1998: The Toll Keeper Story from GameChanger Studio is a narrative sim experience focusing on survival, motherhood, and morality, all while Japana is collapsing. Learn more in our 1998: The Toll Keeper Story review!

 

1998: The Toll Keeper Story from GameChanger Studio is a narrative sim experience focusing on survival, motherhood, and morality, all while Japana is collapsing. It’s a journey that takes place during one of the region’s most difficult episodes: the Asian economic crisis in 1998. Your name is Dewi Hanum Sari, and, as the game’s name suggests, you work as a toll keeper. You’re currently pregnant and are trying to make ends meet while protests erupt all around the nation, with the prices of everything skyrocketing, all while it seems that the authorities do nothing to fix things.

During your shift, you’ll need to pay attention to the documents you’re presented with, as you inspect vehicles and decide who should be let through and who should be denied… all while thinking about your well-being, that of your baby, and your husband, as well as the consequences that your actions can have upon others. You really, really need this job, or else you won’t be able to pay rent and keep enough food on the table for your baby to continue growing as healthy as possible.

It’s a game that, as the developer stated in our 1998: The Toll Keeper Story interview, draws inspiration from Papers, Please! from Lucas Pope, which Tracey had a chance to review on PlayStation Vita back in 2018. And while Japana does not exist, the country is one that has been based on the location where indie dev GameChanger is located: Indonesia.

Your task will begin on April 28, 1998, as you read the newspaper before your shift. It’s then that you’ll see that there have been mass layoffs around the nation, that the World Bank has offered aid to the nations in crisis, and that even with all of that going on, Japana’s economy minister says that the nation is strong and that it will be able to handle and overcome the crisis.

 

You’ll be taking control of a cursor with the left analog stick as you click on elements around the screen by pressing the X button as needed. You’ll be using this to review the documents presented by those who come by your booth, as well as maybe inspect their vehicles or review other things that must be checked before letting someone through.

The game will also present you with a memo for the day that you must consider, since it will include important instructions for what you need to take care of for that workday. Take, for example, the first day in the game. The memo states that you will need to make sure that all passing drivers pay according to their vehicle type. There might also be a new executive order to adhere to. For the first day, the executive order states that you must not hinder emergency services, so you must let all of them pass through the toll-free charge.

You will also see some additional information on the right side of the screen. This includes how much money you’ve managed to save so far, how much food you have, as well as a very, very important to-do list. The to-do list will clue you in on what you should focus on doing next. For this first day? You must obtain enough money to be able to cover rent, which will be due on day 4. Your goal for this first payment? You must obtain 140 Rb.

If you really want to do the best job possible, then you should review the rules, the guide, as well as your boss’ memo, so that you can keep all gameplay mechanics in mind at all times. For instance, small vehicles will pay 25 Rb. Medium-sized vehicles will have to pay 35 Rb. Large vehicles will pay 55 Rb. And don’t forget that emergency vehicles won’t pay a toll rate!

Here’s how the payment process will go. You’ll first need to assign the right vehicle type to determine the toll fee. If needed, you must return the change from the payment made. After the payment has been completed, you must print a receipt and let the driver through. If you’re provided with an insufficient payment, you must reject the driver. You can press the Correction button on your desk to kindly request the driver to fix their payment. If they refuse, then they must be instantly rejected. You must be very, very careful with everything you do, or else you’ll incur a penalty fee that you will need to cover at the end of your shift.

And now, let’s talk about the game’s trophies! This release features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to work on adding to your collection. The list is split into 20 Bronze trophies, 13 Silver trophies, and 3 Gold trophies. What will you need to do to get that shiny Platinum trophy? Some of the objectives that will grant you a trophy include getting a penalty, donating a total of 50 Rb, getting some rice bags, distributing 1 campaign flyer, checking a driver’s documents, having 100 Rb in savings, inspecting 30 overweight vehicles, getting the vitamins for your baby, and getting all of the different endings, to name some examples.

1998: The Toll Keeper Story is a narrative sim experience focusing on survival, motherhood, and morality, all while Japana is collapsing. It’s a journey that takes place during one of the region’s most difficult episodes: the Asian economic crisis in 1998. Your name is Dewi Hanum Sari, and, as the game’s name suggests, you work as a toll keeper. You’re currently pregnant and are trying to make ends meet while protests erupt all around the nation, with the prices of everything skyrocketing, all while it seems that the authorities do nothing to fix things.

You’ll need to find a way to make ends meet, as you try to help your husband with the expenses of keeping food on the table, paying the rent… and taking care of buying the things needed to keep your baby as healthy as possible since you’re practically due every day now. 1998: The Toll Keeper Story is out on PlayStation 5 with an $11.99 price tag.

Disclaimer
This 1998: The Toll Keeper Story review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by GameChanger Studio.