Gamers are no strangers to hitting the open road in their 18-wheelers. Following the success of Euro Truck Simulator back in 2012, the trucking genre has exploded. These days, YouTube trucking games that let you do everything from traversing realistically rendered American highways, to going off-road through hostile terrain, or even taking your Scanias to the race tracks.
But while games have done a great job of capturing the meditative solitude of driving a big rig, upcoming trucking sim Alaskan Road Truckers is looking to go a step further in pulling the player into its world. In this game, you play as the trucker, not the truck. It not only lets you experience the majestic scenery of Alaska from the road, but pits you against its hostile elements, as you need to eat, rest, and protect yourself against the cold to survive.
The work of a trucker sounds simple: ferry goods from Point A to Point B, but a whole lotta things can happen between those points. You'll be working to a time limit, and get bonuses for delivering the cargo in the best possible condition (with penalties if you damage the cargo).
Also, you may want to take detours in this stunning open world, where you may get the chance to take in the stunning scenery, cook food, and take pictures (among myriad other activities), or embark on side-missions to earn some extra buck. These are big decisions to make, as extra time on the road brings new risks as well as opportunities. Beyond all the natural hazards we talked about earlier, you'll always need to keep an eye on that fuel gauge and hope you don't get a blowout out there.
But unlike most truck sims, Alaskan Road Truckers doesn't stop when you finally get off the road to catch some rest before the next adventure. Whether you manage to get home to rest, stop at a roadside motel, or kip in the sleeper cab behind the seats, you can vibe up the place you stay with all manner of decorations, furnishings, and the little touches that turn it into your personal sanctuary.
You can customise your truck too, with paint schemes, decals, and other yet-to-be-announced cosmetics. You'll need to earn the money, reputation, and XP to do these things of course, but even a stolid trucker like yourself needs to treat themselves once in a while.
Following its successful demo last year, Alaskan Road Truckers is lining up another playtest this summer, before a public hands-on at Gamescom in August 2023. It's a long road ahead for the game, with future content plans including more customisation for your truck, more unlocks, and new parts of the map for you to explore via updates, expansions and DLC.
After pulling up on Steam, Alaskan Road Truckers will also be making its way to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. While you wait for Alaskan Road Truckers, you can wishlist the game on Steam, and join fellow trucking enthusiasts on the game's Discord, Twitter.
