Summary
- Trucking games offer a different drving experience to other racin games, with a more sedate pace and management sub-game.
- These games are easy to pick up and can be tailored to deliver the kind of experience you want, from casual experiences to full simulators that depend on peripherals or VR for added realism.
- Games vary from realistic trucking simulators to off-road challenges, and even sci-fi themes for those who enjoy the appeal of hauling cargo through space.
Driving games are meant to be high-octane, bumper-to-bumper, edge-of-your-seat thrillers, right? Not necessarily. Trucking games let you scratch the driving itch at a more sedate pace.
Half of the people reading this probably think I’m a dork for suggesting such a thing, while the other half are nodding enthusiastically and humming Take Me Home, Country Roads. Let’s take a look at some of the best games in the trucking subgenre.
Truck Sim Is King of the Highway
SCS Software’s Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator are arguably the best “gateways” to a niche genre that has become way more mainstream in recent years. In essence, they’re chill driving games in which you must transport goods from one destination to another while listening to the radio and soaking in the experience.
What starts as a simple driving game evolves into a business management simulator, where you effectively run a haulage company. You make meaningful progress as you drive, earning the ability to take on longer trips and expand the types of cargo you’re able to carry. There’s a real sense of progression here, which helps these games get their hooks into you.
The simple act of driving is what makes Truck Sim so broadly appealing. These are simulators, so the trucks behave (for the most part) just like their real counterparts. Since this is a video game, you can customize your experience to be as casual or as grueling as you like.
You can play the game with a keyboard and mouse or a controller, and have a fine old time. Alternatively, you can break out the wheel and pedals and slap in additional controls like a shifter or an instrument panel. If you want to go even further you can buy a head tracking peripheral or use a full virtual reality setup.
The beauty here is that you can ease your way in with automatic transmissions and an Xbox controller, and for many players that’s enough. You’ll need to manage things like fuel and driver tiredness, plus anticipate the behavior of the at-times unpredictable AI. When you reach your destination, there are three options for dumping your cargo from simply ending the mission to threading a needle and positioning it in a hard-to-reach place.
ETS2 was first released in 2012 and steadily grew a cult following before ATS arrived in 2016. Both games run on the same engine and feature a near-identical gameplay loop. The main differences are regional: the maps, the trucks, the scenery, the fictionalized brands you encounter on the side of the road, and the menu music. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which you choose, just pick the region you’re most interested in and get to work.
Being able to drive in real-world locations is a huge part of the appeal, with recognizable cities and landmarks to spot as you journey toward your destination. The weather, topography, and even color palette of the world change according to wherever you are. While you’re not driving in the same sort of free-roaming open world as a game like Forza Horizon, the illusion is enough to sell the idea.
There are no console ports of either game available, so you’ll need to play these games on a PC or a Mac. On the plus side, Truck Sim will run on almost anything with a bit of tweaking, including the Steam Deck OLED which is my current go-to driver’s cab.
There’s a hefty amount of downloadable content that adds new regions and vehicles, and a vibrant modding community that covers everything from additional maps and trucks to massive overhauls to rendering and underlying systems. If you get into the game via a sale event under the guise that the base games are starter packs, the vast amount of DLC starts to look a little less daunting.
Go Off-Road with MudRunner and SnowRunner
If you’re looking for more of a challenge in a truly open-world setting, give Saber Interactive’s Spintires series a shot. 2017’s MudRunner and its 2020 follow-up SnowRunner offer a truly unique experience where the mud (and snow) is your enemy, and the truck is your sword.
These are haulage games that ditch the tarmac and offer a new level of challenge. You’ll need to have your wits about you to make steady progress and avoid getting stuck in the mud or slipping off the road entirely. These hiccups are just another part of the game, presenting you with a new challenge (and a set of tools to solve it). Figuring out how to salvage the situation (or whether to recover and start again) is all part of the fun.
As such, progress in these games can be slow. On the upside, that makes them almost meditative experiences. The bulk of the gameplay involves moving cargo from A to B by using the map to plan your route. You’ll need to decide which vehicles are best suited to the terrain and make contingency plans to ensure that you don’t run out of fuel along the way.
The newer SnowRunner is a great place to start, with four years’ worth of DLC to work your way through once you’re done with the base game. It’s been given the next-generation treatment, so it runs beautifully on the latest console hardware.
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As you progress through the game’s three included regions (Michigan, Alaska, and Russia’s Taymar), you’ll discover upgrades for your trucks in the form of all-wheel drive drivetrains, lockable differentials, off-road or chained tires, snorkels for fording rivers, and more. Before you know it you have a sophisticated fleet at your disposal, and a few firm favorites will begin to emerge.
You’ll also need to scout new regions to unlock the map using smaller, off-road vehicles which provides a nice change in pace. The game is available on just about everything, including PC and Mac, both recent generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and the Nintendo Switch. Mods are supported on all platforms, including consoles (even the Switch).
Take to the Stars With Elite Dangerous and Star Trucker
Frontier Developments’ 2014 space-faring sim Elite Dangerous isn’t strictly a trucking game, but it can be if you want it to be. Elite is a game where you choose how you spend your time, and hauling goods from one system to the next is just one career path (alongside mainstays like mining, bounty hunting, and exploration).
Despite being a whole space simulator, the game has a lot in common with a title like Euro Truck Simulator 2. You spend a lot of time in your cockpit, staring at a vast array of controls. You can approach the game like a business management sim, deciding on what level of risk you want to take on with your contracts. Alternatively, you can try to take advantage of the economic conditions to go it alone and buy low and then sell high.
It’s a lot like “Truck Sim in space” if you go the hauling route, with the added threat of having your day ruined by bandits hell-bent on yanking you out of hyperspace. There’s a greater element of tension to the game, especially if you decide to go the smuggling route or combine your trucking with a side of piracy. You can also decide, at any time, to try your hand at something else.
If you like the idea of a space-faring haulage experience but the Elite learning curve and the constant threat of becoming space dust concerns you, Star Trucker might be a better choice. The game takes the idea of trucking in space to its natural conclusion, mirroring much of the Trick Simulator formula by offering a whole management sub-game through which to progress.
Manipulating your truck in 3D space is challenging but satisfying, as you travel the space lanes, manage fuel and cargo, and use jump stations to move between systems. The game leans a little more into the survival aspect, as you’ll need to stock up on spares and repair your truck to keep the show on the road. This often includes getting out and inspecting the exterior for damage.
It’s a small indie endeavor, and it lacks the scope of many of the other games we’ve talked about, but it still manages to nail the brief. You can find it on PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5.
Consider BeamNG.drive Too
Last and perhaps least, if you’re a bit of a physics nerd then the perpetually early-access title BeamNG.drive is absolutely worth your time. The game features a variety of vehicles, including trucks, and a soft-body physics engine. This means that cars crash realistically, bending and warping on impact in glorious slow-motion. They also drive realistically.
The game has expanded massively since it first launched, with a good selection of sandboxes in which to experiment. It’s not much of a hauling sim, but it sure is a fun environment in which to waste a few hours. It’s available on PC via Steam, the Epic Game Store, and the Humble Store.
Playing new games can switch you on to whole new genres. My journey with trucking games started out as a curiosity and has since become something of a gaming comfort food. With no complex narrative to focus on or a menu full of half-finished quests, you can pick up and put down these games at any time and that’s what continues to make them so appealing.
