Last Drop takes players drinking and fighting through 1994 Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä-based Lohkare Games’ new video game Last Drop was Finland’s best-selling game on Steam on its release day, Yle reports. Set in 1994, the game portrays suburban life through driving, drinking, fighting and other everyday activities.

The game begins with its main character, Seppo Sahtivaara, waking up in a stairwell after a heavy night. He has lost his memory after celebrating a friend’s release from prison at the Jänöjussi suburban pub.

The group of friends is back together, and the player can explore the streets of Nykylä, a fictional city. Its three-dimensional concrete suburbs resemble Kangaslampi in Jyväskylä, the area where the game’s developers Henri Koskinen, Hannes Kurikka, Timo Halttunen and Riku Asikainen grew up.

Koskinen says the characters and stories are fictional but brutally honest. He says there is usually a real event behind them, and that the reality was often even more extreme than what appears in the game.

Last Drop is an open-world game that gives players freedom to move around the map and choose what to do. Nykylä has more than 100 kilometres of roads, where players can drive 1990s cars, cycle, work and earn money, drink, fight and heat a sauna.

Koskinen describes the game’s atmosphere as reminiscent of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, combined with elements of Hollywood.

Finnish humour surprises players abroad

Several hit games made by small Finnish independent studios have achieved international success in recent years. Many feature a deliberately rough-edged Finnish style, including rural lifestyles, shamelessness and having fun. The games include swearing, fighting and drinking, while also making fun of those elements.

Game researcher Tero Kerttula of the University of Jyväskylä says the games draw on a highly stereotypical image of Finnish culture. He says the badly behaved Finnish drunk who picks fights is a powerful stereotype that games frequently play with.

Kerttula says the phenomenon could instead be called Finnish humour because of its strong element of self-irony. He says that approach has been part of the country’s independent game development scene for decades.

The games often attract international interest because they surprise players. In Last Drop, for example, players can earn money by returning bottles, which Kerttula describes as a distinctly Finnish phenomenon.

He also cites the simulation games My Summer Car and My Winter Car, developed by Johannes Rojola of Amistech Games. In those games, players assemble and tune cars in the countryside. Finnish Cottage Simulator, which simulates life at a holiday cottage, has also attracted interest abroad.

According to Kerttula, YouTubers and livestreamers have played a major role in the success of independent games. Once content creators take up a game, the number of players can start to grow rapidly.

The game is still being developed

The first commercial version of Last Drop was released on Tuesday. Its voice cast includes Ilkka Koivula, Tommi Korpela and Riku Moilanen. Olga Temonen also recorded a character’s voice before her death.

The game has been in development for about six years. Long-term unemployed people supported by Kela, Finland’s social insurance institution, and students in the games industry have also participated in the work.

The company has received Avek’s Digidemo grant and Business Finland’s Tempo funding for the project. It also has two angel investors.

Koskinen says working on the game has been a form of therapy. He wanted to make the game for himself and tell the story, regardless of whether others liked it.

Last Drop is still an early-stage release, and the development team is receiving extensive feedback from the gaming community. Seppo Sahtivaara’s story will continue soon.