I played the RoadCraft demo (three missions explored)

Last updated:09/03/2025

For those wanting to see how the RoadCraft demo compares with SnowRunner and Expeditions, this is the in-depth video for you.

Can you believe that on the 28th of April this year, SnowRunner will be five years old? It is a shame RoadCraft is not coming out on the same date – instead it releases on PC and next-gen consoles on the 20th of May 2025.

At least we have the RoadCraft demo to try in the meantime, which is the focus of this video. So stick around for a look at three new maps, many new trucks, multiple new gameplay mechanics, a new user-interface, new graphics and some major things that have been removed. More on that shortly.

With millions of sales and a 4.5 rating on Steam, it is fair to say the Saber Interactive and then Focus Home off-road simulator and follow-up to MudRunner (not Expeditions: A MudRunner Game) was a surprise hit. The great outdoors and satisfying trucking a highly addictive combination

Now it is time for RoadCraft to carve its own path complete with eight maps and more than 40 trucks. Plus a lower price tag. Will it be worth buying though?I know that is what many of you will be wondering and I shall do my best to answer.

Before we go knee-deep in three missions of three different difficulties to help you decide, I should mention a couple of caveats about the gameplay footage I am showing you.

RoadCraft Steam Next Fest Demo

The first is that I am playing the Steam Next Fest Demo of RoadCraft, which will be available for you to play on the 24th of February 2025. If you have a PC, that is, as there is no console demo.

The second is that, as stated in the press materials: “Features and content in this build were custom made for the purpose of the preview and thus do not fully reflect the final game.” Yes, the classic disclaimer to get influencers and press to talk about a game without being too judgemental.

Fortunately for you, my jaded and grumpy journalistic hat is so old that it has basically molded to my head. As such, I will not hold back in my first impressions. Subscribe to the Tribe and be sure to check out my full playthroughs and all other videos in my RoadCraft playlist!

Please note: This is the script from my YouTube video. Click play above or watch here.

Easy (Fix the Grid)

The first task is called Fix the Grid and is described in-game as easy. Here, we get to put on our eco-friendly hat and obliterate trees, dig-up the ground and restart a concrete factory. All in a nameless map previously blown to bits by a hurricane.

Quite a few vehicles are drivable in the RoadCraft demo, including Mr Tree Killer and this thing from Robot Wars.

At this point I will highlight the most radical changes. 1) There is no fuel. 2) There is no damage. 3) The kind-of-manual gearbox is gone. 4) Truck customisation appears vanquished too though it could just be the demo, as there is a ‘garage’ option. 5) Our driver friend is gone. 6) No photo mode.

We now have on-screen buttons for a low gear, Diff Lock, AWD and handbrake. It is a simpler system that changes how you approach RoadCraft compared with SnowRunner, but not as much you would think. I shall get to that in a second.

In Fix the Grid, we have to fetch the tree harvester. A trusty Armiger Thunder IV scout is what we begin in, complete with a winch but not an autonomous one. Besides the much nicer visuals, we soon get our first taste of bad weather.

As the heavens open, our windscreen wipers automatically switch on to help us see the way. I could not find the manual option, assuming there is one, but I could not fault the added immersion. The storm sound effects and first-person view are epic.

Powering the way

Now it was time to clear all the trees around the power station using the scary tree harvester. This involves getting up close, then grabbing the tree so it can be cut. Then we hit a button to process the tree, which involves turning it horizontal and then removing all the branches.

Voila, we have earned ourselves some wood that we can collect to build bridges. Or, as the task requires, collect three and load them onto the MTK Proseka 200 log forwarder. A time-consuming task if you are an idiot like me.

Unlike in SnowRunner, the crane is not tucked away in the function menu. Now we simply hold down the mouse button then move the arm left or right and backwards or forwards. A green icon shows when we can cut the tree then process it.

RoadCraft puts all the buttons on screen so it is not hard to get to grips with things. But there is definitely a learning curve for the user-interface, controls and, in a later map, how to collect the right metal resource.

