Jalopy is a downloadable driving simulator. In the game, you play as the driver of Laika 601 Deluxe and travel on a boundless map of an open world. It is your responsibility to take care of your vehicle so as not to end your journey on the side of the road. Minksworks (and its owner and chief game designer Greg Pryjamchuk) and Excalibur Games are responsible for, respectively, the development and the publication of the game.
How to Download Jalopy
The game can be downloaded in digital distribution from such websites as GOG.com and Steam. The soundtrack, which is the background music for the game, is available as a separate download. To start the download, click on the button at the end of the Jalopy review.
The Game Review
The game is all about driving and taking care of your car. You play as a hero who travels around the virtual world in his trusty machine. Your main task is to improve, repair and modify your means of transport. Proper planning of your journey is also important. The idea for the game is simple, but there are many possibilities and scenarios. There could be rainfall, you need to have good tires for winter and you will be forced to make sure that your car is in good shape. Still, nothing is really imposed on you. The game world is open and you are free to choose what to do, how to do it and where to go.
To raise funds for new upgrades, you can collect various items and sell them or smuggle contraband. The game, as befits a simulator, reflects the realities of the real world. The performance of your car depends on the weight of the load or the condition of its parts. A large number of spare parts and construction elements which affect the performance of your vehicle significantly diversifies the game and ensures its longevity. The world surrounding you has many significant details such as variable weather or bridges that you have to cross. The fictional machine you control in the game – Laika 601 Deluxe resembles the German trabant, the popular Trabbi. Driving it will surely bring a smile on your face while you travel around Eastern Europe during communism era. The available locations are at the time of writing, former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Bulgaria, and Turkey. The built-in nostalgia factor is huge and probably contributes to the fact the game has good reception.
The game world is very well designed. After entering the puddles, the body and the windshield of the car get dirty. The car can be cleaned manually or washed thoroughly at a gas station. Even after hitting a hole on the road, you can destroy the chassis that needs to be replaced. These little things have a very positive effect on the game and make it interesting.
There are also many game related materials on Jalopy website that you should have a look at. Videos or tips about the game are very helpful.
Jalopy at the moment has only a single-player mode. This is a minus, but the title is still in development. In the future, there may be a multiplayer option. That would be a good move.
The game does not have advanced graphics, but the ones you get are quite aesthetic. Still, the strength of the title is not in the graphics department, but definitely in the story, or rather in the fact that you create it ourselves. The game creators turn your attention to this fact by adequately calling their work CarPG, or car role-playing game.
The Hardware requirements for the game are not too demanding. To run the game, all you need is an Intel Core i3 processor clocked at 2 GHz, 4GB of RAM and a 2GB graphics card. In the game, you can also use the Xbox 360 controller. It’s also good to know, in case you need, that Jalopy offers several language versions.
Other simulators
If you like Jalopy, and you are passionate about looking under the hood, you should check out another nostalgic simulator – My Summer Car, which takes place in Finland in the 90s . It is also worth taking a look at one of the games from the Car Mechanic Simulator series.
