I’ll admit, I’m not a car fanatic by any means. Even in video games, the depth of my car interests probably goes as deep as Mario Kart. If using a car to get from A to B is optional, I’ll most likely not use one to travel. I’m a horrible driver in most video games and crashes are a common occurrence. If I do use a car, I’ll most likely use anything that can get me there instead of thinking about things like the type, the speed/horsepower or handling.
However, over the hill is not your typical game featuring cars. Developed and published by Funselektor Labs Inc., over the hill was released on October 14th, 2026. In over the hill, players can explore various maps in “the golden age of off-roading.” You drive classic 4×4 vehicles from the 60s to 80s in single or multiplayer. Each area offers various things to do and discover and players are strongly encouraged to take their time doing so. over the hill is not a game about high speed car races, but instead one of curiosity, patience and exploration.
I really enjoyed over the hill. As someone who loves exploration, over the hill was a cozy and laidback experience where the most stressful part was getting unstuck or navigating tricky paths. The only consequence of failure was simply needing to try again. I enjoyed exploring the maps and discovering all that I could, aiming to 100% a map before moving on to the next. I enjoyed decking out my vehicles with the plethora of customization options. over the hill has the opportunity to grow and expand with future updates or DLCs of new maps, vehicles and potentially new activities. over the hill is not perfect of course and some things could be improved, but this is certainly one I will be keeping an eye on.
“It is better to travel well than to arrive. Preferably in one piece.”
I’ll apologize now for any misused car lingo.
When starting over the hill, you (the car) are on a dock at Emerald Lake in Valhallas Canada. In front of you is a giant Golden Buddha statue that speaks to you. The Buddha serves as your guide through the driving tutorial and helps you navigate some of your essential functions and tools. The game lets players choose between automatic and manual transmissions, with the option to switch between them in the settings. I personally stuck with automatic to makes things easier for me, but try both to see what works better for you.
Another important driving aspect is shifting gears. You can shift between high range and low range. While high range prioritizes speed, low range provides the traction you need to tackle rough terrain and steep climbs. Since this is a game about off-roading, expect to use low range a lot more often than you do high. This doesn’t feel like a huge impact though since even on high range, you never really go super fast. In over the hill reaching top speeds and zooming around the map is not the goal. It’s about taking your time to explore.
The last and certainly most useful of your tools is the winch. The winch proves invaluable when the terrain turns against you. Attach it to nearby trees or other anchor points to recover from tricky situations. You can extend it to safely lower yourself down dangerous slopes as well. Players can do a quick deploy of the winch or can do it manually. Personally, I used it manually way more as it allows you to select which side of the vehicle you connect the winch to and to where you want it to connect. This was super helpful in most situations. As a piece of advice, don’t give up so quickly if you find yourself in a rather troubling situation. The winch has saved me more than once. After completely flipping my vehicle, I used it to pull myself back upright and continue the journey.
Weather conditions and a day-night cycle play a role in your exploration as well. The weather can shift from rain, snow, or sandstorms which will all impact the driving conditions. I particularly enjoyed when the weather came because of how it changed the vehicle and environment. For example, snow will actually accumulate on the ground and the vehicle, turning the landscape into a winter wonderland. Driving at night is obviously more difficult as things get dark. Players can rest at cabins across the map to speed up time for more favorable conditions.
Another important thing about cabins is that players can fast travel to them at any point. If you find yourself in a particularly stuck situation and don’t want the hassle, you can fast travel to a cabin. In fact, stopping at cabins restores your vehicle and any tools you use. Tools available outside the winch are optionally equippable. You start with a portable winch that allows you to place down a new spot to winch to when needed. You can also equip things like planks to create a path over gaps or the jack to flip your car. To swap tools, you will need to go to the mechanic.
Crazy Günther is the game’s mechanic and has a shop in each map for you to travel to. At his shop, you are able to change your vehicle, upgrade your vehicles and apply a plethora of customization options. The game locks almost everything at the start, but completing activities gradually unlocks new content. I’ll dive deeper into those activities in the next section. Different vehicles have slightly different capabilities, but overall it boils down to your preference. Vehicle upgrades can be purchased with pebbles, a currency rewarded after completing the activities. These upgrades include suspension, tires for better traction, and more slots for equippable tools. Upgrades are specific to the vehicle rather than for all.
There are many customizations you can add onto your vehicle once you unlock them by completing the various tasks. Things can be added onto the side, front, back and even on top of the vehicle. As usual, I enjoy customization so I had a lot of fun changing the look of my vehicles. You can change the color of the vehicles, including built-in mod compatibility for unique looks contributed by the player base. I personally didn’t use any of them, but I imagine they should work without any issues since they are visual only.
