road trip game survival

Sign in to add this item to your wishlist, follow it, or mark it as ignored

Sign in to see reasons why you may or may not like this based on your games, friends, and curators you follow.

Buy UNDER the SAND

WEEK LONG DEAL! Offer ends in

Have questions?

ABOUT REDUX UPDATE

REDUX is a completely redone version of the game. The old 2021 version is no longer supported. It follows from this that saves from the old version do not fit the REDUX version. All languages that were available in the previous version of the game will be added again as soon as possible. There may be annoying bugs in the game - I try to fix them first. The old version of the game did not work on the new Windows. REDUX fully supports Windows 11.

About This Game

• Endless generated road.
• Assemble, repair, refuel and tune your car. Almost all parts you can detach and attach to the car - wheels, doors, hood, engine, battery and others.
• Explore abandoned places. Along the way, you may come across shops where you can sell the accumulated junk and buy new useful things.
• You choose your driving style - you can install a weak engine and enjoy a relaxing ride, or you can install a racing engine and start drifting.
• No zombies, maniacs or crazy animals. This game is about cars, driving and exploring the world.
• Bright juicy stylized low poly graphics. On the verge of cartoonishness and semi-realism.
• Advanced vehicle physics. For example, tires behave differently on different surfaces, accidents cause damage to machine components.
• Music cassettes! Insert into the car radio and listen to music of various genres.
• A cat at home that needs to be fed!
• And it's road trip game, eventually!

System Requirements

• OS *: Windows 7 or newer
• Processor: 2.0+ GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 470 GTX or equivalent
• DirectX: Version 10
• Storage: 2 GB available space
• Sound Card: Integrated Audio

More like this

What curators say, customer reviews.

You can use this widget-maker to generate a bit of HTML that can be embedded in your website to easily allow customers to purchase this game on Steam.

Enter up to 375 characters to add a description to your widget:

Copy and paste the HTML below into your website to make the above widget appear

Popular user-defined tags for this product: (?)

Sign in to add your own tags to this product.

Filed under:

Pacific Drive packs up survival games and takes them on the road

Like its car, Ironwood Studios’ debut is a cranky, valiant mongrel

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Pacific Drive packs up survival games and takes them on the road

Having already played a preview build of Pacific Drive , I felt confident going into my playthrough for this review. I’d learned a lot about this ornery but captivating driving/survival/roguelite game in those few hours — knowledge I thought I could apply from the get-go. I thought I could just start optimizing my resource collection and applying my understanding of some of its arcane systems. I envisioned a smooth run through the early missions as I explored the crumbling, glitching reality of the Olympic Exclusion Zone in the Pacific Northwest, and gradually reinforced my shabby station wagon against the wild hazards of this irradiated wilderness.

Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games, movies, TV shows, comics, tabletop books, and entertainment experiences. When we award the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the recipient is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun — and worth fitting into your schedule. If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch .

But the Olympic Exclusion Zone, and Pacific Drive , had other ideas.

I didn’t know everything, not even close. I hadn’t yet realized that it was a good idea to scrap the radios and computers littered around abandoned settlements for electronics. I had neglected to make myself a battery jumper. I was being careful to conserve fuel, always putting the car into park and turning off the ignition, but having not yet researched the recipe for a rudimentary portable flashlight, I was leaving the car’s headlights on to illuminate my foraging. Fatal mistake. On an early story mission, I ran the car’s battery down completely.

The dice roll deciding the conditions I was driving into was also much harsher this time around. It was night, it was raining hard, and the junction zone I was in was highly unstable. The ground rumbled and shifted. Pockets of sizzling, corrosive mist crackled around me. A floating, sentry-like machine grabbed my car with a cable capped with a suction cup and dragged it into a tree, severely weakening its already flimsy, rusting panels. I was on life support, metaphorically speaking, and I couldn’t see where I was going at all. I titled my view toward the glowing map screen on the passenger side and tried to navigate by that, but it was no use. I resorted to aborting the run, and my car limped back into its garage, battered, missing a door, and empty of all the loot I’d collected. Deep breath. Try again.

Pacific Drive is tough, original, and brilliantly conceived, pilfering design concepts and gameplay loops from several different genres and folding them into an identity that is strongly its own. It’s a driving game first, obviously: As a (maybe) unwilling explorer of the walled-off Olympic Peninsula, the site of disastrous scientific experiments in an alternate 1950s (it’s now the late 1990s), the unnamed player character — just referred to as “Driver” — finds and supernaturally bonds with an old station wagon that you use to drive deeper into the Zone in search of answers. You get out and roam on foot frequently, but the car provides essential transport, protection, and storage capacity for loot.

Structurally, Pacific Drive also has some things in common with roguelikes — specifically roguelites, though don’t let that distinction make you think it’s in any way forgiving — and even Soulslikes. You’ll be taken through a series of randomized runs, and you use a map to pick your route. With a few exceptions, the junction zones that serve as the links in the route vary in terms of layout and conditions each time you visit them. Alongside mission objectives, the aim is to get as far as you can, gathering as much loot as possible en route, before triggering a gateway that will get you home safe. If you die or abandon your run, the loot is lost and your car is further damaged.

This is where the stakes are really established. Missions or longer self-directed runs can last an hour or more, and there’s no way to save. As the stakes mount and your car takes damage and runs down its battery and fuel reserves, Pacific Drive can get scary and tense. All manner of eldritch hazards can pop up along a run: roaming radiation pools; networks of sparking pylons that spring from the ground; tumbling creatures made of possessed scrap that attach themselves to your car, forcing you to get out, pluck them off, and toss them away. Scrambling cross-country for a gateway — a huge pillar of light that pierces the ground — before you’re consumed by the raging storm it triggers is always a heart-in-mouth moment.

Pacific Drive also slots into the current trend for crafting-focused survival games — albeit in its own unique fashion. As you might in games like Palworld or Valheim , you spend your time gathering resources and pouring them into crafting tools, supplies, and upgrades, as well as researching new recipes in a very deep and multifaceted tech tree. But instead of investing all this work in your base, almost all of it goes into the car instead. You can reinforce it with panels that absorb radiation or electric charge; increase its storage; and add new lighting and gadgets.

The genius of Pacific Drive is that the focus for the traditional gather-and-craft loops of the survival genre is on a singular object: your car. It’s your base, companion, suit of armor, armory, and skills, all embodied in a single, stoic, rickety chassis. It goes everywhere with you, it takes every knock for you, and it needs constant maintenance and modification. It’s customizable but not enough that it doesn’t have its own character, expressed in its loose steering, springy suspension, and sturdy, rumbling momentum. One of the game’s loveliest touches is the “quirks” system, whereby your car develops weird, randomized peccadilloes — like the hood springing open when you go into reverse — which you can then diagnose and fix using an old computer back at the garage.

Pacific Drive has a specificity to it, a sense of loving authorship that is often missing from the open horizons and do-anything mentality of survival games. As much as its setting is influenced by the monumental dystopianism of Half-Life 2 , the surreal hinterlands of the classic sci-fi novel Roadside Picnic , or the eerie paintings of Simon Stålenhag , it’s also a faded postcard from childhood road trips or perhaps cross-country treks to college in a heavily laden old banger. The car stereo plays wistful indie rock, and the story is charmingly filled in by a bickering trio of Zone inhabitants who communicate with you by radio; they’ve been stuck here for decades, and play through your apocalyptic scenario like a comforting audio sitcom.

This distinction, I think, is what keeps me coming back to Pacific Drive , even when my runs are capricious and cruel, and hours of playtime yield meager rewards. It’s a game of many mysteries I have yet to solve, and seriously deep systems I have yet to fully explore; and every time I roll open the garage door and pull out, the game packs up all that complexity and brings it with me. It’s all invested in a world that is bewitching both for its strangeness and its deep familiarity, and in a car that is a truly great video game protagonist in its own right. There’s always another roll of the dice, and another turn of the wheel. Maybe this time the Zone will be kind; maybe this time, you’ll make it.

