Jalopy (video game)

Last updated
Jalopy
Developer(s) MinskWorks
Publisher(s) Excalibur Games
Designer(s) Greg Pryjmachuk
Composer(s) Jeremy Warmsley [1]
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Windows, Xbox One
ReleaseMarch 28, 2018
Mode(s) Single-player

Jalopy is a vehicle simulation game developed by English developer MinskWorks and published by Excalibur Games. The game follows the player and their uncle who attempt to build a Laika (a car modelled after the Trabant 601) from individual parts and drive from East Berlin to Turkey using it.

Contents

Gameplay

The core gameplay of the game is driving the titular decrepit car, a Laika (heavily based on the Trabant 601), through 1990s Europe; as the name implies, the car is in poor condition, breaking down often and wearing out its parts quickly. In order to be able to arrive at a destination, the player must repair or replace parts such as the engine, carburetor or tyres, and ensure it has enough fuel, motor oil and cooling water; replacement parts can be purchased in towns at gas stations and car dealerships, with options to upgrade to more reliable parts if the player can afford them. If the car breaks down completely, or runs out of fuel, the player must walk to the nearest store on foot - it is possible, however, for the player to get stuck if their car breaks down and they can't afford any repairs. The player must also retain a certain amount of money to be able to rent a room in a motel at the end of each day.

In order to earn money, the player can smuggle goods from one country to another, either by purchasing them or finding them in abandoned boxes along the road - some boxes are padlocked, requiring a crowbar to open them - however, the Laika has limited trunk space, and each country along the way considers some items contraband, meaning they may not be carried through the border. Paying for items is performed with the player's wallet, which resides in the car's glove compartment, and returns to it when dropped - this also means the player must be aware of taking their wallet with them before leaving the car.

Plot

The game follows the player character known only as Splat and his Uncle Lütfi, two Germans of Turkish descent from Eastern Berlin who have decided to go on a road trip to Istanbul after the Iron Curtain fell; the trip goes through East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

On the stops during the trip, when the uncle falls asleep in the motel, the player can open his briefcase and collect notes that put together a backstory: It turns out the player and the uncle have been separated from the rest of their family residing in West Berlin for almost 30 years, because the uncle was with him as a baby on the East Side the night the Berlin Wall was erected on August 12, 1961. The uncle has been keeping in contact with the rest of the family, especially his mother, keeping the existence of the rest of the family secret from his nephew for those 30 years. Both of the parents died before the Berlin Wall was torn down, and the mother's last wish was for her husband's ashes to be scattered across the Bosporus when they arrive in Istanbul, which is revealed to be the reason why the uncle talked his nephew into going on this seemingly random road trip.

After the player drops the uncle off in Istanbul, he is never seen again, with him simply leaving a note telling his nephew that he has to go do something alone and to look after himself and to live his life fully. After that the player is given the chance to continue playing with no specific objective.

Release

The game was added to Steam Greenlight in February 2016, [2] entered Early Access on Steam on 22 April 2016. [3] It left early access with the launch of version 1.0 on 28 March 2018. [4]

Reception

The game received generally positive reviews from Rock, Paper, Shotgun, [2] PC Gamer, [5] Evo [6] and GameSpot. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Trabant is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant 601, and the Trabant 1.1. The first model, the 500, was a relatively modern car when it was introduced.

Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in comedic short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961. An energetic and mischievous old chap, his talent for trouble is the bane of his nephew Pongo Twistleton's life.

<i>3000 Miles to Graceland</i> 2001 American crime film by Demian Lichtenstein

3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American action comedy film directed and co-produced by Demian Lichtenstein. The original script was written by Richard Recco and Demian Lichtenstein shares a co-writing credit on the final film. The film stars Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, Kevin Pollak and Daisy McCrackin.

East German jokes, jibes popular in the former German Democratic Republic, reflected the concerns of East German citizens and residents between 1949 and 1990. Jokes frequently targeted political figures, such as Socialist Party General Secretary Erich Honecker or State Security Minister Erich Mielke, who headed the Stasi secret police. Elements of daily life, such as economic scarcity, relations between the GDR and the Soviet Union, or Cold War rival, the United States, were also common. There were also ethnic jokes, highlighting differences of language or culture between Saxony and Central Germany.

<i>Planes, Trains and Automobiles</i> 1987 film by John Hughes

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a 1987 American road trip comedy film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy, with supporting roles by Laila Robins and Michael McKean. It tells the story of Neal, an uptight marketing executive, and Del, a well-meaning but annoying salesman, who become travel companions when their flight is diverted, and embark on a three-day odyssey of misadventures trying to reach Chicago in time for Neal's Thanksgiving Day dinner with his family.

"The Trip" is the two-part fourth season premiere of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It comprises the 41st and 42nd episodes of the series overall, which aired on August 12 and August 19, 1992. Following Kramer's move to Los Angeles in the previous episode, "The Keys", in this episode Jerry and George try to look up Kramer while in Los Angeles for Jerry to appear on a talk show, only to find Kramer is suspected of being a serial killer referred to as the "Smog Strangler".

<i>Road Trip Adventure</i> 2002 video game

Road Trip Adventure is a 2002 racing adventure video game for the PlayStation 2, released as Choro Q HG 2 in Japan by Takara and as Road Trip in North America by Conspiracy Entertainment. In 2003 it was also released in Europe and other PAL regions by System 3 under their Play It label named Road Trip Adventure. It was developed by E-Game, a small Japanese developer.

