The player also has access to various other pre-assembled vehicles that only require refueling as maintenance, such as a cargo van capable of carrying large loads, a tractor and a septic truck for utilitarian uses, a two-stroke moped, and a small two-stroke launch at a nearby dock that allows for travel across the map's massive lake. Both the moped and the boat require two-stroke fuel, while the van, tractor and septic truck requires diesel. Fuel oil can also be used for diesel vehicles, though this will result in a fine by the police if caught. The local mechanic will also lend his muscle car while servicing the player's vehicle, and the player could win a dilapidated station wagon from a ventti dealer infested with a wasp's nest. All of the player's road-going vehicles have the added ability to tow each other as well as salvageable car wrecks. High speed crashes will likely kill the player; the game optionally features permadeath. A vehicle and a ventti den (serves as the second safe house) can be acquired by winning the bet against a local gambler nearby.
Meanwhile, the player must also cater to various survival game aspects as balancing hunger, thirst and fatigue, but also unusual ones such as urine and dirtiness. For nutrition, the player can buy food and can drink beverages from the store, drink water directly from faucets, fatigue can be restored by sleeping or by making coffee or drinking it in a pub, the player can freely urinate anywhere, and dirtiness can be decreased using a shower or sauna, or swimming in the nearby lake. Drinking too much beer (or hard liquor) will eventually get the player drunk, which first causes the player to waver and their vision to distort; further consumption of alcohol can lead the player to pass out and wake up at a random place on the map the next day. Stress is added in recent experimental updates, and can be alleviated by using a sauna, drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes; failing to do so will eventually lead to a fatal heart attack. Police traffic stops randomly spawn along the main road of the in-game world, issuing fines for any traffic violations (speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt or drink-driving); if the player fails to pay for a fine, police officers will eventually surround player character's home to arrest and imprison him in jail for a period of time scaled based on the cost of the fine.
Much of the game's originality comes from its irreverent tone: The game's world is largely populated by low-class residents, many of whom are slovenly or drunkards, and the game includes drunk driving. There are three distinct buttons for cursing and flipping people off – none of which has any consequences other than the occasional response. The game's dialogue is entirely in Finnish, with English subtitles. The player may also save the game's progress at their toilet at home or at any of the outhouses dotting the countryside, which also serves to advance the in-game time by two hours. The game also features a minor backstory involving the drunkard neighbor who hid a suitcase full of two million markkas in lottery winnings from his wife; if the player finds it and keeps it for himself, the same neighbor will eventually intrude into the player's house and attempt to murder the player with an axe. After that he is seen hung if the axe attack fails, citing a miserable life as his reason of suicide.
The game does not have Steam Workshop as of now, but modifications can be done by using Unity Asset Explorer, mostly texture modifications or with MSC loader (My Summer Car loader) for assets additives. Thanks to this, one can make their own car paint job, edit the rear window stickers and even change the appearance of other vehicles and buildings. There are also unofficial mods such as cars and objects made in Blender, two of the most notable are the Lada 1200 Station Wagon and Utesuma (Satsuma pickup) mod.
Development
My Summer Car is primarily developed by a small independent development team consisting of Johannes Rojola ("ToplessGun"/"RoyalJohnLove") and Kaarina Pönkkä, Rojola's female partner, as well as friends assisting in music and voiceovers. Closed development and beta testing of the game had been documented as early as the middle as 2013, with early snippets of development progress previewed on Rojola's YouTube channel and Twitter accounts. Development commentary hinted of the game intentionally designed to be a life simulator as well as a car simulator, with greater difficulty earning a living and owning, maintaining and driving the Satsuma on top of survival mechanics. The game would later be released as an early access game via Steam's Greenlight program on October 24, 2016, and continues to be incrementally updated with new features and overhauls made available through its development branch and public updates.
Reception
Writing for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Brendan Caldwell called the game "Funny, detailed and thoroughly confusing"; while writing for Kotaku, Nathan Grayson called the game "Janky and weird as fuck, but fun". Both Caldwell and Eurogamer's Martin Robinson compared the game's difficulty curve to Dark Souls.
My Summer Car has also been the subject of praise from within the Finnish gaming community, winning the People's Choice Game of the Year 2016 "Kyöpelit" award in the 2017 Finnish Game Awards fi, and being inducted into the Finnish Museum of Games among the museum's 100 game entries in 2018.