Pacific Drive is out now on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. The game was reviewed using a pre-release download code provided by Kepler Interactive. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here .

Loading comments...

• View all by thelongdrive thelongdrive
• Add To Collection Collection

A downloadable game

This is a  road trip  game in an almost  infinite  random generated  desert . The focus is on  freedom ,  driving ,  exploration  and  immersion . It has  minimal  car  maintenance  and  survival  elements.

Infinite Desert, Freedom and Driving:

There are  no invisible walls  or  unable to jump over  small fences, or  blinking red "wrong direction" signs  on the hud. The car won't need  10-20  liter  fuel  over just only a  few hundred meters , with a full tank, you could go approximately  500  kilometers . If you see a  distant big mountain , you can  go there  and if you are capable, you can climb it. If you don't like where the  mirrors  are facing you can  adjust  them however you want or  throw  them away while driving at  full speed . If you want to  lean  out of the car, or closer to the radio or near anything,  you can .

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

WHY I CANT DOUNLAOD IT

Release date for road trip survival game Pacific Drive rolls into early 2024

"It's important to us that we stay true to ourselves, and not compromise on the team's well being"

Road trip-inspired survival game Pacific Drive has hit a roadblock and is now expected to release next year.  

Originally scheduled to launch sometime in 2023, developer Ironwood Studios has decided to delay the release of Pacific Drive until early 2024 to make the game "the best it can be" whilst still prioritizing the health of the team.

In a statement on Twitter (via Eurogamer ), Ironwood wrote, "As many know, we've been hard at work bringing this idea to life for quite some time, and every day adds even more to a game we're all proud of. In this final stretch however, it's important to us that we stay true to ourselves, and not compromise on the team's well being."

As summer comes to a close, we’d like to share that Pacific Drive is moving its release to early 2024. This decision gives us the room to make Pacific Drive the best it can be, while still prioritizing the health of our team. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/GXDMC0Katr August 19, 2023

It continues, "As our community grows, the support and excitement everyone has shown has been incredible and we can't wait for everyone to take their own set of wheels out into The Zone. Everyone here at Ironwood truly appreciates your patience and understanding."

It's not all bad news, though. The developer has also revealed it will be showcasing a brand new trailer for Pacific Drive as part of the Future Games Show at Gamescom showcase, which takes place this Wednesday, August 23. This year's event is hosted by none other than The Last of Us star Troy Baker and Apex Legends' Erika Ishii and kicks off at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST.

Pacific Drive is an intriguing new survival adventure coming to PC and PS5 that puts you behind the wheel of a station wagon. It's the debut title from Ironwood, a studio made up of developers who've worked on the likes of BioShock Infinite, Don't Starve, and Infamous: Second Son.

Pacific Drive may be a survival game, but it's really a love story between you and your car .

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.

Despite concerns in a rough year for indie games, publisher Devolver Digital says its latest game has "exceeded" expectations and "is well on its way to success"

Are we sure Star Wars Outlaws is a Ubisoft game? Its director says there are no map towers to climb out in the open world

Cult classic X-Men title NYX relaunches with Ms. Marvel and Laura Kinney's Wolverine in the spotlight

Most Popular

By George Marston 11 April 2024

By Will Salmon 11 April 2024

By Lauren Milici 11 April 2024

By Amy West 11 April 2024

By Catherine Lewis 11 April 2024

By Dustin Bailey 11 April 2024

By Hirun Cryer 11 April 2024

By Emily Garbutt 11 April 2024

By Iain Harris 11 April 2024

Take care of a group of travelers on a post‑apocalyptic road trip across the United States in this turn-based survival game.

Available Now

• Always keep fuel in the tank. Stay away from the creatures. Be careful. Be quiet.

• Loud sounds attract trouble, and there's no way you can fight them all. Grab as much gas as you can, rescue that trapped stranger, and get back in the car before it's too late.

• Travel West, through grasslands, over mountains, across deserts, and to even stranger places. Every level, roadmap, and character is randomly generated, so each trip is new.

• Equip dozens of items, including medkits, shields, axes, potted plants, scavenged armor, and luggage racks.
• A completely new end of the world from Finji (Canabalt, Night in the Woods).

Join the overland mailing list

OVERLAND™, FINJI®, AND THE "REGAL WEASEL AND CROWN" LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF FINJI, LLC © FINJI 2019

New to Shacknews? Signup for a Free Account

Already have an account? Login Now

•  Subscribe

•  Latest Pets
•  Forum: Posts today 885

Pacific Drive review: Not your average road trip

Ironwood Studios gives us a curious tour of an alternate Pacific Northwest where reality is in flux and a crummy station wagon is your best friend.

I drive in battered and bruised, my “living” station wagon having barely kept it together long enough for us to make our escape from a collapsing pocket of rural Pacific Northwest reality. As we pull into the garage, I patch myself and the car up. I fill it up, put away the resources I pulled, and see what I can craft. A side-mounted fuel container? Sure, that’ll help me explore longer and we may need that extra fuel for our next escape. I load up, clean up the garage, plot a course, start the car, and get going. And I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble we get into next.

That’s the delight of Pacific Drive. You take that car and you venture out into a randomized stretch of land as far as you can go, taking everything you can carry, and solving mysteries that could mean escape. Ultimately, this sci-fi road trip is a survival game at heart, and it may be one of the most interesting survival games I’ve ever played.

Welcome to the Zone

Pacific Drive takes place in an alternate history in the Olympic Peninsula. Around the 1960s, secret experiments that seemed to have gone wrong forced the government to curtain off the entire region, leaving all that was there trapped inside and attempting to keep everything else out of what became known as the Olympic Exclusion Zone. You play a nameless explorer that’s searching and scraping around the outskirts of the Zone when a mysterious force suddenly opens the barrier wall and yanks you inside.

Once inside the Zone, you stumble across a decrepit station wagon and use it to escape a sudden maelstrom of radioactive activity. Fortunately, you find your way to a garage and get in contact with a handful of survivors in the Zone that are willing to help you try to escape. Time is ticking, too, because it turns out that the station wagon you found is a Remnant: an anomalous entity of the Zone that sometimes bonds with living creatures. Its influence also drives bonded individuals slowly insane. That means you should probably get out before your brain melts.

Pacific Drive has a heck of a setting, some great visuals, and a compelling cast of characters who are in your ear for most of the game. Tobias, Francis, and Ophelia (or “Oppy”) are a trio that once worked for the organization running the Zone. Now they’re trapped inside and communicate solely by radio. Tobias is a head-in-the-clouds cryptid enthusiast that still finds the Zone rather interesting, Francis is a scientist that is concerned for the driver’s well-being, and Oppy is a cranky former lead scientist of the Zone whose garage you stumbled into. All of them increasingly rely on you to carry out missions that unravel mysteries of the Zone while trying to keep you alive long enough to get out, but they’re never all that demanding or annoying. There are even optional conversations you can listen to with them to get more of their backstory, which is a fun way to learn more about the Zone and its history.

The Zone is a character in and of itself. Every area you uncover is a fluctuating stretch of trees, roads, and mountains, as well as abandoned buildings and cars. For a game that’s so randomized, it still ends up being mostly cohesive and beautiful in its explorable environments. Meanwhile, keeping that station wagon fueled, charged, and well-equipped is your lifeline to surviving these treacherous areas. All of it is aided by both an original soundtrack and a licensed set of songs on the radio that all serve to boost the mystery of the game, as well as its dangerous road trip vibes.

Ain’t pretty to look at, but it’ll do the job

It isn’t long before you learn that all of physical reality inside the Zone is in flux. Pockets of space open and collapse regularly, mountains become swamps, and only by driving to regions and linking them back to your garage through portals can you explore further and dive deeper into the mystery. Unfortunately, the instability of the Zone means no place you explore will be exactly the same if you come back. Topography, buildings, and the threats you face will likely change each time you travel through an established area.

