Open Roads<\/em> is an easy game to get lost in. It tells a twisting tale about generational trauma \u2014 the tension, lies and love between mother and daughter \u2014 with all the comfort and warmth of an early 2000s network drama like Gilmore Girls<\/em> or Charmed<\/em>. As a former suburban teen myself, this game left me feeling equally exposed and understood.<\/p>\n Open Roads <\/em>is set in 2003, and through environment and character design alone, it captures an authentic slice of life in this post-9\/11, pre-Razr era. In the early aughts, I spent my teen years bouncing between Dad\u2019s apartment on the outskirts of the city and Mom\u2019s house in a dusty development site surrounded by grocery stores and Blockbuster Videos, and I had big dreams of escaping both. All this is to say, I relate to Open Roads<\/em>‘ main character, Tess, who\u2019s finishing up high school and planning a future in the hot new market of webpage design. Her parents are newly divorced and she\u2019s been living with her mom, Opal, and grandma, Helen, outside of Detroit. Helen recently passed and her home is being sold against Opal\u2019s wishes, so she and Tess are begrudgingly clearing it out and looking for a new place to stay.<\/p>\n