Road Trip to the End of the World

2025 SVA Alumni Scholarship Award

Get in, loser, we’re wedding crashing.

Andy Min is having the worst summer: on top of dropping out of med school, she’s been uninvited from her ex-best friend’s wedding. Join her and her imaginary friend Fishy on a cross-country drive to eat burgers, crash a wedding, and perhaps even find closure. Road Trip to the End of the World is a crash course on the death of a friendship.

Warning: closure sold separately.

“Is this a true story?!”

No. But also yes?

Three looping GIF animations made from phone recordings from the inside of a car. One of them shows a dog in the backseat, one of them shows a foggy road, and one of them shows the greenery off the side of the road as the camera drives past.

I have an ex-best friend who I haven’t spoken to in years, but I still cry whenever I talk about her. In many ways, this game is both a dedication to that past relationship and a way for me to learn the lessons it’s trying to teach: that letting go of people, things, and ideas you once loved can still be an act of love. All relationships are meant to grow and change, after all: it’s just not always easy to accept.

Friendship breakups are just as messy, complex, and devastating as romantic breakups, but aren’t discussed nearly as often. I was surprised by how many people were excited to talk to me about their own complicated friendships when given the space to talk about them – if you’re one of those people, hit me up! I hope this game can be healing for those going through something similar, or at the very least, give them a new fish friend to love.

Five images of a fish character wearing overalls, showing her different expressions. In turn, she looks happy, ecstatic, proud, disappointed, and focused. Her range of emotions suggest a bombastic personality.

How I Learned to Drive

A rough sketch of two young girls standing around a small grave.

The finished image of two young girls standing around a small grave. Details such as a wheelbarrow and a gate around the yard were added, as well as detailed character expressions and a lush warm color landscape to suggest late evening.

A rough sketch of a young woman driving a car with a fish character in the passenger’s seat.

The finished image of a young woman driving a car with a fish character in the passenger’s seat. The car layout looks more realistic, with a burger keychain now hanging from the rearview mirror. The landscape, previously a stock photo, is now fully rendered with trees flanking the road.

A rough sketch of a save-the-date card, superimposed on a photo of a car’s interior.

The finished image of a save-the-date card, superimposed on a fully hand-drawn image of a car’s interior. The two characters in the front seat are smiling at each other as one of them reads the words on the card, which has clearly been ripped up and taped back together.

Development for Road Trip to the End of the World began in September 2024. With thoughtful guidance from my advisor Tyler Hutchison and mentor Clara Fernandez-Vara, I spent the three months of Fall semester polishing my outline, writing and re-writing (and re-writing, and re-writing…) the full script, then putting together a rough playable build in Ren’py – an open source visual novel engine I can’t recommend enough. This means that when Spring semester rolled around, all I had to do was draw all of the final visual assets, and add fun flourishes in audio and animation. Even though this was all a lot to juggle as a solo developer, I relished the opportunity to craft something that felt truly mine from beginning to end. No matter what part of the game I was working on, I felt confident knowing it was all building up to the story I wanted to tell. The road always pointed straight ahead.

“A narrative game about burgers, girlhood, and saying goodbye.”

A map of the United States, with the I-80 highway highlighted and written labels along the way marking “START,” “DAY 2,” “DAY 3,” “DAY 4” and “ARRIVE.” A stubby arm is pointing at California, while a text bubble reads: “Fishy: So we started here, right?”

Packing List

14,000+ angsty words
1-2 hours of pure road trip chaos
A fully original soundtrack
Back pain
Questionable gas station food
An imaginary fish friend who loves you very much
…And a surprise celebrity guest

Five images of a bespectacled young woman wearing a long black ponytail, showing her different expressions. In turn, she looks neutral, pleased, annoyed, surprised, and tired.

Play the full game

Follow the Artist

A fish wearing overalls and a young woman are sitting at the edge of a beach, staring into the sunset. They look small against the vast ocean. The mood is melancholy and pensive.

Credit & Recognition

Contributors

Music Director Jennie Han
Music by Jennie Han, Moodin Jang, Hyunseo Park, and Hyundo Yoo
Original song "Three Days Gone" written by Ethan Ness, arranged and produced by Jacob Gehlbach, performed by Victoria Princi