That’s where the station wagon ends up being an incredibly involved and evolving machine to manage. Nearly every piece of the vehicle is replaceable, damageable, and repairable, from its wheels and doors to the engine, battery, headlights, and equipment you eventually mount on it. As you enter areas, you’ll want to loot as much as you can and stow it into the wagon’s trunk, as well as pick up anchors of reality-altering energy that allow you to open portals back to the garage and access upgrades.

All of this resource gathering is mostly towards building equipment and parts to keep the wagon maintained and upgrading it to make longer trips without failing. I very much enjoyed when I’d get back to the garage and was able to begin piecing my car back together and seeing what I could make better. The game features a massive tech tree of upgrades to spruce up the car, your own protection and personal gadgets, and the garage for better preparation. You can even get a paint and detailing center where you can plaster the car with your favorite paint, decals, and accessories.

The Zone gets even more dangerous as you explore, too. In each area are non-sentient anomalies that take the form of different threats. For instance, Abductors are cobbled drones of floating machinery that buzz around in the air. If you get too close to them, they’ll throw a tether on your vehicle and try to drag the wagon into trouble. There are also the Rabbits, which are like little energized tumbleweeds of scrap containing different types of radioactive, corrosive, or electric energy and will try to attach to your car to mess up its systems. The anomalies only get more bizarre from there with all of them having some sort of unique behavior that can do you or your vehicle harm or send you sideways into a bad predicament.

It all culminates with you getting anchor energy and activating a portal on the map, which you have to drive to or risk being caught in a deadly radioactive storm as the section collapses. Every trip out is a menagerie of discovery, scavenging, and then a dangerous sprint to escape to the portal. If you die, you and the car get sent back to the garage without any of the resources you collected. It’s an intense trip every time and the outcome can be devastating if you lost some particularly good stuff.

I will mention, there’s very little way to fight back against anomalies outside of escaping them. You don’t have any real weapons in this game. The closest things to offense are flares and a flare gun, which both give you light and can serve as a distraction to anomalies that take notice of them. I also had some issues with hills. Trying to go up steep slopes in Pacific Drive sometimes has your car slide backwards in weird ways that make little sense, even if you’ve got good tires on. Finally, I wish there was an auto-arrange function. You spend a lot of time in inventory menus and it’s kind of tedious to have to put all your resources away manually all the time or in ways that don’t make the best use of space.

Loot and scoot

Pacific Drive is a mystery that draws you in little by little and rewards you for staying dedicated with both a better vehicle and more ridiculous threats. Every excursion left me wondering just what I’d discover, both from survival and story standpoints, as well as what kind of crazy threats were going to try to make my life harder. Fun and interesting characters and a pretty great soundtrack help to keep things fun, but maintaining the station wagon is easily the most compelling part. It’s your best friend through thick and thin, even if it’s trying to eat your mind. That can be somewhat forgiven since it makes up the core of an ultimately great rogue-lite survival game.

This review is based on an early PC copy supplied by the publisher. Pacific Drive comes out on PlayStation 5 and PC on February 22, 2024.

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at [email protected] and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs .

• Kepler Interactive
• Pacific Drive
• Ironwood Studios
• Driving around feels good
• You get to customize and maintain most of the car
• Randomized maps make every excursion different
• Tech tree of upgrades is delightfully satisfying
• Good original and licensed soundtrack
• Wide variety of anomalies presents interesting threats
• Scavenging is both rewarding and unnerving
• Physics of driving on hills can get extremely weird
• Complete lack of combat options could turn some players off
• No "auto-organize" option in an organization-heavy game

TJ Denzer posted a new article, Pacific Drive review: Not your average road trip

In each area are non-sentient anomalies that take the form of different threats. For instance, Abductors are cobbled drones of floating machinery that buzz around in the air. If you get too close to them, they’ll throw a tether on your vehicle and try to drag the wagon into trouble. There are also the Rabbits, which are like little energized tumbleweeds of scrap containing different types of radioactive, corrosive, or electric energy and will try to attach to your car to mess up its systems. The anomalies only get more bizarre from there with all of them having some sort of unique behavior that can do you or your vehicle harm or https://core-ball.org/

Road Trip Game - Survival 12+

The long drive game.

• #165 in Role Playing
• 3.5 • 4 Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description.

Can you survive the long drive in a hot desert? One fine day you received the letter from your mother and she wants you to visit her. Right after reading the letter you decided to visit her and start preparing yourself for the long journey. Start by repairing your car in the garage, collect the survival tools and equipment as there are zombie rabbits and other creepy creatures in the hot desert. How to Play: Restore your car before the mighty journey. Brush your car with the brush in garage then rub the rough paint of car and finally paint your car with paint spray. Pick up the fuel can from garage and refill your car, after filling her up, pick up the engine oil can and feed her as your car was not driven by anyone since two years and don't forget to top up the water coolant as its mesmerizing heat out in desert. Zombie rabbits are looking for food, don't forget to pick the gun and bullets from table otherwise you'll be the dinner of hungry and wild rabbits in no time. Keep an eye on your fuel, engine oil and water coolant as these are very important in this survival road trip game. You'll find fuel stations and abandoned buildings in your journey, those buildings and stations might have useful and life saving items for you. Long drive is definitely worth it because it clears your mind and it gives you a chance to explore new places. For more information and updates, stay tuned to Giant Fish Community.

Ratings and Reviews

It’s a good start to making The Long Drive for mobile. Keep working on it. Make more stuff spawn in at buildings, add some car parts that can be switched, more cars too. It just seems like you fix up that one car, drive till you are out of gas, run into a bus, drive that till you are out of gas, then walk and die of starvation. I look forward to the next update.

Developer Response ,

Our development team will definitely consider your opinion and make the game better. Please email us more specific suggestions at [email protected]. The new version is coming soon. We hope that you will like it.

The game is really cool but I don’t like the hole idea were you have do spend more on food and medicine like if u could get rid of the hole money thing and make it were u don’t have to bye food and medicine I wold love it but I just wasted my money on this and I thought is was Going to be like the real one but it’s ok I don’t mind but if u could add that that would be nice and I would play more and I don’t like the hole thing where you have to bye money on the game just to get a car in the real one it’s not like that and you should make a flip button so if you get stuck you can just hit the button and it flips the car like I was driving and rain into a pole and it was stuck in my car and o couldn’t get out so I hade to restart which is really stupid but yeah.

Thinks you should put in the game

I can’t interact with the engine you can’t pick up oil drums you can’t go in the houses you cannot replace any part of your car there’s only two vehicles you can’t go inside any place and in the PC version zombie rabbits one only came at night and they’re pretty rare now they’re all over the place and the graphics are terrible also now you can’t run over the rabbits and now the characters are hard as a lock before you could smash one drink the water from it also before you get to see your character and put stuff on him I know this game will get better but please put these in

The update is out now!!!! Please update your game and give us your valuable feedback. Any suggestions are welcome

App Privacy

The developer, Giant Fish , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

• Identifiers
• Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

• Green Environment $0.99
• Police Car $0.99
• 1000 Cash $0.99
• Classic Car $0.99
• 3000 Cash $1.99
• App Support
• Privacy Policy

More By This Developer

MX Bikes - Dirt Bike Games

Grass Cutting Game

Supercross - Dirtbike Game

Cat Fishing Simulator

Granny Simulator - Ultimate

FMX - Freestyle Motocross Game

You Might Also Like

Long Drive Simulator Trip Game

Long Roads: Car Driving Trip

Long Drive Road Trip Games

The Long Way: Desert Road

Long Road Trip Car Games

The Long Drive Road Trip Games

5 ruthless road-trip games inspired by classic adventure The Oregon Trail

These games capture the tough life of being on the road.

The Oregon Trail games are brutal. Characters that you grow to love always die, your wagon is prone to breaking down, and there are always bandits ready to attack you at your weakest. The Oregon Trail was originally released to teach students about the life of 19th-century pioneers with the number one lesson being: it was tough. 

Starting with a handful of supplies, the game asks you to help a group of settlers survive the dangers of the road. You need to hunt for food, manage resources, and rest to make it to the end—that's if your party doesn't die of dysentery first. 

