Slow Roads, reviewed

Our take

Slow Roads is the most restful thing we found in a browser tab. You choose a car, a motorcycle or a coach, and a road appears ahead of you through hills, forest, coast or snow. There is no destination, no score and no traffic, just the road and the light changing with the weather and the time of day.

It is made by one developer, and the browser version is free with no adverts at all. Its own privacy text says it collects no personal data and keeps your settings on your device. There is an autodrive mode, so you can sit back and watch the scenery go by like a screen saver with a steering wheel.

Because it never ends, it is the one pick on our shelf where you have to bring the stopping point yourself. That is also why we like it: it is easy to put down, because there is nothing to finish.

A first sitting

Pick the coupé, leave the season on autumn and turn autodrive off for the first ten minutes so you feel the road. Then switch autodrive on and let it carry you while you have a cup of tea.

Where to stop

There is no end, so set one before you start: a song, a playlist or twenty minutes. When it finishes, park up.

Worth knowing

The browser version runs best on a desktop or laptop with a decent graphics chip. A full version is sold on Steam and a paid offline edition is available from the developer; you do not need either to enjoy the free one.