In an era where it seems like there’s a new simulation being released every single day, Roadside Research takes that concept and somehow makes it more fun. Add your friends, managing a gas station, and doing your best to collect human DNA while masquerading as aliens, and you’ve got one heck of a session. Honestly, I can see my sister and I playing and arguing over which displays go where and who was supposed to order what while also sneakily taking photos of all the weirdos who pass by.
The fun even comes with a steady progression and upgrading system that feels less like a chore and more like you’re having fun at work. I’ll even admit to having fun playing it by myself on more occasions than I can count. Now that the early access is available to everyone, here’s exactly what I thought about my time with Roadside Research by Cybernetic Walrus.
Caution, Aliens In the Area
Whether with friends or by yourself, you play as an alien brought down to earth via a port-a-potty to collect alien DNA for your home planet. To do that, you’ve ingeniously disguised a gas station in the middle of nowhere as a base of operations, spying on humans while also filling their gas tanks and selling them snacks. So, you gotta balance the two things if you want any hope of succeeding. That’s retail for ya.
There’s not much else to it after this, besides doing everything in your power not to get caught by the government. If you make yourself accidentally known or start acting way too suspiciously, customers won’t hesitate to call the men in black to check things out. However, as long as you are keeping up with upgrades and making your customers happy, would anyone really want to call the cops on you?
Well, if you decide to let things get too dirty or start glooping everywhere, then maybe they will.
Steady As She Goes
I thoroughly enjoyed the progression and how easy it was to obtain upgrades and add things to my gas station. For the majority of my experience, I played by myself, and I still had an absolute blast. There are two upgrade mechanics: one for the products that can be sold or placed around the gas station, and one for alien technologies. All that info has got to be going somewhere.
It wasn’t long before I started really getting the hang of things and stocking things like a champ, purchasing new racks and methods of making my day go by faster with the most amount of profit. When I wasn’t doing that or helping customers, then I was sneaking around in the bushes and hoping no one noticed me. In that regard, I did think that there wasn’t a whole lot of challenge, even when the authorities did show up because I was being too suspicious. But, in a way, I liked that my gameplay wasn’t disturbed by the fear of getting caught all the time, transforming the game to something a little more cozy than I think initially intended.
I was also a huge fan of how patient customers can be, especially when playing solo. With more players, you can delegate who helps which customers or does what tasks. However, by yourself, you really need to run back and forth between areas to get the most out of a single day. But, personally, I thought that it was clear how well-received feedback for these controls must have been during playtesting because of how seamless it felt to scan items, take the customer’s money, give them their change, run to the back, order a jug of diesel, wait for the delivery, carry the diesel out to the pump to refill it, take the customer waiting by the pump’s money, pump their gas, run to the bathroom to clean a clogged toiolet, and then come back to the register to help the next customer.
The experience is all in early access right now, so I can’t say whether or not that will change in the future. I mean, drive-thru windows have timers that determine how long the customer has been waiting for, and I can imagine that feature being fun in more high-intensity Roadside Research sessions.
Fun For the Whole Gang… or By Yourself
As I mentioned before, I played Roadside Research by myself and still had an incredible time doing it. You can enjoy the game with up to four players, which I can only imagine makes upgrading and progressing even faster with more sets of hands helping around. Considering how many stations there really are when you break it down, expanding and getting further into the upgrades seems to naturally call for more people to help out. Just think about a group of young adults working as gas station managers without any corporate supervision!
Fortunately, the game does an incredible job of tailoring the experience for single-player, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes simulation titles like TCG Card Shop Simulator but also wants to share that experience with a few silly friends.
A PC review key was provided by the publisher.
Stayed for the Customer Service
Being an alien who needs to report back to their home planet while working at a gas station as you probe humans sounds is a lot more fun a way to spend some time than you might think. Bring your friends!