The educational game has had a surprising number of editions since it's initial floppy disk release in the 80s. The 5th edition was released in 2005 but re-releases of the original have been released as recently as 2011. 

The Oregon Trail is a part of classic PC gaming history and its influence has trickled down through the years. The original is difficult to come by these days, but there are plenty of modern takes on the survival road trip genre. These games all teach the same lessons as The Oregon Trail and on the road your actions can have deadly consequences. 

Organ Trail: Director's Cut

The Oregon Trail but with zombies. This parody follows many of the same features as The Oregon Trail, but it's set in modern times. You're tasked with protecting four of your friends as you try and survive a zombie apocalypse and search for a place where the wretched undead haven't taken over. 

The 2D pixel art graphics stay true to the original, and your rickety wooden wagon has been replaced with a metallic busted up station wagon. Organ Trail also incorporates 'pick your own adventure' style choices as your group tries to make their way across a decimated America. 

You'll be fighting against motorcycle bandits, hordes of zombies, and you might have to put down one of your own party members if they get bitten. And don't worry, dysentery is around and can, of course, kill all your characters. 

PC Gamer Newsletter

Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.

Overland's group of travelers are up against the dangers of the post-apocalyptic world in their road trip. Through turn-based action, you need to scavenge for resources and explore environments for items as fast as you can before the alien creatures get to you. Overland's unforgiving landscape is built from small-scale 3D levels, making battles with enemies and looting a short but intense encounters. 

Overland throws in some tough decisions—is there time to rescue a stranger from a burning wreck and pick up extra gas for the car? It's either one or the other, and your car is running dangerously low on fuel. Behind those pleasant visuals is a bleak game.

The Banner Saga

Forget a small group of settlers, how about trying to save a whole civilisation? The trilogy of The Banner Saga series follows the trials of a Viking caravan group on the move after their civilisation becomes endangered from ancient stone-like enemies called Dredge. 

Your caravan has a core team of characters that range from giants, mages, archers, and fighters that take on any threats to your journey. Battles play out on a gridded board and when characters die they stay dead. 

The hand-drawn RPG is an epic journey that fuses Norse mythology with brutal turn-based battles but it also emphasizes the importance of looking after your caravan as your journey progresses. 

Death Road to Canada

Death Road to Canada replaces careful decision making with bloody, messy brawling. Recruit weird people to your party and watch them viciously attack sprawling armies of zombies on the most chaotic road trip on this list. 

Grabbing any weapon you can, you are your team must cleave your way through zombie hordes to search for supplies as piles of dead zombies growing around your group. Characters are completely customizable and you can raise certain stats so they become stronger. A character with amazing strength can pick up heavy objects like sofas, or even your own truck, and throw them at enemies.

Events and stories are randomised in each play-through so in one game you could receive a wish from a truck stop toilet genie and in another, you could be playing as a pug wielding a shotgun.

Super Amazing Wagon Adventure 

The journey in The Oregon Trail would have been less than ten minutes long if it went as fast as the wagon on Super Amazing Wagon Adventure. 

Leaving careful inventory management in the dust, Super Amazing Wagon Adventure is a chaotic 2D shooter that consists of short mini-games that change every ten seconds. It's comically fast-paced and has no time for checkpoints as you rush through a bunch of random events. One second you'll be trying to maneuver as fast as you can through a herd of buffalo, the next you're in a dark cave fighting against a group of giant bats. It's stupidly fast and brutal fun. 

Rachel had been bouncing around different gaming websites as a freelancer and staff writer for three years before settling at PC Gamer back in 2019. She mainly writes reviews, previews, and features, but on rare occasions will switch it up with news and guides. When she's not taking hundreds of screenshots of the latest indie darling, you can find her nurturing her parsnip empire in Stardew Valley and planning an axolotl uprising in Minecraft. She loves 'stop and smell the roses' games—her proudest gaming moment being the one time she kept her virtual potted plants alive for over a year.

After a 23-year quest, collector manages to grab a rare Castlevania copy for $90,100, all because it 'was the first game my mom ever bought me'

I've waited so long for this freaky Lovecraftian point and click adventure that my life completely changed in the meantime, but it's finally out on PC

Update: Fallout 4's lead writer reverses gear, says main character is not actually a war criminal

Most Popular

• 2 Best wireless gaming keyboard in 2024
• 3 Best gaming laptops in 2024: I've had my pick of portable powerhouses and these are the best
• 4 Best gaming chairs in 2024: the seats I'd suggest for any gamer
• 5 Best graphics cards in 2024: the GPUs I recommend for every budget
• 2 Alienware 32 AW3225QF review
• 3 Glorious Model D 2 Pro 4K/8KHz Edition review
• 4 Nextorage X Series (NN5PRO) 2TB review
• 5 Scuf Envision Pro review

• Get the Newsletter

Please support Game Informer.  Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue

Surreal 'Road-Lite' Driving Survival Game Pacific Drive Gets February Launch Date

After suffering a delay to next year , we now know that the driving-focused roguelite survival game Pacific Drive is arriving on February 22.

The news comes courtesy of today's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted. Pacific Drive is a first-person adventure that unfolds in a surreal version of the Pacific Northwest. Players drive a station wagon to explore a forest filled with supernatural threats related to a government agency’s experiments gone wrong. Check out a recent story trailer below.  

As a run-based game, the world shifts with every trip into the forest, and the only thing keeping you alive is your trusty vehicle, which you’ll repair, reinforce, and modify using materials found while exploring the unsettling landscapes. Your car will need to stay up to snuff in order to withstand dangers such as the Zone Storm, a recurring maelstrom that obliterates everything in its path, meaning players will have to outrun it to stay alive. 

Pacific Drive will be available on PlayStation 5 and PC. For more on the game, you can check out our extended preview of the game here .

Products In This Article

Pacific Drive

Thanks for reading.

I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer ’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue , we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.

Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.

We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.

It’s not possible without support.

In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.

Popular Content

Hikaru Utada Has Released A New Recording Of Kingdom Hearts' Best Song

All 8 Episodes Of Amazon's Fallout TV Series Now Dropping One Day Earlier

The Fallout TV Show Is Good – Season 1 Review

Exclusive Star Wars Outlaws Preview – Gaming The System

Fallout 4 New-Gen Update Brings 60 FPS To PS5, Xbox Series X/S Later This Month

Why Moon Studios Made No Rest For The Wicked Instead Of A Third Ori Game

Update: Uh Oh, The Automatons Are Back In Helldivers 2

The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask Part 11 | Super Replay

Cover Reveal – Star Wars Outlaws

Avatar: The Last Airbender Skins Now Available In Fortnite

View the discussion thread.

The Perfect Roadtrip Game

I've played a few games about roadtrips recently. It wasn't intentional, though I do love the idea of games about journeys, they all just happened to land in my lap at the same time. First up was Overland , a turn-based tactical post-apocalyptic game about travelling across a bug-infested America. Then there was The Crew , in which I competed with Brendan in a race . That also took me across the US. If you'd rather escape the US, check out the excellent Death Road to Canada , which is funny, short and sweet...with lots of guts and headshots.

And there's Jalopy , a game about car maintenance and travelling across the former Eastern bloc. Finally, I spun the Wheels of Aurelia , the most interesting of the three in many ways. That's a game about the conversations you have with people as you drive, rather than the driving itself.

Three very different takes on what is a similar starting point. You're in a car and you need to get from A to B. What makes that different from an actual racing game is the stops you make along the way, for one thing. A roadtrip tends not to be one continuous forward motion, but a series of starts and stops, and diversions.

The shadow of Euro Truck Simulator and its Americanised cousin will hang over every driving game, and playing these four recently I decided to draw up a list of features that I hoped to see in the perfect roadtrip sim.

I want to take along food and drinks, maybe even boardgames and other entertainments. Ideally, I should be able to stock up along the way, stopping at service stations and the like.

Gotta get your head down when you're driving long distances. Sure, I want to have a backseat I can bed down on if need be, maybe even a mobile home to decorate, but I'd love to be able to walk around motels and pick a room as well.