<i>Joy Ride</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by John Dahl

Joy Ride is a 2001 American thriller film directed by John Dahl and written by Clay Tarver and J. J. Abrams. It stars Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, and Leelee Sobieski. It follows three young people on a road trip who prank a trucker on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychopathic killer.

<i>Shivers II: Harvest of Souls</i> 1997 video game

Shivers II: Harvest of Souls is a horror-themed point-and-click PC adventure game, released in 1997 by Sierra On-Line. It is the sequel to Shivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Siberian Laika</span> Dog breed

The West Siberian Laika or WSL, is a breed of spitz–type hunting dog. Russian publications indicate that the term West Siberian Laika loosely applied to hunting dogs originating with the Mansi and Khanty people in Ural and West Siberia, but there were no standards or registrations of WSL as such until 1930. Then WWII disrupted it for a while, but systematic breeding with registrations resumed after the war ended, in 1946. This was the time the breed began taking modern shape. Before that hunters only knew of Mansi Laika and Khanty Laika. In early 1960 many hunters in Ural still preferred the term Mansi Laika, when speaking of West Siberian Laika. In Russian language, the term Laika originated from the word layat that means to bark. The word Laika simply means barker. Any hunting Laika is a bark pointer. It is a versatile dog depending on use and environment, but in certain parts of the country they have become more specialized.

<i>Road Trip: The Arcade Edition</i> 2002 video game

Road Trip: The Arcade Edition, known as Gadget Racers in Europe and Choro Q! in Japan, is a racing video game released in 2002 by Takara. It is based mainly upon Road Trip Adventure, a predecessor, however was only sold for the GameCube. Allowing this, weapons were added to a more racing perspective to make it an arcade version. It involves toy cars known in as Choro-Q or Penny Racers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trabant 601</span> Motor vehicle

The Trabant 601 was a Trabant model produced by VEB Sachsenring in Zwickau, Saxony. It was the third generation of the model, built for the longest production time, from 1964 to 1990. As a result, it is the best-known Trabant model and often referred to simply as the "Trabant" or "Trabi". During this long production run, 2,818,547 Trabant 601s were produced overall, and it was the most common vehicle in East Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decrepit car</span> Run down automobile

A decrepit car is a car that is often old and damaged and is in a barely functional state. There are many slang terms used to describe such cars, such as beater, clunker, chod, flivver, hooptie/hoopty, jalopy, old banger, but the most popular being junk car.

<i>Toy Story of Terror!</i> American animated Halloween television special

Toy Story of Terror! is an American animated Halloween television special produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Toy Story franchise. It is set after the events of Toy Story 3, and premiered on the American television network ABC on October 16, 2013. It was written and directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Galyn Susman, with Joan Cusack, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Timothy Dalton, and Kristen Schaal reprising their roles of Jessie, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Mr. Pricklepants, and Trixie with Carl Weathers as Combat Carl and Stephen Tobolowsky as the motel manager. Michael Giacchino composed the music for the special. The film's soundtrack was released on October 15, 2013, on Amazon.com and iTunes in digital format.

<i>Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul</i> 2014 book by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul is a children's novel written by Jeff Kinney and is the ninth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. On April 28, 2014, Kinney announced the book's name and the color of its cover. The book was released on November 4, 2014, in the USA. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

<i>My Summer Car</i> 2016 video game

My Summer Car is a vehicle simulation game in development by Amistech Games. It was released in early access in October 2016.

<i>Lonely Mountains: Downhill</i> 2019 video game

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a 2019 sports video game developed by German developer Megagon Industries and published by Thunderful. The game is a third-person biking game, where the player tries to complete courses on different mountains. The game was released on October 23, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. A Nintendo Switch port was released in May 2020.

La pena máxima is a 2001 Colombian comedy film directed by Jorge Echeverri starring Enrique Carriazo, Sandra Reyes and Robinson Díaz. The film was based on Un día de fútbol, a short story by José Luis Varela, and tells the story about a dark man who is a soccer fan who, in his obsession that the Colombian team will win the playoffs against Argentina to enter the World Cup, will commit a chain of mistakes.

<i>Delver</i> 2018 video game

Delver is a 2018 first-person roguelike action dungeon crawler video game developed by Priority Interrupt. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on February 2, 2018.

<i>End of the Road</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Millicent Shelton

End of the Road is a 2022 American crime thriller film directed by Millicent Shelton, written by Christopher J. Moore and David Loughery, and produced by Tracey Edmonds, Mark Burg, and Brad Kaplan. The film stars Queen Latifah, Chris Bridges, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, and Beau Bridges.

References

  1. ↑ ""Jalopy" OST on Bandcamp".
  2. 1 2 "Procedural Road Trip Sim Jalopy Drives On Greenlight". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  3. ↑ "Jalopy :: Jalopy Out Now In Early Access". 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  4. ↑ "Jalopy :: Jalopy 1.0 Out now! Trading Cards And New Supported Languages!". 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  5. ↑ "Jalopy: a road trip through the former Eastern Bloc". pcgamer. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Jalopy review - The slowest driving game you'll ever play". Evo. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  7. ↑ O'Dwyer, Danny (2016-04-30). "A Long, Strange Road Trip With Your Uncle in Jalopy". GameSpot. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.