploded and they had to drive bare-rimmed to the nearest store), but you’ll never have to experience the same journey twice.

Requirements for this game are minimal; you’ll need a 64bit machine running Windows 7, 8, or 10 along with 4GB of RAM. This game may not work on computers with Intel integrated graphics, but aside from that there have been no other reported issues.

All in all, Jalopy is an interesting take on the “Oregon Trail” adventure travel genre, and offers an amazing road trip across Eastern Europe where you can smuggle, scavenge, and ride your way to riches! Or have all of your tires explode as soon as you start your car!

Pros

• Procedurally Generated Landscape Means a New Game Every Time You Play Each time you fire up Jalopy you’ll get an entirely new game with new scenery to explore – just turn the key and go.
• Innovative and Immersive Gameplay Expect to lose hours of your life to this game.

Cons

• Doesn’t Work with Intel Integrated Graphics You’ll need a graphics card with at least 1GB of RAM to run this game.