Destinations

The road is all well and good, but I don't want to be travelling forever. The Crew is very good at destinations – its cities might not be to scale, but they're large enough to have recognisable districts and landmarks. It's the area where the Truck Simulator games are weakest, the lack of urban sprawl, but that's because those are games about the in-between that treat cities as little more than depots. But in the ideal roadtrip game I'll be able to walk around a city, go to a bar, visit a museum or park. All that good stuff.

People like achievements, right? Souvenirs are a kind of achievement – a memory of a task accomplished. In this case, you'd be taking photos or buying some local piece of tat to commemorate your visits.

Travelling alone can be fantastic but if I want friends along on my roadtrip, I should be able to invite them or collect them along the way. Interaction doesn't need to be complex – Death Road to Canada's simple system or traits and perks is enough for me to get a handle on characters given the nifty pixel art – but there should be at least some kind of conversation system to break up the hours on the open road.

If you run out of fuel, the whole thing becomes a horror game

If you're in a city and the tank runs dry, fine, you can sort something out I'm sure. But if you're on the backroads, at night, in a storm? You better believe the whole thing suddenly transforms into The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Enjoy!

This post was originally exclusively available for our Supporters .

• Patch Notes
• Hardware and Tech
• PC Invasion Staff

8 best survival games in 2024

With 2024 chugging along, there are numerous exciting survival games incoming. With that in mind, we have a list of the eight best survival games coming in 2024.

Survival is a wildly popular genre with a growing fanbase and an evermore-growing list of games available. If you’re looking to see what’s out in 2024 for this genre, here are some of the most hyped releases.

8 most exciting survival games releasing in 2024

One of the most highly-anticipated survival games of 2024 has to be Enshrouded , releasing January 24 for Early Access. You play as the Flameborn, who is the final hope of a dying race. Survive the vast fog that has corrupted the lands, and reclaim your territory .

This game is full of crafting, combat, and other fun RPG elements, alongside a huge open world. You’ll start from nothing, having to face the fog and wilds by scavenging for resources and facing off against dangerous creatures. There’s also an in-depth base-building system that’ll keep you busy.

Abiotic Factor

Set to release sometime in 2024, Abiotic Factor has you craft and survive with one to six players. Inside a deep, underground research facility, you must make this place your home until you find a way to escape. There are tons of dangerous entities from other dimensions ready to tear you apart.

This 90s-inspired sci-fi survival game has a fun multiplayer open world and deep character progression . Instead of fighting head-on, you can create elaborate traps with the help of your science degree.

Nightingale

With a release date of February 22 in Early Access, Nightingale promises an open-world PvE crafting experience. Either play alone or with some friends as you build your base, fight creatures from Fae Realms, and become a Realmwalker who travels through portals between dimensions .

Just like any survival game, Nightingale will allow you to gather resources, craft new equipment, and build the base of your dreams. You’ll even be able to recruit NPCs to help work at your build sites.

Pacific Drive

Pacific Drive also plans to arrive on February 22, offering a survival adventure behind the wheel of your very own vehicle. Throughout this game with sci-fi supernatural dangers, it’s just you and your car against the world.

You must scavenge for resources to upgrade your car and make it out of each area alive. Outrun storms, discover the mystery surrounding the Olympic Exclusion Zone, and take the road trip of a lifetime.

Related: Top 12 most anticipated games of 2024

This multiplayer survival open-world game called Once Human has you survive in a post-apocalyptic wilderness. There are aliens amok in Once Human, and you’re now a Meta-Human who can survive the contamination.

Releasing sometime in Q3 2024, Once Human includes action-packed gunplay against interdimensional enemies . Customize all of your weapons, as you can earn around 100 different gun blueprints. You can even build your own territory as a haven from the dangerous outdoors.

The Alters is a sci-fi base-building survival game where you play as Jan Dolski, a worker who is attempting to survive alone on a strange planet. With a planned release of sometime in 2024, this is an intriguing third-person game that has you play in the shoes of someone with multiple alters.

These alternate versions of himself will start to help him survive on this planet, but you’ll have to get along with them. Jan will also face some difficult choices he made and must make, as he races against time while radiation levels increase.

Coming out in Early Access on January 19 as the first survival game to be released on this list, Palworld is just like Pokémon, but with crafting, weapons, and a vast open world . Catch Pals and have them work at your bases, but make sure they’re taken care of.

You must explore this world carefully to not run into a vicious Pal above your level. Continue to unlock more equipment, weapons, and builds to become powerful enough to survive in dungeons.

Road to Vostok

If you want a hardcore single-player survival experience, Road to Vostok is for you. Releasing in Early Access sometime presumably in 2024, this is an FPS, post-apocalyptic game with difficult survival mechanics.

Set in the border zone between Russia and Finland, you must collect loot, partake in randomized events, and survive in the permadeath zone of Vostok. Dying in this zone means losing everything, so are you willing to risk it all?

Now that you’ve looked ahead to 2024, let’s look back on last year to see the best PC games of 2023, ranked.

50 Games Like UNDER the SAND - a road trip game

You. Your car. And world under the sand.

• post-apocalyptic
• atmospheric
• exploration

Submit a new Game

Start typing the game you would like to add. If the game you are looking for does not exist, it will be added to our database.

Thanks a lot for your contribution.

Pacific Drive's road to reshaping the survival genre

Alex Dracott shares the story behind Ironwood Studio's debut Pacific Drive, and how it forged a unique relationship with a non-sentient station wagon

Most developers focus on just one genre for their first title, but Ironwood Studios decided to create a fresh take on two for its debut game, Pacific Drive.

At first glance, Pacific Drive – which launches today on PC and PS5 – seems like a typical driving game, primarily focused on exploring the Pacific Northwest in a station wagon. But players will soon come to realise that all is not what it seems.

At its core, the game is all about survival. Set in 1998, players are tasked with escaping the apocalyptic environment of the Olympic Exclusion Zone which becomes more hostile as the game progresses.

"It's this weird station wagon game set in the Pacific Northwest," Ironwood Studios founder and creative director Alex Dracott tells GamesIndustry.biz . "It's surreal, it's a survival game, but it's also a little bit spooky. It's got different elements that are very exciting."

Pacific Drive is as much a love letter to the Pacific Northwest as it is a game inspired by Dracott's childhood. He recalls "foundational memories" of road trips and camping in his family's station wagon, which compelled him to go on trips by himself when he was older to visit abandoned sites, partly to collect references for art and partly to just explore.

"It was while I was doing that that I started getting this sense of there being something about the woods out there and being alone on the road," he explains. "There's an emotional connection that you end up forming with whoever you're travelling with, whether it's a friend or a car."

Which is why, Dracott explains, they decided to lead with a silent protagonist. There are a few NPCs that talk to players through the radio, but he highlights the importance of "removing as many filters as we possibly could to connect you with the car."

That's the focal point of Pacific Drive: forming a bond with the car that's uniquely personal to the player.

"We want you to play you in this game rather than a very scripted, fleshed out specific character in the same way that when you find this old station wagon, you stumble across it," Dracott says. "It's not given to you by someone else, it's not a gift with its own history. It's just there – the history is what you make of it."

The team experimented story-wise at the beginning of development, with the initial plot being that the player was going to save the car from being buried under rubble. But the scope of Pacific Drive's narrative changed once playtesting began.

"Players would remember moments that were much more systemic and organic, like forgetting to put the car in park and having to chase after it, all the while knowing a storm is coming and they have to get back to the garage," Dracott recalls. "Those were the foundational attachment pieces and we really leaned into that as much as we could."

It was Pacific Drive's game director Seth Rosen who suggested that the key to the game was the ability for players to physically handle and remove things from the car to forge a unique connection to it.

"We're really satisfying a traditionally hard thing to do, which is to make a secondary character or NPC in a game believable and to organically respond to the situation," he says. "Obviously it's a car, so the interactions are a lot more mechanical. But from there, it was a matter of experimenting with how many different ways we can reinforce it."

