How to play guide for Road 96

This page will serve as a basic **how to play guide for *Road 96***. All of the game's mechanics are laid out if one wishes to enter the game with an idea of everything going on around them.

## Basic Gameplay

Road 96 is an interactive story that uses the first person perspective and random generation to mix and match the sequence of events you will experience. You play as a random set of teenagers with the goal of surviving each sequence in order to reach the border, and figuring out the best way to cross by judging the condition and resources of your current character. After the beginning sequence, you'll have a choice between 3 teens of varying resources and energy to begin the next sequence with. The amount of runs needed to complete the game depend on how many of your characters die. Assuming no deaths happen, you need to play through at least 6 teens in order to reach the ending. All of your previous runs and your current one are displayed on a map of northern Petria with the silhouette of each teen showing where they started, a line showing the teen's journey, icons of all the sequences and the main characters met in them if applicable, and icons showing whether you crossed, died, or were arrested.

Within each sequence you are either in a stationary position in a moving vehicle or you are able to walk around a small map. Interaction prompts appear on objects that can be interacted with, which often include food, money, keys, and story items. Dialogue prompts appear on or near npcs that can be interacted with and for objects that require unique interaction. The storyline of each sequence is pushed forward by player interaction, npc actions, and sometimes mini games which usually come with their own tiny tutorial. Many of the story's choices matter from the moment they are made to the ending of the game, so when presented with a decision make sure to think over it carefully to consider the consequences of it. After a sequence's story is over and you're done exploring, the game displays up to 5 choices on how to leave depending on the sequence. You can either walk, ride the bus, hitchhike, steal a car, or call a taxi. Each one has different requirements, with hitchhiking being arguably the easiest mode of transportation. With walking you have to spend more energy for less distance, bus or taxis require money, and you have to locate car keys in order to steal a car as they can't be lockpicked.

Throughout a run you have to maintain two things: energy and money. Energy is displayed as a bar of 7 sections, or 9 after obtaining the OMEN Vitality, in the top left corner that are either filled or empty, and money is displayed in the same area in $. How you are able to maintain these is often rng dependent, but there's some general methods of obtaining them. Energy is restored by eating food and sleeping whenever given the opportunity, and money is obtained through finding loose change in a map or stealing money whenever it is available. Money is often needed for food and rest either of better quality or at all. Otherwise, it depends on the events within a sequence on how much money or energy you can get. While most will provide you with at least the bare minimum needed for the next sequence, it is possible to be forced into a run where the teenager being played has no chance of making it to or crossing the border.

You also have to pay attention to your karma and political disposition. Karma affects your percentage rolls, and political disposition affects the fate of Petria. Karma is either gained or reduced by your moral decisions. These can include saving other teens, giving money to others, and adding a stone to the cairn in the cave for positive karma, and eating rotting food, stealing, and destroying the cairn for negative karma. Political disposition is affected by the political choices you make. There are three dispositions that affect the ending. These are revolutionary, electoral, and apathetic. Most of these choices are displayed in dialogue choice by their respective symbols, but there are a few things that you can do outside dialogue to affect political disposition. Vandalizing Tyrak posters gives you an electoral shift and vandalizing Flores posters gives you a revolutionary shift. Donating to Tyrak's campaign gives you an apathetic shift and donating to Flores's campaign gives you an electoral shift.

In certain encounters you can get abilities that can open opportunities that were previously and would've otherwise been unavailable. After a fresh playthrough there is a new game+ that allows your abilities and character completion, which simply records how many sequences you've experienced so far with each character, to be carried over to a new series of runs. These abilities include:

* Cleverness which unlocks additional dialogue options.
* Hacking which allows you to unlock electronically locked devices.
* Lockpicking which allows you to unlock most physical locks.
* Lucky Star which unlocks a few dialogue options, increases luck based decision success by 15%, and allows you to dig through marked trash cans.
* Government Pass which allows more dialogue options with police, gives you access to a free drink from some vending machines, and lets you buy the premium scratch cards.
* OMEN Vitality which unlocks 2 additional energy sections and some physical options such as breaking locks open.

## Controls

PC controls are simple and can be customized in the settings if needed by pressing esc. You move your mouse to look around, left click to select, right click to zoom, use the WASD keys to move, and shift to run. Control prompts are given when needed during certain events in the game.

## Tips and Tricks

* It is often better to pick a teen with more energy rather than money, especially once you've unlocked every ability, as it is possible to be put into a beginning sequence where you can gain no energy.
* Always try to have at least $10 before making it to the border.
* You can only use each method of crossing the border once, so choose wisely.
* Keep close attention to the characteristics and history each character tells you in order to survive and/or take advantage of every situation.
* Alternate between modes of transportation as much as possible.
* Don't be afraid to lower your karma if you have to, it's not too difficult to regain it later.
* It never hurts to test your luck unless stated otherwise.