Opinion: Why RoadCraft could be the sleeper hit of 2025

When Saber Interactive’s RoadCraft first broke cover in August 2024, it piqued my interest in a way its predecessor; Expeditions: A MudRunner Game didn’t.

Released in March 2024, Expeditions was an off-shoot of Saber’s hugely popular Snowrunner. However, Expeditions hasn’t struck a chord with players in the same way, with the SteamDB player count showing just 170 in the last 24 hours versus Snowrunner’s 7,414 (correct on 4th February 2025).

That’s a mind-blowing difference, especially as Snowrunner is nearly five years old, and one that can perhaps be attributed to Expeditions’ dry subject matter and standalone mission structure.

A big part of Snowrunner’s success is its free-roaming, persistent-style gameplay, which was coincidentally released when we needed it most – during the dark days of COVID-19. It made for a soothing, meditative experience: when the world outside was falling apart you could at least control your destiny in-game, admiring all the beautiful scenery on the way.

As the world heads ever closer to another cataclysmic event, playing something as cathartic as Snowrunner can help take the edge off our collective anxiety. My experience of playing the epic-but-batsh*t-crazy Death Stranding during lockdown was poignantly apt, given I was trapped indoors thanks to an autoimmune condition. Sigh.

The Death Stranding comparison is a little left-field, but Hideo Kojima’s insane Postman Pat simulator allowed players to reconnect a broken world by gathering resources and building roads. I found it therapeutic to play at times and RoadCraft gives me similar vibes. It’s like Death Stranding reimagined by your local council depot (“Ignore the BTs and fill in that pothole Sam, Die-Hardman isn’t paying overtime”).

How big a part free-roaming plays in RoadCraft won’t be known until we play a preview build, but it’s assumed diff lock fans won’t be disappointed. Regardless, RoadCraft could well be a soothing antidote to an increasingly tense and divided world (I’m not implying a game can cure the world’s ills, obviously. Unless it’s Half-Life 3. Maybe).

Paving the way for success

Judging from early impressions, RoadCraft looks to combine the exploration of Snowrunner and the gadgetry of Expeditions, with interesting new game mechanics added for good measure.

Running a disaster recovery company, players are tasked with bringing disaster-affected sites back to their former glory, using heavy plant-style vehicles – including trucks, cranes, 4x4s, tree harvesters and bulldozers – to physically alter the landscape to their will.

Perhaps the standout feature from the game’s two trailers is the ability to build and pave roads (the game’s called RoadCraft, after all!), which simply looks cool on a very basic level. It’s heavily nostalgic, harking back to the days when I used to play with Tonka toys in my nursery’s sandpit. Playing with diggers and dump trucks appeals to our inner child, and that’s why I believe RoadCraft will succeed where Expeditions failed.

More than meets the eye

But it’s not just playing with oversized construction toys that appeals, as RoadCraft seems like it will have some pretty deep systems grafting away in the background. 

Judging from the latest gameplay trailer, RoadCraft allows you to fill in mud pits, chop down trees and grind down stumps, removing obstacles that were previously the bane of Snowrunner players’ lives.

Players can also build up a fleet of vehicles and assign them to work away at the landscape autonomously, setting paths for them to follow for maximum efficiency. Mechanics like this will help the game environment (there will be eight 4km2 maps to explore when the game releases initially) feel alive, with player actions having a direct impact on the landscape.

Using your AI chums’ help, you can collect resources, turn them into building materials in one of your factories and then use them to build bridges, roads and other structures. It sounds like good, clean, cathartic fun (ok, maybe not clean).

All of this is underpinned by the same robust physics engine from previous Saber games, allowing you to accurately take control of 40 different vehicles (with more on the way thanks to an already-announced, post-release DLC pack).

The best is yet to come

And that’s not even the best bit, as the game’s four-player online co-op mode permits you and three friends to take on a hostile environment together. Which will surely lead to hilarity.

I can’t wait.

Are you enthused by RoadCraft’s early gameplay trailers? Let us know in the comments below.