Dracott cites Pacific Drive's quirk system, a detective-like mini game where players have to diagnose randomised issues with the car and fix them, as an example of this.

"We don't know what's going to go wrong with your car when you play the game," he explains. "So it's mechanics like that which further that systemic relationship between the player and the car."

But it wasn't always this way. To find the vibe of Pacific Drive during the initial prototyping stage, gameplay focused solely on driving around the woods of the Pacific Northwest and listening to music.

"We're satisfying a traditionally hard thing to do, making a secondary character or NPC believable and organic"

"But once we did that, we found that we wanted to add those interactions that are pretty organic with the car, like the ability to turn it on and off, get in and get out, and give it gas," Dracott explains.

"We really wanted to satisfy this fantasy of it [being] you and your car and you're this mechanic that is capable of at least taking care of and working on the car to keep it running."

These interactions became the foundation for the survival aspect of the game, twisting basic needs to fit the car instead of the player character. So instead of maintaining things such as hunger, temperature, and stamina, players need to make sure the car is fueled, its battery is charged, flat tires are fixed, and the engine is running.

However, this level of interactivity added a layer of complexity during development. Dracott compares this process to car-centric games that already have an engine and process of supporting "hundreds of different cars that all feel different and unique."

"For us, it was one car that can be customised in numerous ways, but it still had to feel like an old station wagon," he notes, adding that the car needed to be "tunable from a design standpoint" that wouldn't overwhelm Ironwood's small dev team, which consists of around 20 people.

"A team of around 20 to 30 people in AA is something that always felt like a very good balance between independent, creative ownership, but also being able to make something a little bigger," he notes.

Dracott founded Ironwood in 2019, having entered the games industry in 2011 working as an environmental/technical artist intern for Sony Online Entertainment in Seattle. He worked with a variety of developers including Sucker Punch, Highwire Games, and Oculus in various artist positions before deciding to form his own independent studio.

It was during this time, Dracott explains, that various third-party software such as Unity and Unreal became readily available, and platforms like Steam opened up to independent developers making it easier to make and share games with players.

"As more of this tech became intertwined and available, it got me thinking that now was the time to start my own studio," he says.

Dracott started building the core Ironwood team in 2020, a month before the pandemic. During this time, Dracott recalls Ironwood being a small team working on prototypes for Pacific Drive and "trying to figure out what the route looked like to ramp up development," which involved talking with different parties about funding.

Despite getting "positive feedback" about the game from potential partners, Dracott explains it was difficult to gauge the studio's progress as by the time they received this feedback, it was during the middle of the pandemic.

By autumn of 2020, Dracott says they figured out the roadmap for the studio and the game. Ironwood started to grow by this point, and they focused on hiring for key roles and have "grown pretty consistently since then."

After the first year, Ironwood grew to ten people with additional contractors and temporary workers – most of whom ended up joining the team – as well as third-party partners for certain departments, such as audio.

"A team of up to 30 people is something that always felt like a good balance between independent, creative ownership and being able to make something bigger"

As Pacific Drive neared the finishing line in terms of development, Dracott explains how Ironwood decided to avoid self-publishing and partnered with Kepler Interactive in 2023. He felt Kepler not only shared their vision for the game, but that they were of a similar size and scope and had experience of working with smaller teams like Ironwood.

"We have an exciting game that has a lot of appeal, but then finding folks that bring in that experience from the publishing side and have that knowledge of distribution and marketing [is important] – things that can really help a game and help us accelerate," he explains.

"We wanted to find a partner that has experience working with teams like us that we could mutually benefit from."

As for his expectations for the game, Dracott feels happy with how Pacific Drive has been received so far following the release of its demo earlier this month – especially seeing players share their unique experiences of the game online and in-person at events like PAX West.

"Moments that happen in the game are always going to be filtered by whoever's playing it," he says. "What [players can experience] legitimately surprises us on a regular basis, and seeing those moments again through the eyes of all these different gamers is awesome."

While there are no firm plans for DLC or a sequel further down the line, Dracott notes that the team has discussed the trajectory of the game at length.

"When you look at Pacific Drive as a whole, I think it's pretty easy to see different ways that it can be expanded as it's a game packed full of interesting anomalies and things to explore and discover."

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

Advertisement

Going on a road trip? These games will help you pass the time 

From classics like Scrabble and Uno to newer hits that prioritize conversation and connection, these games will appeal to everyone in the car.

No matter where you’re going on a road trip, travel games can be a great way to pass long hours in the car and create lasting memories.

The best travel games should be small and light enough to pack with you. They should appeal to a wide range of ages and interests. And of course, they should provide hours of entertainment.

With that in mind, the classic card game Uno is our top choice for best overall travel game. It’s compact, fun for everyone, and easy to pack and pull out when the mood strikes.  

But it’s not the only one. We considered portable games in several categories too. From classic board games to Ping Pong-inspired matches, here are the best travel games to take on your next road trip.

The best travel games by category

We break down the best travel games based on different categories like board games, card games, and more.  

The best travel board games

Purple cow magnetic backgammon  .

One of the best travel board games is backgammon, considered the national game in many countries across the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This portable version of the classic board game is magnetized so the pieces don’t slide around. Simply open the case, roll the dice, and play. The board may be smaller, but the strategy remains the same.  

Keep in mind:   The magnets on the pieces aren’t the strongest but do a good enough job of staying mostly in place.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 |   Size: 6 x 3 inches  

Portable Puck Shot

Sturdy wooden pucks and a Baltic birch wood case make this portable hockey board game ideal for car trips, camping, or spending a cozy evening in a cabin. You don’t have to be a hockey lover to enjoy this fast-paced game either. It involves a simple sling that fires wooden pucks across the board at your opponent’s goal.  

Keep in mind:   The Portable Puck Shot game is a bit large and heavy, making it more suitable for a road trip than for carrying onto a plane.  

Product details:   Number of players: 2 | Ages: 6 and up | Minutes to play a round: 5 | Size: 17 x 10.25 inches  

Scrabble to Go

Buy it now on   Amazon

It’s not hard to see why Scrabble is one of the most popular board games around. It appeals to players across generations, stimulates the brain, and can spark fun debates. This miniature version comes with snap-in tiles that make it easy to play on bumpy car rides or pick up later, after a break.  

Keep in mind:   The tiles on this mini version are small, which may take some getting used to for some players.

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 4 | Ages: 8 and up | Minutes to play a round: 25 | Size: 10.63 x 2.50 x 10.63 inches

Best travel card games  

Song survivor.

This travel card game is a great way to kick off singalongs in the car or hotels after a long day of travel. Developed by Black-owned small business Doin’ The Most, the game involves drawing cards with one word, prompting each player to sing a song containing that word. If a player messes up the lyrics or can’t think of a song in time, they’re out. This card game is designed for players (and crooners) 13 and up, with easy and hard modes to help make the game as challenging as you want.  

Keep in mind:   Not everyone is into singing outside of the shower, so consider your audience of fellow players before bringing this one along.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages: 16 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: travel size  

52 Essential Conversations

The premise behind this intriguing travel card game springs from the idea that the art of engaging conversation never goes out of style. It’s a “social-emotional” learning game designed to get players thinking and talking about topics that can help people—including kids—open up, improve social skills, and spark creativity. The cards come in a small tin box, making them easy to keep organized and bring anywhere.  

Keep in mind: Although this travel card game is designed for players 5 and up, some questions lean more adult. If you’re playing with a multigenerational group, you can skip the questions better suited to adults or take them out of the deck before you play.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size:   3 x 2 x 1 inches

This popular family card game is equally fun to play while traveling. You can go head to head with just one other person or as many as 10. The objective is to be the first person to get rid of all your cards. But achieving that goal depends on the luck of the draw. Just don’t forget to shout “Uno!” when you’re down to your last card. We love that this version comes in a sturdy tin for safekeeping.

