RoadCraft is a disaster relief and reconstruction simulator where you rebuild the aftermath of natural disasters with your crew of heavy machinery. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth buying.
RoadCraft Review Overview
What is RoadCraft?
RoadCraft is an online multiplayer disaster relief and restoration simulator in which players plan and execute every aspect of pre-disaster preparations and post-disaster reconstruction using heavy machinery and complex logistics. Covering every bit of construction, transport, storage, and logistics that goes into restarting the industry of a location ravaged by nature, RoadCraft offers a diverse set of vehicles, machines, and objectives for players to experience across its campaign and custom map modes.
RoadCraft features:
⚫︎ Dedicated Campaign and Custom Map modes
⚫︎ 40+ Unlockable and upgradeable vehicles
⚫︎ Realistic driving physics focusing on off-roading
⚫︎ Hyperrealistic graphics with destructible environments
⚫︎ 1 to 4-player online co-op multiplayer
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| Price | $39.99 | ||||
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RoadCraft Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Unique Setting with Great Physics to Boot So Much Detail Across the Board Simple and Rewarding Progression |
Too Slow, Too Frustrating Prepare To Drive More Than You Build Woefully Inadequate Tutorial |
RoadCraft Overall Score - 68/100
RoadCraft is a game that puts all its eggs in one basket—innovation. It delivers an impressive new physics engine alongside deeply detailed vehicle systems, driving mechanics, and world design. But while the advanced features got the spotlight, the basics of accessibility were left in the dust. A completely inadequate tutorial, frustrating respawn mechanics, and an overbearing emphasis on driving over actual construction simulation send the game careening off the road of its own potential—and well off-base from the genre it’s trying to represent.
RoadCraft Story - 6/10
As with most simulation games, story isn’t the main focus of the RoadCraft experience, nor is it the most robustly implemented. It’s largely there to frame the setting, which happens to be uniquely odd even by the standards of the genre. That earns it some extra points, though not quite enough to elevate it into something truly great.
RoadCraft Gameplay - 6/10
RoadCraft’s gameplay is detailed, decently implemented, and laser-focused on delivering an authentic simulation of real-world driving, construction, and heavy machinery operation. But that authenticity comes at a price: glacial pacing, harsh penalties for even minor mistakes, like flipping your vehicle, and an almost total lack of clarity. It earns bonus points for featuring some of the best physics-based driving I’ve seen in a non-AAA title, but it’s still not enough to pull it out of the mud.
RoadCraft Visuals - 7/10
Hyperrealistic graphics are an impressive achievement for any simulation game, and RoadCraft scores extra points for pairing them with a unique setting and a robust physics engine. I genuinely appreciate the detail poured into its disasters and vehicle designs, but the game’s color palette and visual environments wear thin quickly, and become downright exhausting not long after.
RoadCraft Audio - 7/10
There’s no faulting RoadCraft’s sparse voice acting or its solidly cozy, rustic soundtrack that hums along with your construction work, but there’s not much to celebrate either. Toss in some adequately chunky machinery noise, and you’ve got a soundscape you won’t mind hearing, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any real artistry in it.
RoadCraft Value for Money - 8/10
RoadCraft earns its price tag through sheer depth and volume of content, so much so that even players outside its niche might feel their $40 was well spent after the game wrings twice that many hours out of them. And that’s just the campaign, not even counting the potential of custom maps and future DLC. It’s no masterpiece you’d want to play otherwise, but it’ll make sure every bit of that $40 gets put to use.
RoadCraft Review: Drove Off Its Own Path
I’ll admit it—RoadCraft is way out of my comfort zone. Off-road, if you will. I’m no stranger to simulation games (my embarrassingly high hour count in TCG Card Shop Simulator and Supermarket Together proves that), but RoadCraft is cut from a very different cloth, or dug from a different hole, if that metaphor works better. This isn’t some low-stakes entrepreneurial romp where a basic grasp of supply and demand gets you far. No, RoadCraft is a full-scale operation—complex, demanding, and sprawling—and that reality hit me like a dump truck.
For someone used to the low-pressure permanence-free fun of roguelikes and laid-back sim games, managing a business on this scale was a bumpy road, though not one without its rewarding stretches. It’s rather frustrating that the best aspects of RoadCraft rarely get their time in the spotlight, making for an experience that feels at odds with itself and off-base from what many would expect from it. But I’m getting ahead of things.