With three giant twigs on the back, we simply hit the pack cargo button and then it was time to drive to the required zone. Where a Voron 3327 cargo truck and cargo awaits us, which needs delivery to the concrete production plant.

The drive is another chance for us to enjoy the impressive visuals, maxed out at 4K 60FPS, as we snake through the forestland. Not before another windy rainstorm though. Trucks feel more grippy and predictable than in SnowRunner. I would say it is more akin to Expeditions in the handling department. Which is a good thing.

Until you start lugging heavier loads or driving through deep mud and water, there is not much need to use the single low gear. Diff Lock also slows you down a bit, leaving AWD doing most of the work on casual terrain.

Right on track

Having delivered the vehicle, we get to drive the Vostok TK-53 “Krot”. A cable layer with a reel so big at the front that it is basically undrivable in the first-person view. Besides looking epic, this is where we get to try out tracked vehicles. Something SnowRunner could not handle.

The tracks do not just carve a realistic path through the mud, they feel chunky to steer and we get to see power cut to the relevant track as you attempt to change course. Progress is slow, but totally satisfying.

Fences do not like to be pushed over as easily as in SnowRunner, which is why I had to go the long way round to the concrete production facility. It is at this point I also realised you cannot run the cable from the end to the start. You have to do it from the start to the end. So I had to drive all the way back.

Having whipped myself naked through the streets of Milton Keynes for being such a fool, I began laying the cable. While it might just take a button to start the process, it is not so easy tackling the terrain. Fortunately, RoadCraft is smart enough to raise the machine when you reverse.

I am not sure going via a lake is the best way in real life, feel free to chime in cable layers, but it allowed me a fairly painless drive. One away from annoying tree stumps, which are definitely still a thing in the RoadCraft demo.

As the last millimetres of power cable are laid, we are treated to a familiar basic animation of the concrete production facility coming to life. First mission complete, now for the second.

Challenging (Clear the Way)

The medium difficulty ‘Clear the Way’ task is our first taste of road construction. Using a dump truck to lay sand, then a bulldozer to flatten it, followed by the asphalt paver to put down asphalt and, lastly, the asphalt roller to squish it down.

It was also a chance to check out two types of crane, the nimble articulated Baikal 59-16 and the larger, not so nimble Zikz 612C. As with SnowRunner, you can go between views to help manoeuvre stuff. Only now, you can toggle between attaching to one point or multiple.

As with all machinery, the ability to control the crane or tipper or tree cutter while holding down the mouse button means you do not have to stop to get things done. Though I would advise you have the handbrake on and anchors down for maximum stability.

With numerous crane controls to get your head round, things can once again get confusing despite the on-screen information. With containers, barrels and a tractor to move, things did get a bit tedious. Co-op would be a less arduous affair.

Brute force

I soon found myself using the Zikz 612C to push things out of the way because there is no need to worry about damage or fuel. Recovering to a base is, however, worth avoiding unless you like losing cargo and driving all the way back to where you were.

Repairing the road is where we start to see the RoadCraft gameplay vision. You can utilise each vehicle to finish a road yourself, which is satisfying, or you can let the AI do it for you. If the AI gets stuck, you can cancel the action and restart it.

If you let AI do the job, you can spectate using a normal third-person view or use the cinematic one. Or just go off and focus on craning stuff as your fleet of road-makers do their thing in real-time strategy style.

Once the road was done, which took me way longer than I probably should admit, it was time to set the three delivery trucks on a pathway to the depot. As seen in the trailer and talked about in my preview showcase, you set the pathway with waypoints and then the AI follows your route.

Unlike with the road-making fleet, I was unable to drive these AI trucks. Instead, you can spectate and slowly watch the chaos unfold as you remember you never moved every obstacle out the way.

Upon the trucks entering into the final depot before disappearing, the medium difficulty demo was over. Now it was time to see RoadCraft at its most difficult. And, as it turns out, the one where I fail hardest.