“Curiosity will guide you and patience will get you there.”
As mentioned, over the hill is about exploration. Currently there are two areas, Valhallas Canada and Algeria. Each area has separate maps to explore, three in Canada and two in Algeria. Each map offers various activities for you to do but most prevalent are the points of interests. As you explore and discover cabins, the map reveals question marks for undiscovered points of interest.
Most of these areas are crates which you can drive up to and receive a cosmetic item and a few pebbles. Some are challenge trials that take you on a challenging and tricky path and require you to pass through multiple points until you reach the goal. As the name suggests, these paths can be quite challenging and will test both your navigation skills and patience. If you get truly stuck and fast travel to a cabin, the trial restarts. Another point of interest is item recovery where you can use your winch to transport items, such as other vehicles, to a nearby location.
Scenic points can also be found that give you…well, a scenic view. These points are often high up and can be difficult to navigate to unless you follow a path. On the map, dotted lines show where the easier paths are that you can take to get to many points of interest. I found it beneficial to follow them initially when you are out exploring just to see if any unrevealed points lie along them before going truly offroad. You can also place a marker on the map to add a smoke signal for where you want to travel to. The marker is visible at all times so it makes knowing the correct way to go easy.
Other activities not marked on the map include hunting for meteorites and, my personal favorite, photographing animals to add to the compendium. At night, you can find meteorites scattered across the map. They give off a glow so they aren’t too difficult to spot from far away. The meteorite radar tool helps you pinpoint nearby meteorites, making the hunt much more manageable. You can extract them with the winch to gain a few pebbles. I’m not entirely sure if they have a purpose or use beyond this, but I suppose it could just be a way to get more pebbles.
Another thing scattered across the map are animals. At different times and weather conditions, animals can spawn in specific spots. They usually just wander around and make noises but are a welcome addition to the game regardless. Players can open up the camera and snap photos of them to add to the compendium. The compendium gives you valuable information of the animals, such as which map they can be found or time of day and weather condition. Successfully adding a new photo to the compendium rewards you with a varying amount of pebbles depending on how rare the animal is.
Though I like the many activities you can do in over the hill, I do think they can start feeling a bit repetitive after a while. I wouldn’t mind a larger variety of activities available, especially since most points of interest are crates. New activities could be added that offer a bit more excitement. The only example I can currently think of is a time trial of sorts. I’m sure there are other things though that could be added and I think it would be beneficial. Currently, over the hill might be a little too chill to not get somewhat lackluster in extended play. It is fun to explore every once in a while, but perhaps not for hours in one sitting. I suppose this too works in the mantra of taking your time, but I wouldn’t mind a tad more excitement.
It feels kind of silly to say that this game is too cozy and laidback. The most stressful the game gets is probably when you are navigating the challenge trials. Like I said, they can indeed be challenging and some are quite long as well which only adds to my stress. However, this stress does not necessarily equate to excitement for me. Any other activity is usually just driving around and exploring. Of course this all depends on personal preference. Regardless of how I feel, I still enjoyed over the hill and certainly think it is worth checking out.
I did not discuss multiplayer in my review but honestly, my experience in this was brief. Groups of up to 4 can play together on the same map and are free to explore just as you would in single player. You can join random lobbies with strangers, which I did for a little bit, but it still felt like I was just playing single player. I suppose with friends, you can cooperate and/or compete with them and generally just fool around. This doesn’t make or break the game for me. I think players could just as easily play in single or multiplayer and have around the same experience in either, besides potentially more shenanigans with friends.
over the hill is Certainly Not Over the Hill
Overall, over the hill is an enjoyable game that I will most likely continue playing in the future. As a big fan of exploration and customization, over the hill performs strong in these two. For the most part, I enjoy the cozy approach that encourages taking your time rather than speed. I like the activities currently available and wish there could be a bigger variety of them to only enhance the existing experience. I do think over the hill is better suited for playing in small sessions over time rather than long extended plays in one sitting. Multiplayer can slightly enhance your experience if playing with friends, but the game is just as enjoyable in single player.
I’d recommend over the hill to cozy gamers first. This one is certainly for you guys. I also think car and vehicle fanatics might enjoy this one as long as they don’t expect a typical high speed racing style of game. If you can get past the stress of challenge trials and preference for cozy rather than excitement, then I think you will have a good time. I think over the hill is primed for future updates and/or DLCs that introduce new areas, vehicles and activities for players to enjoy. Even as I was writing this review, they released a small update that added new crates to discover to all maps. From a rainforest to the tundra, I think over the hill has plenty of options for where they’d like explore next and I look forward to seeing what they choose.
Thank you for reading and they are real.