So let’s find out which of these paths are least travelled, plot out our logistics, and dive hardhat-first into my review of RoadCraft.
Rebuilding From The Ashes of Nature’s Ravages
So, what is RoadCraft? Well, as with most simulation games, its core concept is best understood through the lens of what it’s trying to simulate. In this case, RoadCraft models the grueling, methodical work of a company focused on preventative and reconstructive industrial projects, specifically in the wake of natural disasters. Put simply, it simulates the day-to-day operations of a construction company tasked with either bracing for or rebuilding after events like floods, typhoons, and earthquakes.
Picture bulldozers, cranes, and dump trucks—not just for generic construction, but deployed with purpose: to fortify infrastructure before the storm hits, or to pick up the pieces once it’s passed. It’s still a construction company at its core, but the scope and intent of its projects are much more specific. To that end, RoadCraft delivers a deep and detailed simulation powered by a sophisticated physics engine.
Naturally, one of the major gameplay pillars is construction itself, broken down further into specialized tasks handled by the wide variety of vehicles at your command. You’ll start with Scout vehicles, which handle basic tasks like material retrieval and map scouting. These aren’t heavy lifters—they’re mostly just your boots-on-the-ground transport, capable of little more than getting you from point A to B and winching open the occasional gate. But given the size of the map and the fact that you don’t control a separate human character, expect to spend most of your time inside one of these.
Then there are the specialized vehicles—like the Bulldozer, used to clear debris, flatten sand piles, or tear up asphalt; the Crane, which lifts materials in and out of storage; the Hauler, for transporting piles of construction materials; and the Dump Truck, which does the same, but specifically with sand. There are even more niche options like the Asphalt Layer and Steam Roller, but you get the idea. These machines are the backbone of your operations, and learning to switch between them efficiently is the key to maintaining a well-oiled logistical and construction chain, where each part supports the others in building something greater.
Each vehicle comes with its own unique key mappings and control quirks. Some are relatively simple—like the Dump Truck, which barely has more than two buttons beyond basic movement—while others, like the Crane, demand a bit more finesse. Through these machines, you tackle a variety of scenario-based objectives: hauling materials, setting sea walls in place to prepare for floods, or simply clearing paths so your fleet can get where it needs to go. Complete enough of these tasks and you’ll wrap up the scenario, moving on to the next. Along the way, you’ll also find side missions offering bonus cash or shortcuts for future objectives.
You’re also given tools to manage your operations more strategically, like a logistics mapping system and a bridge-building feature. These let you fine-tune your routes for maximum efficiency, taking into account road layouts, alternate paths, and intersections to streamline your supply chains.
On paper, it all sounds fairly straightforward: follow the mission objectives, operate the machinery, plan your routes, and you’re good to go. And to a certain extent, it is that simple—and it’s executed well enough for what it aims to be. But while RoadCraft shines in its commitment to simulating the high-level responsibilities of disaster-proof construction, there are more than a few potholes along the way that slow the experience down—literally, in this case.
Hard To Learn, Harder to Play
The biggest issue with RoadCraft’s gameplay is the unholy trifecta of its hyper-detailed construction systems, its woefully inadequate tutorial, and the lopsided emphasis on driving over actual building. That’s a three-hit combo if I’ve ever seen one—and I’ve got no clue how to dodge it.
Having detailed controls and a high skill ceiling isn’t a problem on its own. But when the tutorial barely covers the basics and leaves you hanging on key mechanics, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be confused somewhere along the way. I got stuck figuring out how to draw materials from storage and into my hauler, only to realize I was supposed to crane them in myself. All that for five concrete slabs, and that’s assuming you even get to the building part, because easily half the game is just spent trying to reach the construction site.
To its credit, the driving is impressively realistic. But that brings us right back to the same core issue: a complex, demanding system with no tutorial strong enough to support it. Whether you're operating a crane or just trying to make a turn without tipping over, RoadCraft expects a lot—and teaches very little.
The fact that so much of RoadCraft revolves around driving—carefully, slowly, and praying you don’t stall—already sets it apart from most simulation games, where the core concept usually takes center stage. Here, the prep work often overshadows the actual construction. Still, I suppose there has to be something to do with the game’s massive, intricately detailed map besides just meandering.
But let’s shift gears to something a little lighter: how the game looks, because there’s more going on here than just “hyperrealistic graphics.”