Hard (Seal the Breach)

Hard difficulty Seal the Breach is where things get rainy again, pretty coastal views catch the eye and I begin my plan to reach the Shutter Island lighthouse. The vibe is unmistakably SnowRunner only with a whole lot more terrain variety.

Things also got annoying as I seemingly could not finish the RoadCraft demo because the silly valve would not deliver. You are supposed to lift it close until the option goes green. I only saw blue and red. The developer reiterated to get the valve close but nothing worked.

How, then, did I solve the issue? Turns out, you need to use a specific valve. Not just any valve, even though they all look the same. Cockwomble moment, indeed.

The rest of this map and mission was engaging and brutal. The most driving focussed and the routes are perilous. Big cliff drops and thin, hilly pathways are always fun. Even more so when your loaded truck becomes bouncier with the wrong valve in the back. Not so fun, however, are these truck-consuming waterways. I would not go this way.

Anyway, we once again start out in a scout, the Armiger Thunder IV. Our first task is to repair the piping system, which means finding the missing part. We do not need to finish detective school to work out we need a valve. It is written in the text. Pro tip for RoadCraft: Read the text. And do not pick up the wrong part.

Driving to the junkyard higlights that trucks seem happier and more planted on easier terrain, but still come to a SnowRunner chug when the going gets tough. We also get some more of those lovely weather effects and a chance to appreciate some fancy reflections and lens flare along the way.

Kitty got claws

The first time I did this mission, I did not notice the giant blue grabby claw crane in the centre. Which was not ideal as using it to move the tractor and van blocking the inward-opening gates makes life a lot easier.

Fortunately, there are two identical Mule T1 trucks back at one of the bases. Each equipped with a KRS 58-esque crane. So it was time to load up the valve on the back (the right one) and drive it along the pipeline to the coastal delivery point. A not so easy task as roads are either flooded, muddy, flooded and muddy or just basically non-existent. Expeditions terrain harshness, this most certainly is.

Now it was time have a go at the second element of Seal the Breach. As with SnowRunner, RoadCraft has resource gathering. You need to collect steel to construct steel pipes, of which you need two to repair the piping system. A nightmare task if you do not plan ahead.

To collect metal, you have to crane it onto a truck then drive it to the recycling centre. The right metal such as a van and tractor (look for the matching colour glow) will disappear once you drive in the recycling centre yellow box. The number on screen is how many pipes you can make, with each one appearing in the nearby yellow box.

Admittedly, the RoadCraft demo user-interface for parts creation is less obvious than in SnowRunner. With that said, once you fathom it out you are soon on your way in the bouncy Mule T1.

This time, with two pipes that you can more easily strap down. Where SnowRunner was super fussy with positioning, RoadCraft is usually (but not always) happy for things to be hanging out or off-centre. Though if lazy you may pay the price when it comes to truck stability.

The RoadCraft demo looks promising then?

Look, I know some SnowRunner purists will see the fuel, damage and other similar changes and run a mile. Perhaps rightly so – this is not, as the developer pointed out, SnowRunner 2.

But what the RoadCraft demo shows is something more complete than Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. You may not have to worry about refuelling, but lugging heavy loads still takes skill and effort. When it goes wrong you still feel the same pain of knowing you either have to mount a rescue or retrace your steps.

If anything, the lack of a winch on all but the scouts makes the RoadCraft demo even less forgiving. More akin to Expeditions. You cannot even let upgrades help you, which gives the game its own brutal vibe.

I do not even mind the optional AI automation as you get to do all the fun activities in different machinery and then see how good a job you did. A little automation can, after all, be handy if your time is limited or want to enjoy a hint of RTS gaming.

RoadCraft seems not be SnowRunner 2, then, but it builds on the off-road simulator genre in its own way. With fresh trucks, fancier terrain, improved visuals, challenging driving, windscreen wipers and fresh tasks, it is shaping up to be a worthy contender. Especially at a lower price.

Bring on the release date of the 20th of May 2025.