The Short Trip pays direct homage and inspiration from games like The Long Drive and Desert Bus, using the visual style of PICO-8 games, and being created in Godot.

In The Short Trip, you will drive vehicles until you reach the end of the road.
Items are intended to be rare, you must keep track of your food and thirst.
Sleeping is optional, but it's good to not drive at night, as night is pitch black.

Maintaining your vehicle is paramount, as crashes will slowly deteriorate your vehicle until it is inoperable. It will also burn fuel.
Inventory management is a core feature. You cannot hoard, so you must only take what you need.Taking too much will slow your vehicle down.

All vehicles come with upsides and downsides, which you will find through gameplay. All vehicles are viable, but some are better than others.

Death is permanent, there are no respawns.