They’re Milking This Physics Engine For Everything It Has…and I Love It!
There’s no denying how beautiful RoadCraft looks. Its hyperrealistic graphics and sprawling countrysides—often set in either pre- or post-disaster settlements, sometimes both at once—give it a distinct visual identity that sets it apart from the usual sterile simulator fare. But the real star of the show isn’t the visuals alone—it’s the physics engine, which not only carries the gameplay but also breathes life into the world through constant, believable movement.
This physics engine powers everything: the way sand shifts, compacts, and gets pushed around; how materials are hoisted onto Haulers or carefully maneuvered by cranes; how muddy roads and overgrown terrain resist your vehicles in just the right ways. It sells the believability of the game’s other mechanics better than any tutorial ever could. It’s a behind-the-scenes powerhouse, and frankly, I think RoadCraft would’ve been far worse without it.
Progression Is Simple Enough, If You Get That Far
Adding to RoadCraft’s stronger points, progression is refreshingly straightforward: earn money from previous missions and scenarios, and use it to buy upgraded vehicles. Simple, clean—at least in theory. In practice, though, that might be more of a pipe dream for some, because just getting through the first mission took me a couple of hours… then a couple more for the second… and another few for the third.
The bottom line is, you’ll never be confused about how to progress in this game—but whether you’ll actually manage to progress is another question entirely. I was losing my mind at how long the prologue dragged on. That’s the skill ceiling rearing its head again. Sure, the upgrades you unlock later down the line make things noticeably easier past the fourth campaign scenario—you’ve just got to get that far first.
And with how painfully slow the starter vehicles move—both on the road and on-site—you might be in for a much longer ride than you expect. That’s doubly true if you manage to tip your vehicle over, forcing a reset all the way back to the other side of the island. Oh, and any materials you were hauling? They’re now scattered exactly where you stalled, of course—because clearly, skidding through storm-soaked muck for another hour was just too merciful.
RoadCraft Is A Game That Focused On The Wrong Thing
And now we’ve reached the end, and it’s pretty clear where RoadCraft went off the rails: it focused too hard on the wrong things and forgot the fundamentals. In its pursuit of authenticity, allure, and intricate detail, it lost sight of what makes a game fun and accessible.
Sure, the driving is impressively realistic—and, to be fair, a company like this would spend a lot of time on the road—but that realism doesn’t translate to enjoyment. Sure, the terrain looks fantastic, and it interacts with your vehicles in meaningful ways, whether that’s stalling you in water or forcing you to navigate treacherous paths. But it’s not exactly fun to slog your way to a site, only to slog your way right back out.
The simulation just went too hard. At some point, RoadCraft stopped feeling like a game and started feeling like actual labor. I can appreciate what it was aiming for, but if it was swinging for a home run in the simulation genre, it’s landed wildly off-base in terms of what players actually want out of the experience. As it stands, I just can’t recommend it.
Is RoadCraft Worth It?
Probably Not For Most People
RoadCraft is the kind of game that’ll absolutely give you your $40’s worth—if you’re willing to dig deep enough. Its sheer depth and volume of content could justify the price tag on content alone. That said, most players will probably balk at that number, especially for a simulation game that leans more Indie 500 than construction site. But if you can stomach the initial whiplash, there’s a surprisingly hefty amount of gameplay to be wrung out here—even if it’s far from the best simulation game out there.
If value through playtime is something that matters to you, this game has it in dozer buckets. Otherwise, just go play something else instead.
| Steam |
PSN |
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| Price | $39.99 | ||||
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RoadCraft FAQ
Is RoadCraft An Extension of Snowrunner?
No. According to the game’s developers, in an official FAQ for RoadCraft, “It's a whole new experience, based on a new iteration of our in-house engine. The game is not intended to be a sequel to SnowRunner or Expeditions. It's a new adventure for us.”
How Many Maps Does RoadCraft Have?
RoadCraft had 8 maps spread across 3 different biomes on its release, with a further 2 maps available exclusively for players who availed the game’s Rebuild Edition.
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RoadCraft Product Information
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| Title | ROADCRAFT |
|---|---|
| Release Date | May 20, 2025 (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S) |
| Developer | Saber Interactive |
| Publisher | Focus Entertainment |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Simulation |
| Number of Players | 1-4 (Online Co-op Multiplayer) |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB E (Everyone) |
| Official Website | RoadCraft Website |
