Steam] Fall is the perfect time to go out and play games! PC games that make you feel like traveling!

Dear readers of Akiba Research Institute, how are you doing? This is Nero Hyakkabe, a writer who buys too many games. I am currently addicted to playing the popular open world game "Genshin Impact" for PS4. I love the feeling of traveling through a vast world. Seeing unfamiliar lands for the first time is fun both in real life and in games, and since this is "autumn," we will be featuring games that make you feel like you are on a trip.


Click here for a list of previous special features

1. A driving simulator to enjoy a leisurely trip in an old car
Jalopy - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator Indie Game


  • Jalopy - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator Indie Game" (Minskworks)
  • Released on March 29, 2018
  • Price: 1,520 yen (as of October 19, 2020)
  • Copyright: (c) 2018 Minskworks

Do you like to travel by car?
The author does not have a driver's license and cannot drive a car by himself, but he used to travel in a car driven by a friend. I used to go to Toyosato, which is known as the sacred place of "K-ON! I remember that my friend took me to Toyosato, Sendai, Wakkanai, and many other places. Thank you, friends.


So, I would like to introduce "Jalopy - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator Indie Game", a game about traveling by car.

This game is a driving simulator set in the former Eastern Europe. It should be noted that this is a "simulator" rather than a racing game of any kind. This point will be introduced in detail in the following play report.


So, let's get started with the game. The story begins with a scene where the player is sleeping in a garage and is awakened by his uncle. The uncle leads the player out of the garage, where a car called "Laika 601 Deluxe" is parked. It seems that the player gets into this car and sets out on a journey.



However, this Laika car currently has only the body and is not yet in a condition to be called a car. So, the player must listen to his uncle's instructions and install the missing parts to the car body. Doors, tires, engine, oil, etc., all kinds of parts are brought from scrap yards and garages and added to the car body one by one. To be honest, I am not very knowledgeable about cars and am a complete beginner, but when I lifted the car with a jack and installed the tires, I thought, "Oh, I have seen this on TV before! I felt like I had seen this before on TV!



After all this work, Laika was finally completed, albeit in a crumbling state.


I quickly climbed into the car and found my uncle in the passenger seat. I see, it seems that I am going to travel with my uncle. Then my uncle handed me a car manual and a map. The manual is a booklet that explains how to operate the car, describes each part of the car, and checks the condition of the engine.

The map, on the other hand, shows three different routes to your next destination, one of which you can choose from. Each route contains information such as distance and weather conditions, and I chose the shortest route for now. The courses are automatically generated, which is a nice feature that makes it fun to play repeatedly.



So, after all this time, the car is finally ready to go.

Insert the car key given by your uncle into the keyhole, start the engine, release the handbrake, and off you go!　This realism is one of the reasons why this title is a "driving simulator" and not a typical car game where you just get in the car and drive away.


The realism of this title is not limited to the way the car starts and stops. You must perform every single action yourself, such as moving the windshield wipers, turning on the room lamps, lowering the sun visor, and playing music on the car stereo. I felt that the time and effort required to perform these small details contributed to a realistic driving experience, as if you were actually in the car.



The title of this work, "Jalopy," is an English word that means a run-down or clunky car.

The title is true! So, the main character's car, Laika, is a very on-track car.

First of all, this car does not go fast at all. Looking at the speedometer, the speed is about 40 km/h. I kept pressing the accelerator pedal as hard as I could, and it finally reached about 60 km/h. The NPC cars running on the same road are passing me at a rapid pace. I know in my head that I shouldn't compare this to racing games or car action games, but the word "speedy" doesn't really fit, it's a very slow speed.


I thought to myself, "This is a game to enjoy a leisurely driving experience," and drove slowly to my next destination, Dresden, listening to the music playing on my car stereo. Suddenly, my car "Laika" stops!　Smoke is rising from the hood. Is there something wrong with the engine (......?)?


In a panic, I open the manual and find that it seems to be out of gasoline. I opened the hood, got out of the car, took out the gasoline I had in the trunk, refueled, and started again. Upon further investigation, we discovered that there were actually several parts that were malfunctioning, not just running out of gasoline, but there was no way to fix them, and the car was still smoking. Anyway, the car started to drive, and I prayed ...... that it would not break down until we reached the city.



After a few minutes of slow driving, we arrived at the town we wanted to visit. We decided to stay here for the night, so we parked the car in front of a motel (motor hotel) as my uncle told us to, went inside the building, and checked in at the front desk. ...... but for some reason I can't.

