Gamers are really blessed these days because there are titles designed for just about anything that a player might enjoy, from mindless shooters to whimsical adventures and highly detailed simulations. If someone wants, they can probably spend all their time diving into ones that perfectly suit their tastes without ever having to branch out and try new things. There is nothing wrong with that, but putting a toe or two into new gaming waters can actually sometimes be quite a pleasant surprise. I think that is what developer Neutron Star Studio was hoping for when they created their new mixed genre title Dustland Delivery.
It’s billed as a post-apocalyptic survival business simulator, which besides being a mouthful to say, hints at its makeup. Normally, apocalypse type games like Dread Dawn or to a lesser extent titles like Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl mostly focus on survival, with little thought to actually running a business or turning a profit. Meanwhile, there are a ton of great business simulations these days like Farm Manager World, My Horse: Bonded Spirits and even titles like Hairdresser Simulator which strive for extreme realism without any zombies, monsters or wastelands in sight.
You would not think that mixing those two genres, like Dustland Delivery does, would actually work or appeal to players who enjoy either of those genres. But it turns out that particular mix works surprisingly well.
To be fair, Dustland Delivery is much more on the business simulation side of the fence. It’s just the setting that is post-apocalyptic. What that means is that in addition to all the normal concerns that a new business owner will have, in Dustland Delivery, they will also have to deal with end of world types of dangers like pandemics, mutated people, undead monsters and Mad Max-level bandits. Unlike a title such as Wartales, which is all about role-playing and tactical combat but with a minor economic simulation running underneath (or with an optional business type activity in their Taven Opens DLC), in Dustland Delivery you have to really enjoy business simulations to have a good time. Those who have mastered simulated businesses set in the real world who are now looking for a unique and new kind of challenge will likely be the ones who enjoy this strange mix the most.
In Dustland Delivery, your business assets consist of a single big rig truck and a motley crew which you will recruit and train along the way. That might not sound like the foundation for a business empire, but it really is. In a partially destroyed world where there is very little communication between settlements and very little trade, having tons of capacity to deliver necessities from places that have them to those that need them is incredibly powerful. As such, you will put a lot of your time into maintaining and upgrading your rig with tons of customization options to help build your business.
For example, you can add an extra trailer to your ride or lots of custom modules if you want to haul even more valuables out to distant cities, although this in turn will require buying more fuel, running at slower speeds and additional wear and tear on your engine. If you instead want to deliver supplies into very dangerous places which offer a premium on any goods that make it through the bandit blockades and other hazards, then you might consider reducing your cargo space to make room for more crew to fight for you. Then, of course, you have to support those new crew members with food, water and other rewards. The great thing about the open world nature of Dustland Delivery is that there is no right answer about how to play, and you are never pushed down one path or another. Do what you want and find a strategy that works for you.
In terms of the business simulation itself, as mentioned, everything is a balancing act. At its core, it’s a matter of buying low and selling high. Or more specifically, finding opportunities to do just that. You pretty much have to risk buying something like food or raw materials when you find them being sold for pennies on the dollar (because maybe that town specializes in making or producing a specific resource) and then find someone who is, hopefully, in desperate need of such a resource.
Now, if you have done a lot of exploring first, then you probably have customers in mind for different resources because you have already visited their towns. That reduces a lot of risk, but it takes time to learn the lay of the land. Also, keep in mind that your truck is huge in terms of goods delivery in this world, so the process of dumping a bunch of specific products in a town will lower the price of future sales for quite a while. That forces you to build much bigger trade routes with multiple points of purchase and sale if you don’t want to undermine yourself in the long term.
Of course, being a post-apocalyptic world means that there are a lot of dangers out there. In addition to story-related perils that you will run across, there are also quite a few random encounters and fights. The combat in Dustland Delivery is not all that robust. You mostly click to either attack or retreat each round, with the game telling you what happens. The amount of preparation you put into the possibility of combat, like how many crew members you have hired for your party, how well they are equipped and what special skills they possess will determine the outcome of a fight. In a sense, lots of fights are won or lost long before the combat actually begins. That means that if you are methodical about planning for the worst, you should be okay unless you are really unlucky or purposely drive into areas that you and your crew are clearly unready to tackle.
The biggest problem with Dustland Delivery is the lack of explanation given to players about how everything works. There is a surprising amount of depth in the game, which seems to have systems for nearly everything from the relationships you develop with your quirky and unique crew to how you interact with the wasteland’s six major factions. There are also optional things that you can do like hunting, cooking and crafting, all of which have somewhat detailed systems in place to determine success or failure. You can even take over a town yourself (or help a faction to do so) which lets you set up a kind of production hub for your business.
But Dustland Delivery does not tell you very much about how any of that works, meaning players will have to do a lot of trial and error. Expect quite a few failed runs or adventures with limited success while you figure out how it all works. I think overall that what Dustland Delivery offers is worth the effort, but that does not mean that the developers should not make things a little clearer.
Also, note that Dustland Delivery is quite challenging. While it’s relatively easy to set up a basic trade route or two to cover your expenses without oversaturating the market, it’s not so simple to start earning real money. For that, you need to take risks and venture deep into the wasteland to uncover opportunities to justify the risks. You won’t always be able to do that, so those who get easily frustrated should be warned. I nearly rated Dustland Delivery as hard, but I decided to go with intermediate because it’s not difficult to survive, just in trying to thrive.
I had a great time with Dustland Delivery. The random events you come across in its dark, quirky world, of which there are a lot, are quite interesting and will keep players on their toes. And for under $10 on the Steam platform, you get a lot of value for a unique business simulation with heavy adventure and role-playing elements.
Also, the developers are quite active, releasing new features just about every week as Dustland Delivery continues to expand and evolve. All of that makes Dustland Delivery a great title to try if you enjoy building up a thriving business from scratch and don’t mind fighting off a few undead attackers to protect your bottom line.