HeatStroke is a simulation game tasking you to transcribe an unhinged short story while driving down a seemingly endless desert road.
The core gameplay loop tasks you with driving a car down an endless desert highway. You must vigilantly monitor the vehicle's path and steer to prevent it from veering off the road, which immediately ends the game and forces you to restart. This constant need to adjust the steering creates an ever-present tension as you divide your attention between the road and the typing challenge.
The primary mechanic is typing out an original short story in its entirety. Depending on your typing speed, this can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to complete. Maintaining your typing accuracy and velocity while simultaneously controlling the vehicle produces a uniquely demanding dual-task experience that tests your mental and physical endurance.
You can only pause the game for a total of around 16 minutes per playthrough. This forces you to suffer through the grueling typing and driving for extended, uninterrupted periods, further amplifying the challenge.
There is no ability to save your progress. If you quit or the game ends for any reason, you must restart the entire story transcription from the beginning. This 'no save' design reinforces the game's focus on a single, uninterrupted playthrough and increases the stakes.
As you progress through the story, the desert landscape and radio broadcasts subtly shift, becoming increasingly strange and disquieting. This creates a sense that the world itself is warping and distorting around you, complementing the growing intensity of the typing task and narrative.