Death Road to Canada: Roadkill

Time to Beat: 2.4 Hours

I read about/learned of/watched Death Road to Canada over five years ago from the now past Shamus Young. Developed by Rocketcat Games, a three person team, this game is set in a future United States overrun by zombies. A rogue-like, the player gathers a rag-tag team of refugees. Starting in Florida, the two person team travels north by car, seeking refuge across the northern border. The initial group to venture forth included inventive Albina, carrying a cane, and civilized Helmer, wielding a mop. Along the way, the party can increase from two to four.

Each character has a Status. This information includes skills like shooting or wits, and conditions like morale or health. It describes a unique feature, like Artie believes in Santa, or Camryn, is, unknown to anyone, allergic to everything in Canada. The stats and conditions matter, but the other information may be useless.

Death Road to Canada is reminiscent of The Oregon Trail. It is split into traveling, action, and resting sequences. While traveling, the player watches their crew drive a car or run down a street. They gradually consume their resources (food, fuel, and medicine) while bantering. Events pop up that require the player to make a choice.

Some choices lead to action sequences. Other action sequences are mandatory. An action sequence warns the player beforehand of the level of zombie activity; swarm size, aggression, and time of day. Action sequences begin immediately in a house, or exiting the car into an outdoor area with nearby buildings. The player can enter the builds to find resources like food, fuel, better weapons, ammunition, or medicine. During an action sequence, the player controls one character, while the others follow close behind. Zombies shuffle toward the party, as the party moves around, opening doors, collecting resources, and fighting back. Melee weapons are swung or jabbed at zombies to defeat them. When the survivors acquire guns they can mow down foes, but need to conserve ammunition.

Albina and Helmer visited a hotel for supplies, followed by a gun shop. If you need weapons, and those help a lot, a gun shop is the place to go. Running low on food the pair stopped at a trading shelter.

Resting sequences are locations free of enemies. Other refugees congregate to trade goods. They trade weapons, resources, and information. A party numbering three or less can hire another character.

After restocking on food, Albina convinced Connie to join them.

Back on the road, the three foolishly ventured into a sewer. In the darkness they were surrounded. Desperate, they charged through the center of a horde. Sometimes you have to charge right through. Miraculously, they escaped, alive but injured.

Unfortunately, while raiding a convenience store, a zombie or survivor hit a propane tank. It exploded, setting off a chair reaction that wiped out nearby zombies, but scattered bits of Helmer and Connie across the walls as well.

Driven to madness by the zombies, exhausting, and the demise of her friends, Albina dropped her keys in an alligator's mouth. Desperate for a car, she fought with a gang, and perished.

A second convoy, of friends Augistina and Reno, started from Florida. They raided a Y-all Mart and Grocery store. The zombie's are always easier at the beginning and become progressively harder on the ride north.

Then they found a government ration box with poo on it. Despite its unsanitary nature, they took it. They spent the rest of the day freaking out about touching it.

Along the road they were joined by a dog named Lemuel and a man named Antone.

Then they were trapped! In most action sequences the characters appear at a location. Whether inside or outside, the player can order them to return to the car and leave immediately. The reason you explore, despite the danger, is the party's need for food and fuel.

But some encounters are trapped. The characters are not allowed to leave, until a specific amount of time has passed. Zombies pour in through the doors. They drop down from the ceiling. Even when the party is allowed to escape, they still need to push through the throng of zombies to the door. Death doesn't give you a pass just because you survived the time limit.Augistina, Reno, Lemuel, and Antone escaped the ordeal. They visited another store.

Bored, they shot golf balls at zombies. Forced to make a hasty retreat, they suffered minor injuries from running through the woods.

As they were driving along, suddenly they noticed a smell of sulfur, rotten food, and candy corn coming from inside the car. In a flash Antone became the Demon Hekatrius! After they gave him a bag of chips (he was hungry), he demanded the team sacrifice someone. Reno died, and the Demon used some of his life force to heal and strengthen the team.

With an empty seat, the team was joined by another dog, Milania.

Due to a lack of oil changes, and zombies repeatedly beating on the car, it broke down. The party continued on foot.

Bandits attacked the party, demanding all its food and fuel. Augistina, Antone, Lemuel, and Milania chose to fight. There was no battle screen, just results. Lemuel died in the conflict, but the party of Augistina, Antone, and Milania escaped with their stuff.

Heading north, they got stuck in a siege at a convenience store, and were trapped in a rustic cabin with a hermit.

After escaping these dangers, they found a new car, and a girl named Kelly wandering on the road. Unfortunately, at the next stop (an overrun Y-all mart), Antone and Milania watched as Augistina was torn apart by zombies. In their haste to the car, they abandoned Kelly to a similar fate.

The formerly demon possessed Antone and his dog Milania escaped another trap, but then their old new car broke down. Fortunately, unused cars litter the landscape. It didn't take much to find another to hot wire.

At last, Antone and Milania arrived at the final rest stop before the border. They hired Matt to guide them across. They began their last trip. Trapped in a house, Milania watched her two humans torn to pieces by the merciless zombie horde. She escaped into the street.

Outside, Milania was trapped in the town. In the center was a collection of buildings. Around it, like a NASCAR track, ran the city street. Man, did Milania do laps. Unlike most trapped areas, which last one hour of in game time, Milania was trapped for four hours. She ran around and around and around the center buildings dodging zombies. When the zombies saw Milania they started chasing her, but she was too fast for them. She had a horde of zombies following behind. In her attempt to stay ahead of them, she would catch up to the end of the zombie horde. Desperate, she dodged her way to the front again. Around and around they went.

Fleeing the town, she was in the final stretch. Crossing snowy fields with patches of zombies, she reached the bridge. She fled across it. A wooden fortress stood at the other side. Mounties flanked the building. Milania picked up a pistol, ready to fight to the death. The Mounties turned their fire on the massive horde of zombies.

She unloaded her pistol into the horde, assuming this was a desperate last stand. Just when it seemed hopeless, a mega, metal, flying Mountie fell out of the sky. Firing its guns as it fell, it decimated the horde.

With the threat removed, the Prime Minister welcomed Milania to Canada.

In conclusion,

Death Road to Canada has many variants on the main game, but they all sound like minor tweaks. What I learned! Dogs can use weapons. Four types of guns with different ammo. Skills don't matter much. Just keep running. And each encounter feels very similar to the one before it. After three or four encounters there isn't anything new to experience. Death Road to Canada doesn't include significantly different types of zombies, characters, or experiences. Beating it once was enough.