A Look at My Summer Car | A Quirky and Popular Car Mechanics Sim

My Summer Car 01.jpg
My Summer Car ranks among the most popular titles featured here at RaceDepartment, but it’s not a racing sim, it’s something different altogether.

With over 2,000 downloads currently available through RaceDepartment, My Summer Car ranks among the most active sub-communities on our website. But many members of RD might not even know what this title is, given its comparatively quiet social media presence.

Calling My Summer Car quirky and interesting is an understatement. Set in Finland in the mid-1990's, MSC challenges you to build a car at your home. This prospect seems simple enough, except that the game offers you no help whatsoever, and instead leaves you to figure things out for yourself as you WASD yourself around your property and the world outside it.

And if you think that a knowledge of car mechanics is all you'll need, you should be aware that your character has stats you must monitor. These stats include thirst, hunger, stress, urine, fatigue, dirtiness, and of course money. Most of these factors can be controlled using items in your home, such as the large case of beer that keeps thirst at bay. But much like building your car, there is no easy-to-understand tutorial in MSC to walk you through how to keep your vitals from reaching critical levels, you just need to wander your quaint house with its Astro-turfed closets until you find what you need.

And if all of this doesn’t paint the picture well enough that My Summer Car is a lot to manage, please note that permadeath is among the most talked-about features of this title, even if it can be disabled. But thankfully, the harsh and raw aspects of this title are offset by a light and fun overall tone. MSC ultimately rewards you for the hard work of overseeing a man and his automotive build by letting you drive the car, and even offers wheel and pedal support to do so.

My Summer Car has a large and active community here at RaceDepartment, and among the 2,000 free downloads on offer, you can get the strength of Superman, an elevator added to the side of your garage, a water bottle, new cars, and even a “bunch of random parts”.

MSC stands well outside of what is normally featured here at RD, but we enjoy seeing so many community members enjoying the quirky, irreverent nature of the title. It’s available in Early Access from Amistech Games on Steam. Let us know your thoughts on this title in the comments below.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

It does in a goofy, hilarious, frustrating way. Not enough to teach you how to change your brakes or anything, but enough to give you an appreciation for car design, repair, and maintenance. You start off by building your engine and car from a completely disassembled state. The major parts are there but the details are missing. For example, you put the crankshaft into the engine block but there are no crankshaft bearings. Another thing, there is no torque wrench so everything is just tight or not. There are a lot of simplifications like that so that it is a "fun" experience.

One cool thing about the game is the end-game goal of racing in and winning the local rally that's held every weekend with the car that you built. Just don't crash, or you may be spending hours looking for car parts that flew into the bushes, and spending all your hard-earned cash on repairs. One reason to learn how to back up and restore those save files.
for the first time I get attracted to a story in a game usually I only drive but this sounds interesting
 
As it is EA maybe there is little hope that devs tend to go in this direction in the future. I am sure many brands would like to show their catalog of parts...or maybe a tv show like Overhaulin', Graveyard Carz, Gas Monkey would like to sponsor this game to build a car as they do in their garage : personnaly I would love to do that in that kind of game. Imagine several car brands and models totally over used with crashed parts, you buy a crashed dodge charger for 2000$ then you repair it and make it a 100 000$ brand new car for Sema Show : this is the kind of game I'd love to have :)
You have got the idea wrong but it could be a cool idea. The game is set in 1995, and you have to build your dads car which is pieces. after youve built it you can drive it and do oil changes, battery etc. Please watch a video of the game.
Thanks for the reply doe!
 
This game clearly isn't for everybody. There are a couple of excellent examples of this in the thread. If you don't have a sense of humor or if you take either your gaming or yourself a little bit too seriously, just walk away.

If you're still here, this is a great way to waste time, be frustrated, and have a good laugh. All at the same time. :roflmao:
 

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