There are a few expected game genres when someone thinks of a best selling game. Something along the lines of Call of Duty is always a contender for the top spot. Then a Halo online multiplayer with 36 people in a match battling to capture a flag or destroy a command post. Hell, even a Mario side-scroller or some Minecraft indie voodoo, too. A truck driving simulator topping the charts? Really? Actually, yes. A driving simulator called Spintires is managing to stay in the top of Steam’s sales charts even in the beginning of a summer sale.
Dub-step plays along to the trailer showcasing some “all-terrain Soviet vehicles” and the game is no joke. Its physics and lighting is far more impressive then a few racing games for sale. As a console player unattached to games on PC, I considered buying a high powered PC just to play Spintires. In my opinion, it is a beautiful looking game. I can sort of guess and probably assume that the appeal is a physics based driving game close to driving a car is a fun experience.
I watched some gameplay of a all-terrain truck drive through mud a struggle a bits. Turns are made slowly, mud slows down the driver and gas is scare. The idea of watching these elements play, including damage, are a little astonishing when the objective is to rescue a 18 wheeler stuck in mud. At the end of the video, the driver could not budge the truck it saved. Driving out of the mud was successful, but a pile of rock ruined the rescue mission and did not allow the driver to finish the objective. After some expert moves, the truck was taken to safety.
Another video showed a driver trying to save a truck from a river while damage from deep water levels created some damger. Talk about a brutal game.
It’s reported by few that the game actually stayed in the first place spot for a few days. Currently, it is the second best seller. Ahead of it is Pay Day 2: The Big Bank Heist. The game was developed by the UK based Oovee Games Studios. Oovee took six years to develop the game and the long development is paying off. On June 13 they posted some news to acknowledge Spintires’ first place title. Back in June of last year, the game finished a Kickstarter that pasted the initial goal. The studio asked for 40,000 euros or $54,000. It ended up making about $83,000.
One game its reminds me of is Surgeon Simulator. Its not much of a hardcore simulator as a driving game, but more of a purposely hard ER operating game. You would not expect something as simple as that to become a popular game. Earlier in the year, I had no idea about the game Goat Simulator till someone mentioned how awesome it look. I’d never spend money on a purposely glitched game, but I am considering making a drive to a PC store just so I can drive with my keyboard in the comfort of my computer desk.
The game is available on Steam. Check out the trailer below.