Keep in mind:   This version of Uno incorporates graphic symbols on the cards so players with colorblindness can play too.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 10 |   Ages: 7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: 3 x 2 x 5 inches

Exploding Kittens

Easy to learn and loads of fun, Exploding Kittens is a cheeky card game loosely based on Russian roulette. Players draw cards, but use strategy (plus special “immunity” cards) to avoid drawing an “exploding kitten” card. With its compact size and lack of any additional game pieces, this card game is a hilarious way to pass the time while traveling.

Keep in mind: This card game is available in English, but other languages (German, Spanish, Italian, and French) are in the works.  

Product details:   Number of players:   2 to 10 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: ‎4.41 x 6.38 x 1.5 inches  

Best travel games for adults

Pepper pong.

This portable spin on ping pong and pickleball is one of the best travel games for adults. About the size of a shoebox, the game sets up virtually anywhere in a matter of seconds. Place the foldable net (called a Fence) on a picnic table at the park or any other relatively flat surface, and you’re good to go. The game’s three ball sizes (called Peppers) give you options for how aggressively you want to play. You can also feel good about purchasing this portable travel game—the makers say they donate a set to a recovery center or addiction-focused homeless center with each set they sell.  

Keep in mind:   There’s no official age minimum for this game. If you can swing the racket you can play. You’ll need a flat surface to set up.

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 4 | Ages: 3 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size: 12 x 7 x 4 inches

The Hygge Game

Buy it now at   Uncommon Goods

Hygge is the Danish word for coziness and the basis for this 300-question portable travel game. The questions are designed to foster meaningful conversations among friends and family members. Play it during long car rides, in a candlelit, hygge-inspired restaurant, or anyplace where you want to spark fun and thoughtful connections.  

Keep in mind: Some of the questions go pretty deep and might surprise people who prefer more superficial lines of interrogation.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 and up | Ages:   14 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 |   Size:   5.70 x 5.70 x 1.80 inches

Parents Are Human

Like the Hygge Game, Parents Are Human is a card game that fosters understanding and connections. This specific deck (others are designed for friends, romantic partners, and siblings) focuses on immigrant families, making it a great game for family road trips. Each set includes 50 question cards and 20 action cards in English on one side and another language on the other ( Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, and Thai).

Keep in mind:   Some reviewers say you can’t play this card game many times with the same people.  

Product details:   Number of players: 2 and up | Ages:   13 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size: ‎3.81 x 2.81 x 1.44 inches

Where Should We Begin

This traveling card game stems from relationship therapist and author Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin podcast and is ideally suited for adults. Cards with topics like “A dream I’ve never shared” and “One of the things that is keeping me up at night” help travel companions learn more about each other in an approachable way.

Keep in mind: Many reviewers prefer not to use the dice and pull randomly from the deck of cards instead.  

Product details: Number of players: 2 to 6 players | Ages: 18 and up | Minutes to play a round: NA | Size:   9.4 x 4.9 x 2.6 inches  

Best travel games for kids

Nex playground.

This compact game console works as a portable travel game that the whole family can play while on the road. The colorful cube uses motion sensors (with controllers or wearable gear) for family-friendly competition. Just plug Nex Playground into a TV and tap the library of more than 20 games and experiences ranging from dance-offs to sports competitions and activities like jumping in puddles with favorite cartoon characters.  

Keep in mind: You’ll need floor space of about 8 feet by 8 feet to play, since the game requires moving around. If you’re in a small hotel room or other tight space, that can be challenging.  

Product details:   Number of players: Up to 4 | Ages: 5 and up | Minutes to play a round:   5 | Size: 2.83 x 2.83 x 2.83 inches

Kanoodle Ultimate Champion

Popular on TikTok, this puzzle game can easily pack up and go with you on your next road trip. It comes with over 500 puzzles and a timer, challenging family members to use problem solving and spatial reasoning skills to beat the clock in time.  

Keep in mind:   This game requires two AAA batteries to operate.  

Product details: Number of players:   1 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 to 30 | Size: ‎5.75 x 2 inches  

Play Monster Take ’N Play Bingo

Kids can spend hours playing this traveling bingo game. The animal-based bingo cards are built into a metal case that closes for easy storage and transport. Two players take turns spinning the spinner and placing magnetic markers on the matching animals.

Keep in mind:   The magnet is built into one side of the marker pieces, so they’re not the strongest at staying put on the board. However, this game is hard to beat for an affordable and fun option.

Product details: Number of players:   2 | Ages:   4 and up | Minutes to play a round: 5 | Size:   1 x 6.50 x 6.50 inches

Pass the Pigs

Families will get a kick out of this adorable dice game that involves rolling a pair of pig-shaped pieces to score points. The first player to score 100 points wins. It’s also a great game to play anywhere while traveling, since it only requires a flat surface to play, plus the pigs, scoring pads, and pencils fit in a small plastic storage case that easily tucks into a backpack.  

Keep in mind: Small parts could pose a choking hazard for younger kids.  

Product details: Number of players:   2 | Ages:   7 and up | Minutes to play a round: 15 | Size:   1.63 x 4.25 x 9.25 inches

Our review process  

The best portable travel games are compact and light enough to take on a road trip or flight, can be contained in a case, and are still fun after multiple rounds of play.

Size:   Travel games shouldn’t be large and heavy. They should be small and light enough to fit easily into suitcases and carry-ons.

Multiplayer: Games for two or more players are best, since the whole point of travel games is to keep everyone entertained.  

Fun-factor: Travel games can help stave off boredom between activities, while you’re in transit, or during travel delays. So make sure you choose games that appeal across ages, interests, and have enough variety for the long haul.  

Tips for buying travel games

Size of the game

When it comes to the best travel games, size matters, whether you travel with just a carry-on suitcase or don’t want to bulk out your checked baggage. Look for games that are contained in a case small enough to fit into a backpack. On road trips, you can get away with larger games, especially if you’re driving your own vehicle.  

Game ratings and popularity

A game’s ratings and popularity can give you a good idea for whether or not it will work for your needs. A sure-fire tip is to look for reviews by customers with similar travel styles and companions as your own.  

Players’ ages

It goes without saying, but you’ll maximize fun by packing travel games that are appropriate for everyone in your group. Consider bringing a couple of games–one for spending time with the kids and another for adults.  

Time it takes to play a round

When shopping for the best travel games, keep in mind that some people can take longer to finish a game than others. Consider your travel companions’ attention spans and choose accordingly.  

Frequently asked questions

Are there travel-sized board games?

Yes, many classic and unique board games come in travel sizes. Some even have travel-friendly modifications, such as magnets to prevent pieces from sliding off the board and carrying cases that keep everything contained.  

How do you know if a game is good for traveling?

Some games are better suited to travel than others. Card games with a carrying case and board games that don’t have too many loose parts (or are magnetized) tend to be good options for the road. Consider the size and weight of the travel game’s carrying case too. Make sure there’s enough room among everything else you’re packing for your trip.  

What are the best travel games for an airplane?

Since space is limited on an airplane, look for games that don’t take up more room than a typical airplane tray table. You’ll also want travel games that can handle turbulence and that you can quickly and easily pick up, in case you need to get out of your seat for a neighbor.  

Related Topics

• PRODUCT ROUNDUP
• FAMILY TRAVEL
• TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

You May Also Like

Is this the ideal Swiss road trip?

The best Easter gift ideas for adults who love travel

Free bonus issue.

How to take the ultimate Florida road trip

What to pack for a cruise

The best gifts for women who love travel and adventure

The best toiletry bags for every traveler

The best backpacking stoves for your outdoor adventure

• Environment
• Paid Content

History & Culture

• History & Culture
• History Magazine
• Gory Details
• 2023 in Review
• Mind, Body, Wonder
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Your US State Privacy Rights
• Children's Online Privacy Policy
• Interest-Based Ads
• About Nielsen Measurement
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Nat Geo Home
• Attend a Live Event
• Book a Trip
• Inspire Your Kids
• Shop Nat Geo
• Visit the D.C. Museum
• Learn About Our Impact
• Support Our Mission
• Advertise With Us
• Customer Service
• Renew Subscription
• Manage Your Subscription
• Work at Nat Geo
• Sign Up for Our Newsletters
• Contribute to Protect the Planet

Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society Copyright © 2015-2024 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved

More From Forbes

Fun games to pass the time on your next roadtrip.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Road trip games can pass the time on a long trip.