Actually, in this game, when you stay at a motel or store at a store, you have to take the wallet left in the car by yourself and bring it to the store to pay for your purchases. It is astonishing (kyogaku) that not only the driving of the car but also such parts of the game are made so realistically.

After paying, you receive a room key from the front desk, proceed to your room, unlock the door, and lie down on the bed to sleep. Of course, all of these actions were done by myself. Thus ended my day at "Jalopy" with my uncle sleeping in the bed next to me.



I hope you have been able to get a sense of why this game is a "simulator.


While worrying about your car breaking down or running out of gasoline, and sometimes making money by selling things you find, "Jalopy" is a slow-tempo driving experience while enjoying the scenery and the music on your car stereo. Whether the worldview of this game, which requires a lot of work to do anything, is considered "troublesome" or "tasty" is up to each player, but I can say that this is a game that simulates a "journey" in a positive sense. I can say with certainty that it is a game that simulates a "journey" in a good sense of the word. If you want to enjoy a leisurely trip away from the fast-paced real world, please check it out.

Jalopy - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator Indie Game" Steam

2.Travel through beautiful nature with a mother fox
Cinematic action adventure "The First Tree


  • The First Tree" by David Wehle
  • Released September 15, 2017
  • Price: $1,000 (as of October 19, 2020)
  • Copyright: (c) 2017 David Wehle

Have you ever seen a fox in the wild?
Living in urban areas, it is not very common to see these animals, but a few years ago, when I traveled to Hokkaido in winter, I witnessed a wild fox being caught in the snow from a train window. The sight was so mysterious that it is still firmly etched in my mind, even though I saw it only for a moment.


The First Tree" is an adventure game in which such a fox is the main character.



The First Tree" is an adventure game in which you take on the role of a mother fox exploring a vast field. The fox's goal is to find her children who have gone missing. In order to do so, she sets out on a journey to The First Tree, which is located deep in the forest.

The controls are simple: move and jump. Pressing the key again during a jump allows the player to make a double jump, which is necessary at times during the game, but overall, the game is not action-packed and has more of an adventure element to it.



The basic objective of the game is to collect balls of light scattered on the field and to discover pillars of light. The distance to the destination is rather long, and the player has to spend a lot of time running around the vast field, but I did not find the long distance travel a hardship.

The reason for this is the beauty of the graphics. Snow-covered mountains, windswept meadows, forests with a variety of plants and trees, dazzling sunlight, and giant waterfalls splashing in the water, the fields of this game are filled with beautiful nature and offer a wide variety of scenery for the player's enjoyment. The long-distance journey to the destination is transformed into an exhilarating experience of running around as a fox in a beautiful, wide-open nature, which I felt was sublimated into the "joy of traveling.

The piano-based music is also clear and beautiful, and matches the fantastic atmosphere of this work very well. The proper way to enjoy this work is to take your time and explore the world slowly, without rushing ahead, while carefully savoring the world with your eyes and ears.



At the beginning of this article, I wrote that this is an adventure game with a fox as the main character. However, to tell the truth, there is a "true protagonist" in this game. And that is the most indispensable feature of this work.

The "true protagonist" is a man named Joseph. In fact, the fox that the player controls and the beautiful scenery that the fox runs around in are actually the story of a dream that Joseph had.



As the player navigates the field with the fox, Joseph quietly tells the story of his dream and his father to Rachel, a woman who seems to be by his side.

In an orthodox adventure game, the player might switch between the fox's part and Joseph and Rachel's part to show the player images of the two scenes. However, Joseph and Rachel do not appear on the screen. What the player sees is only the fox and the nature through which the foxes travel, and the characters Joseph and Rachel are left to the player's imagination as he or she listens to their narratives.

The author felt that this unique production method is more like a cinematic expression than a game, and that the sensation of imagining Joseph and Rachel based on the narratives may be similar to the experience of watching a play being read aloud.



An interesting point of this work is that sometimes a link appears between what Joseph describes and the scene that unfolds before the fox's eyes.

For example, when examining a pillar of light in the field, the fox digs up items from the soil that are linked to what he describes, such as a toy boat that Joseph's father made for him as a young boy and sketches that Joseph drew when he was a teenager. Also, a school desk and chair are placed near the fox as Joseph recounts stories from his school days. And when Joseph tells the story of "hitting a wall he had to climb over," the fox hits a high rock wall that he has to climb over in order to move on.

For a while after I started the game, I felt that I was playing a game in which I was controlling the fox and exploring the world, but gradually I began to feel that I was playing a game in which I was reliving Joseph's life through the fox's control. I think this is a unique experience that is hard to find in other games.



