Survive

Surviving is a gameplay mechanic in Alaskan Road Truckers.

Summary

Manage your health and battle hunger, fatigue and cold in Alaska's harsh environment.

It’s when something goes wrong where you’ll really notice that you’re playing as a trucker and not just a truck. For example, if you’re driving in the freezing cold there’s a chance your windshield wipers may get stuck. You’ll have to get out of your truck with your trusty scraper to unstick them but this carries with it a ton of risks. Your trucker will be exposed to the elements, your health may suffer and your temperature will definitely plummet. Can you get out, make the repair, and get back into warmth and safety before causing harm to your character? If a tree blocks the road, you’ll be able to handle it in a couple of different ways. You can also get out of your truck, grab your chainsaw, and take the tree to pieces. It’s a less safe option to get out of your vehicle, especially out in the middle of nowhere, but potentially the faster one.

Ways to Survive

Damage

There are many ways to take damage, just like in real life. For example, if you smash up your truck or get into a crash you’ll get wounded and lose health. Or if you head out into a blizzard without adequate protection you should be prepared to watch your vitality plummet.

Lose too much health and you’ll be heading to the hospital. The friendly medical staff in Alaska will happily patch you up - for a fee. You’ll also lose time and be transported away from where you were, so if you were on an urgent job you may fail it or have to take a riskier route to get your cargo there on time.

Eating

Everyone likes a good meal and in Alaskan Road Truckers there’s plenty of food to gorge yourself on. You’ll have to stay fed if you want to sustain yourself on the road, and thankfully there are plenty of delectable choices to enjoy.

Refueling your truck is essential and refueling yourself is just as important - but the quality of your food is also important. Sure, you can snack away on hot dogs and snaffle frozen pizzas and energy drinks but too much junk food and you may get a tummy ache and that might have health implications if you don’t deal with it.

Thankfully there’s plenty of good, healthy food you can eat in Alaskan Road Truckers. Often though this may be more expensive or require some preparation, so if you’re on the road and you’re running on empty, you might have to resort to some top quality gas station dining.

Sleeping

Driving can take it out of you. Hours spent behind the wheel, managing the weather, road conditions, and dealing with other drivers can test your ability to stay awake and alert.

In Alaskan Road Truckers you’ll need to take breaks and get some well-earned shut-eye to recover your energy levels before you hit the road again. You can pull over to the side of the road and get some sleep in the bed in the back of your truck but the quality of rest you’ll get is less than if you slept at your base or at a motel. Your energy levels won’t recover to their maximum if you’re not resting properly.

But if you’re stuck out in the snow, avalanches ahead and ice underneath, you might need to crawl into the back of your cab to snatch a few moments of rest to wait out the storm. Some rest is better than no rest!