Roadtrips are an enjoyable way to see changing scenery, a chance to stay overnight in retro roadside motels, and an excuse to pull over to see the quirky roadside attractions that you’ll only find in small town America.

But road trips also mean long stretches of flat highway where the oohs and ahhs slow down, the snacks run out, and you need a break from the podcast you’ve been streaming.

Pass the time in the car with a game of 'Would You Rather?'

Enter road trip games. They’ll help you pass the time between stops and hopefully squash any questions like “are we there, yet?”.

From games that can be played among a group of friends or couples to road trip games to entertain kids, these games will help keep you entertained on the road.

Top 7 Road Trip Games to Play

1. table topics.

Table Topics is a deck full of fun conversation starter cards. The game is recommended for ages 12 and up, and the cards can spur conversation between a couple or a group. The deck has 135 cards and questions range from: “Is it more important to be book smart or street smart?” and “If you could have front-row seats to any concert who would you like to see?”

Is Leadership an Art or a Science

Apple confirms major iphone changes with new app features enabled, o j simpson dies of cancer at 76, 2. mad libs.

The scribe in charge of the Mad Libs tablet will be prompted to ask participants for verbs, adjectives, nouns, and so on, which will then be put into a short narrative. The catch: No one knows the context that the words they toss out will be put in, so the story ends up being a goofy one. This is a great game for kids in elementary school who are starting to learn the ins and outs of nouns, adjectives and the like.

3. “Would You Rather?”

You could come up with your own scenarios for a game of “Would You Rather” where you pit two outrageous scenarios against one another. But the “Would You Rather” deck of cards is loaded with pre-set predicaments: “Would you rather own a machine that makes any food you want or prints $50 per week?” The family edition has 200 cards that were made with multi-generation road trips in mind.

4. License Plate Game

A road trip classic, and a fun one to play with kids, the license plate game challenges everyone in the car to collectively spot license plates from all 50 states. Pro tip: Print out a map of the United States to keep track of all the states you’ve collected.

When the karaoke is over, play a round of song trivia.

5. License Plate Word Scramble

When you’ve already done your Wordle for the day, you can engage your fellow passengers with a game of word scramble. Just look at a plate in a nearby lane and extract the letter — then challenge everyone to come up with a word with the letters in the plate. For example, if the license plate has the letters NKE in it, the word could be “Banker.”

6. Song Trivia

Every great road trip has a good playlist. But turn your tunes into a game by seeing who can name the singer, song title, and, for a bonus round, the year the song came out. You can set up a playlist in advance for this game or just scroll through the stations.

7. The Geography Game

If you loved social studies as a kid, this game is for you. One person starts the game by throwing out a geographic location (i.e. city, state, mountain region, river, etc.). Let’s say the starting word is California. The next person then comes with a location that starts with the last letter of the previous name, so, in this case, the letter “A,” which could be Alaska, Appalachians, Atlanta, and so on. You could mix up the themes, too, or narrow the categories, too. Other categories could be types of food, animals, countries, or band names.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Roblox: A Dusty Trip Beginners Guide

Ensure the survival of you and your car with these beginner tips for Roblox's A Dusty Trip.

Roblox: A Dusty Trip offers players quite exciting and slightly scary gameplay as they need to survive in a post-apocalyptic desert. Additionally, some game features can be a little confusing for new players. Therefore, in this guide, we will tell you important tips for beginners in Roblox: A Dusty Trip .

A Dusty Trip is a game where players have to concern themselves with the survival of themselves and their car, with the latter being the difference between life and death. If you don't take care of it, you will most likely become a victim of some mutant.

AFK Journey: Tips for Beginners

How to start a dusty trip.

Before you can set off to roam the desert, you need to find transport. To be more precise, you have to make it from different parts. In addition, A Dusty Trip offers you the choice between a van and a sedan. The first one is designed for multiple players , but you should choose it even if you play solo. Due to its size, it has more space to add new parts and transport resources. For your vehicle to be on the move, you need the following parts:

We do not recommend that you neglect doors. Although they are an optional part, you won't want to ride through hordes of zombies without them. When your car is ready, you can go on a trip.

Every Resource Counts

Along the way, you will find different landmarks, such as bunkers or petrol pumps. In them, you can find all the resources necessary for survival, namely food or cans of water, oil, and fuel. Fuel is needed for your car, while Food is needed so that you don't starve to death in A Dusty Trip .

However, Oil and Water are also important. The first is necessary to keep your engine running properly, and the second is necessary to cool the radiator. Only with all these resources will you be able to move on.

Coral Island: Tips For Beginners

Beware the mutants.

A Dusty Trip does not encourage you to be a hero since every mutant poses a threat to you. And with your bare hands, you won’t be able to do anything to fight it off. Therefore, in addition to resources, you should look for weapons. It can be either melee weapons or guns.

Note that to hit with a melee weapon, you need to swing your arm. As for the guns, you will have to get used to the specific aiming. But even with a weapon in your hands, you should be wary of mutants .

Night and Weather Are Your Enemies

To drive at night, you need to have Headlights on your vehicle. However, even with them, you have a chance to miss some loot structures. Additionally, players may encounter a sandstorm. So you definitely shouldn't drive in this weather - after all, A Dusty Trip is a game about survival, not a race.

That's all you need to know about Roblox A Dusty Trip . Using our tips, you can start your adventure without any problems. But even knowing the dangers that may come your way, you should not let your guard down if you want to survive as long as possible .

Roblox - Game

Texas Tech University

Abilene Christian

Tech kicks-off six-game road trip at ACU Wednesday

April 09, 2024 | Baseball

The Red Raiders will embark on the longest road trip of the season beginning Wednesday night in Abilene

By: Andrew Stern

San Francisco Giants' Six-Game Florida Road Trip Will Show Team's True Status

After getting a much-needed victory at home before an off day, the San Francisco Giants are starting their road trip that will give an idea about if they can contend or not.

• Author: Brad Wakai

In this story:

The San Francisco Giants had one of the most under-the-radar offseasons after signing some of the biggest names who were available on the market.

Getting Korean phenom Jung Hoo Lee, the reigning NL Cy Young Winner Blake Snell, and one of the best third baseman in the game Matt Chapman, lifted up the profile of their roster to the point where there were expectations for them to compete for a playoff spot.

But things haven't quite gone to plan so far.

They sit with a 5-8 record and needed a strong performance on Wednesday to avoid being swept by the Washington Nationals .

Maybe that's what gets the Giants going after they took a much different approach on the base paths and got another great pitching performance from Jordan Hicks.

But heading into this six-game Florida road trip where they face the Tampa Bay Rays starting Friday and the Miami Marlins after that series is complete, this will truly give an idea about if they can contend or not.

The Rays are always formidable, but they don't quite have that magical aura around them like they've had in years past. They currently sit at 7-6 with offensive numbers around the middle of the league and pitching numbers much worse than their previous iterations.

Tampa Bay is gettable, and if the Giants are going to truly compete in a loaded National League, they need to show that they can win these types of games.

Following those three contests, they'll head south to take on the Marlins who have the worst record in the MLB entering Friday's action.

San Francisco needs to dominate this series, certainly winning it, but with the aim of sweeping.

Good teams beat the bad teams and are also able to compete with other good teams.

That's what the Giants have on this road trip as they get set to face the Rays in a matchup that is winnable before hitting Miami where they should leave victorious.

Latest Giants News

JD Davis Released By San Francisco Giants, Falls Victim to Arbitration Loophole

Impact Infielder Released; Mets Would Be Strong Fit After Impressive Season

Ex-Giants Slugger Could Be Surprising Option For Yankees

Giants Reportedly Sign Ex-Red Sox Flamethrower After Inconsistent Season

Angels, Giants Competing To Sign Superstar According To Insider