A Laid Back Road Trip On PC
Every year is packed with massive releases, but sometimes the best gaming memories come from small chaotic sessions with friends. RV There Yet? is one of those games. It is a low priced, co op focused PC title where you and your friends try to drive a beat up recreational vehicle across absurd terrain and somehow survive the journey.
From the outside it looks simple. You are in an RV, there are big rocks and ridiculous ramps ahead of you, and your job is to get this poor vehicle to the next area in one piece. In practice, that usually means you will be shedding doors, bumpers, windows and maybe your dignity along the way.
The game is built for that classic Friday night Discord energy. You pile into the RV with a few friends, light up some in game cigarettes just because you can, and then hurtle down a massive wooden ramp into a gorge that should absolutely kill you. When you somehow make it to the other side, the RV barely intact, everyone scrambles out laughing and immediately does it all over again.
Simple Controls, Creative Chaos
RV There Yet? leans into what some players affectionately call friend slop. These are games that are easy to pick up, cheap to buy, and perfect for messing around in voice chat. The controls are intentionally straightforward. Most of what you do comes down to three basic actions.
- Look at an object
- Pick it up
- Throw or place it where you need it
There is some light driving depth to keep things interesting. You need to understand a basic stick shift to get the RV moving properly, but there is no need to juggle a clutch pedal. That small learning curve gives each player the chance to feel like the designated driver or the one who absolutely should not be trusted with the wheel.
On top of that, the game humorously dedicates three separate buttons just to your character’s cigarette. One to light it, one to take a drag, and one to put it out. It is pointless in the best way. After a successful stunt or a near disaster, everyone stands around their battered RV taking a smoke break before the next terrible idea.
There is no deep narrative pulling you forward. Sometimes it feels like the game is hinting at a lesson about tossing cigarette butts in national parks, but you are quickly distracted by the next oversized ramp or ridiculous rock formation in your way. Where you are going is less important than the nonsense that happens on the way there.
Making Your Own Fun With Friends
The real hook of RV There Yet? is how much it relies on your group’s creativity. The levels are basically puzzle filled obstacle courses, and the main puzzle pieces are usually just rocks, ramps, planks, winches and other basic tools. It is up to your squad to decide how to turn that junk into a viable path for the RV.
You might try to carefully lift the vehicle using makeshift ramps and pneumatic lifters. Or you might decide to floor it and pray that the suspension and physics engine are feeling generous that day. Both approaches can technically work and both are equally likely to end in an amazing fail clip.
Over several sessions you can expect to crawl over hilltops, slide down mountains, squeeze through mine tunnels, and improvise your way past hazards. Along the way your group will probably be
- Bitten by snakes
- Carried off or knocked around by wildlife
- Experimenting with winch tricks to bypass certain puzzles
- Arguing over who wrecked the RV this time
It sits in the same space as games like Lethal Company, Peak, Repo, Nuclear Nightmare, Bigfoot and Content Warning. These are titles that are almost designed to generate clips. The exact challenges are fun, but the real joy is the chaos, the shouting and the shared stories that come out of it. You might not sink hundreds of hours into each one, but the few sessions you do have can be unforgettable.
A Short But Memorable Detour
RV There Yet? is not trying to be a forever game. You and your usual co op crew might smash through most of what it has to offer in a week or two. After that, it will probably just sit in your Steam library waiting for a random future night when someone says remember that RV game and you all reinstall it on a whim.
That is part of its charm. At its low price point, it does not need to be a massive live service experience. It just needs to deliver a handful of really good nights. If you can walk away with a folder full of recordings showing your RV flying off a bridge while Fortunate Son blares in the background, then it has done its job.
For many PC gamers this year has been packed with heavyweight releases and live service grinds. Big shooters, large scale co op titles and massive ongoing games all compete for time. RV There Yet? slides into the gaps between those games as a perfect little palate cleanser. After a few rough matches in something more intense, you can hop into the RV, laugh at the physics and remind yourself that games can just be silly for a while.
If you enjoy co op chaos and do not mind a bit of jank in exchange for great stories with friends, RV There Yet? is worth a spot on your shortlist. It might not dominate your playtime the way a huge multiplayer title does, but the memories it creates can easily stand alongside your favorite moments from the year.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/i-almost-learned-something-in-rv-there-yet-but-i-was-too-busy-smoking-cigarettes-and-driving-over-big-rocks/