This film encompasses many deep and significant themes, such as "family," "life," and "connection with loved ones. I recommend you to enjoy this film as if you were watching a movie, while savoring the beautiful images and pleasant music.

The First Tree" Steam is here

3. travel through an infinitely generated mysterious world
Walking simulator "Pattern


  • Pattern" by Galen Drew, Michael Bell and Badru
  • Released April 7, 2020
  • Price: 1,520 yen (as of October 19, 2020)
  • Copyright: (C) 2020 Galen Drew, Michael Bell, Badru

There is a game called "LSD" on the original PlayStation.
It was a rare game that commanded a premium price in Akihabara game stores. What kind of game was it? It was a mysterious work classified in the "walking simulator" genre, in which you simply walked around aimlessly in a dream world made of polygons. I am secretly hoping for a PS5 remake with high resolution (......). "Pattern" is another walking simulator game with a mysterious atmosphere.



This work is a first-person walking simulator in which the goal is to explore and walk around an infinitely generated world. There is no specific goal as a game, no tasks or quests to do, no game overs, etc. This work does not contain any elements of so-called game-like play, so this point should be noted in advance. In addition, this work does not support the Japanese language at the time of writing this article. Since this is a work with few characters and words, the author did not feel any particular inconvenience in playing it, but just in case, this point should also be noted in advance.

So, let's start "Pattern" right away. First of all, a hall-like room with a high ceiling appears in front of you. There are broken columns, empty shelves, piles of books, candles, and various other objects, giving the room a somewhat magical atmosphere, but what on earth should we do?



I wandered around the room and approached the object in the center of the room, which looked like a mountain with smoke rising from it, when I saw the word "rest" and a prompt to left-click the mouse.


When I left-clicked as instructed, the screen changed, the words "wake up" appeared, and I was transported to a different space than before. We arrived at a hill-like area lined with trees. The strange scene of ladders, chairs, and other objects that are out of place in the open air, and apples that suddenly grow to a giant size when they fall from the trees, all make you feel as if you are in a dream.



After walking around aimlessly for a while, I somehow found my way to a place where smoke was rising, and there was a bonfire. When I left clicked, "wake up" was displayed again, and I warped to another location. This "Pattern" system, in which different landscapes unfold as you "rest and wake up," may be an expression of the fact that you are exploring a dream world.



Pattern" has several types of maps, including coniferous forests, deserts, and rocky seas. In each map, you can warp to the next map by examining a bonfire, but you can also continue exploring the same place without warping. As mentioned above, the game does not have a specific objective, so I felt that the basic way to enjoy this game is to leisurely and slowly walk around the maps you like. Incidentally, the concept of the passage of time exists in the world of "Pattern," and changes occur such as nighttime, rain, and snowfall. This is another point that makes strolling enjoyable.



Music is another element of this work that deserves special mention. The music is also generated based on the player's position and surroundings. Walking leisurely while listening to ambient music-like background music spun in fantastic tones gave me a strange and soothing feeling, as if I were truly in a dream world.



Enjoying this work is not limited to just taking a walk. If you hold down the right mouse button while exploring, you will be taken to a photo shooting screen with a smartphone-like object held up in front of you, and by left-clicking, you can release the shutter. The photo taken in this way is saved as a screenshot on your PC, so you can look back on it later as a record of your travels in this mysterious world. The fantastical world of "Pattern" is full of "cool" landscapes, so it would be interesting to post them on social networking sites and have them seen by many people.

By the way, most games on Steam allow you to take screenshots by pressing the F12 key, and this game also allows you to take screenshots with the F12 key. However, I felt that taking a screenshot with the right-click phone screen would give a more immersive experience in the game.



Pattern" is an artistic and unique work that does not fit into the framework of existing games. It is not a game-like title, so it is not for everyone, but I can assure you that those who are into it will be hooked on it. If you are interested in this game, please try to experience "rest" and "wake up" in this mysterious world.

Click here for "Pattern" Steam

This fall, enjoy a relaxing trip with games!

That's why we have introduced three recommended games.


Speaking of travel, the "Go To Travel Campaign" is currently underway, but in these times, I am sure there are still people who are holding off on their trips. Perhaps a game is a good way to release your accumulated travel cravings. We hope you will enjoy a relaxing travel experience with games this fall.

Author: Nero Hyakkabe
Freelance writer who buys too many games. I currently have more than 300 games in my stack. Also a novelist. Author of "Goaken Unrated Edition" (Kodansha) and "My Mother's Lie" (in "Malicious Kwaidan") (Takeshobo).

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