Road 96
The journey, not the destination. That’s what a good road trip is supposed to be about, isn’t it? But while DigixArt’s game has plenty of tales to tell along the way, it has its eye firmly on the end of the road. The multiple trips you take across Petria are always headed for the same terminus: the country’s northern border.
It seems that the entire teenaged population of Petria has had the same idea. As you travel, you meet a selection of itinerant under-20s, all of them headed north. You play as a few of them, too. At the beginning of each session, you pick a new teenager from a selection of three silhouettes, differentiated only by their distance from the border, the contents of their wallet and their remaining stamina. Then you lead them to the border and, hopefully, across it.
Every trip is strung together out of vignettes. Lasting five minutes or so apiece, these scenes play out in a single location or in transit of some variety – you might find yourself in the driving seat, as a hitchhiker riding shotgun, or in the back seat of a taxi. Alongside the dialogue, most feature their own minigame-style activity: air hockey, Guess Who?, a basic rhythm game, even something as simple as tuning a radio. These are of varying quality, but that’s not really the point. They’re just there to keep your hands busy while you make the acquaintance of Petria’s colourful residents.