If you’ve been pushing toy miners, trucks and loaders into the sandbox, spending childhood time and waiting for a more immersive, attractive driving simulator, RoadCraft might be your next obsession. Developed by Saber Interactive, the title blends Snowrunner’s meticulous off-road navigation with ambitious infrastructure building components, allowing players to reconstruct the world around them through construction activities.
As head of a disaster recovery company, players are working on the monumental task of restoring sites that have been devastated by natural disasters and rebuilding one path, bridge and power grid at a time to civilization. The world of Roadcraft is vast and feels like it often leads to players making influential decisions through restoration of infrastructure that has been destroyed.
Saber Interactive has already proven its expertise with slow, yet extremely satisfying gameplay, with titles like Snowrunner, Expeditions: A Mudrunner games, Roadcraft and more. They seem to be expanding this formula positively and adding a new layer of depth. This game not only provides you with the opportunity to navigate challenging terrain, but also to change it through construction.
Beyond transportation
A standout feature of Roadcraft lies in its dynamic terrain interactions. You are not just transporting cargo through dangerous conditions, but are actively building and restoring pathways that allow for future transportation. Over 40 vehicles, including cranes, bulldozers and tarmac layers, offer vast toolkits that go far beyond standard off-road fares.
The game features a robust sandbox-style approach that allows players to unlock new routes, build bridges, and manage a fleet of construction vehicles while achieving critical resources.
At Steam Next Fest, players had the opportunity to sample the demo on three unique maps, each showing a different environment and mission set. This early flavour revealed a seamless blend of driving, heavy machinery operation and management of reconstruction resources.
The full release of RoadCraft allows up to four players to team up in cooperative mode, and promises to add a co-layer to gameplay. This is welcome for those who enjoy working together on a large reconstruction project.
A step forward for player agency
One of Snowrunner’s complaints was that despite an impressive fleet of vehicles, progress is often slowed by an unchanged environment. RoadCraft deals with this by providing players with the ability to change terrain and making the world feel dynamic and responsive. Whether they pave a new path for supplies or lay the foundation for new infrastructure, players can leave lasting impacts on their environment.
Future full releases promise even more freedom, especially in the way players approach structural and terrain modifications.
How do you play?
Early demonstrations suggest a careful balance between realistic vehicle handling and intuitive construction mechanics. The truck retains its distinctive weight and proceeds slowly and carefully, but new gameplay elements such as crane operation and road laying can be accessed after a short learning curve.
However, like other demos and previews, there were some technical issues. This included many well-known AI-driven supply route issues that require some cleverness, but perhaps my desire to jump faster was usually my biggest downfall. Patience is important here.
Visually, RoadCraft takes a step further from the previous title in terms of environmental detail and lighting, providing an atmospheric and immersive landscape. Multiplayer, which supports up to four players, can lead to major draws, provided that developers ensure smooth connectivity for a seamless cooperative experience.
I’ve been thinking about it so far
RoadCraft shows an exciting evolution of the Mudrunner formula, successfully combining off-road traversal with meaningful worldbuilding.
The core gameplay loop (material accumulation, bridge construction, road restoration) seems to be a natural progression of what Saber Interactive is doing perfectly. There are many promises, but success ultimately depends on the freedom and refinement of the technical elements offered to the player.
With the release scheduled for May 20, 2025 and demos available from Steam Next Fest from February 24th to March 3rd, RoadCraft offers a substantial preview of the possibilities.
For fans of the genre, especially those looking for a sandbox construction simulator with a twist on heavy machinery engines, it’s a title worth noting.
The full release will come in a standard edition that includes the base game and exclusive vehicle DLC, as well as a Rebuild Edition that offers base games and additional vehicles, and two editions that will add more missions and vehicles in 2025.
RoadCraft will be released on May 20, 2025 on Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/s. Stay tuned for a full review that is close to the release.
