Pacific Drive

I’ve yet to finish Pacific Drive, but it’s still one of the most special games of 2024, and I desperately need to get back around to it. A survival game set in the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Drive centers around a station wagon that’s been retrofitted with the necessary technology and tools to weather the supernatural phenomena of the Olympic Exclusion Zone, which you are attempting to get to the center of. As you plot a course through the Exclusion Zone, you’ll make pit stops to scrounge for materials to survive and upgrade the car, which is the real star of the show.

Not only is the car fully customizable, but it’s simply everything. It is the quickest way to get around the map, it’s the safest spot to be when weird shit starts happening, and it is where you will store 90 percent of the materials you find. Its maintenance is one of the most tactile experiences I’ve had in a game, and the way that the game encourages players to be hands-on with the car immediately fosters a strong connection as you embark on the world’s strangest and most dangerous road trip. Pacific Drive is an offbeat good time, and you can pick it up for $18 right now.