Snowrunner dev's new simulation game will be your toughest challenge yet

There's truth in the phrase 'less is more.' When I finish work, I often find myself vegetating on the sofa watching the latest Dimension 20 campaign, or booting up something like The Sinking City or the original Dragon Age games. But sometimes, you want to strip it back even further: build patterns and complex attack combos begone, today I want to be a truck driver. That's what Saber did so well with Roadcraft, its outwardly simple yet intensely complex management game, and is hoping to do with Docked, the latest addition to its simulation line-up.

You are the manager of Port Wake, a once-bustling harbor that has been devastated by a recent hurricane. In Docked, you've got one goal: get things up and running again, and bring some prosperity to this now-ailing town. Easy, right?

Of course not - this is a management game, and there are a lot of moving parts (literally and figuratively). While zooming around in cranes all day and scooping up cargo sounds easy, there's complexity in ensuring that it all runs smoothly. You'll have to manage your contracts and employ enough workers to help complete the various jobs that need doing, all while keeping an eye on your equipment as it starts to deteriorate. Leaving things to the last minute can set things back by days on end, and that's the last thing you want.

Port Wake is counting on you, after all. Rejuvenating the harbor allows you to reawaken dormant supply lines, spend money at local businesses, and inject some cash into the village to help return it to its former glory. New suppliers will give you access to fresh machinery, various upgrades, and better resources, so giving back to the community is an absolute must.

But let's be real, the most exciting part of Docked is driving around in big, hulking bits of metal. There's everything from heavy tractors to ship-to-shore cranes, and you'll need to operate them as you would in real life - no automatic programming here. You'll ruin your hands tightening ropes, maneuver cargo through tiny spaces, and ensure that all of the weights are correctly distributed so that you don't end up pinging random objects back into the ocean. I said that the premise of Docked was simple - I never said the gameplay was.

There's no release date for Docked at the moment, but if you've completed Roadcraft and played through Snowrunner for the billionth time and want something new, you can keep up to date on all things Docked right here.

In the meantime, however, we have a rundown of all the best simulation games if you're looking for something similar to the likes of Roadcraft. Or, if you're wondering where Docked could slot into your schedule, we have a list of all the upcoming PC games for 2025 and beyond.

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