Bus Bound is a new bus driving simulator from Stillalive Studios, which has been bringing us Bus Simulator games since 2016. They have teamed up with simulation powerhouse Saber Interactive to bring us a new take on that commute to work.
Next Stop Emberville
Bus Bound takes place in the fictitious city of Emberville, a gorgeous metropolis that has outgrown its current public transport system and lost its charm in the process.
As traffic and parking lots suffocate the city, it’s up to you, the humble bus driver, to rediscover this truly beautiful city.
It’s a Simple Life
We start our journey behind the wheel of a Horizon Diesel 40ft bus, doing a quick loop around Ashtree, Belvedere, and The Tracks. Each one of these districts serves a purpose in Emberville, so we need to take note.
Emberville is a living, breathing city, so depending on the day and time, different parts of the city are busier than others.
You run three shifts a day, morning, afternoon, and evening. People want to get to work in the morning, so the lines into the city are busier. While in the afternoon it’s the opposite. During the evening, the arts district is bustling, while on weekends, tourists want to head out to Wright’s Crossing.
There are also different weather conditions to keep an eye on that can sway your choice to run a certain route.
The more passengers you can transport, the faster you can upgrade your lines.
As you complete shifts, you will unlock new stops and parts of the city.
Expanding your Empire
You are not locked into pre-made lines. Every line is customizable, and you can also create brand new lines. Notice a certain stop is really busy at lunch time? Add it to your run to improve your numbers.
Bus Bound does a great job of directing you in a direction if you get stuck, but also allows you the freedom to do whatever you want.
As you deliver passengers to their intended destination, you will receive likes and reviews depending on the customer’s level of comfort.
The driving in Bus Bound is fantastic. The buses feel weighty and big and require you to oversteer corners and brake early. Unfortunately, you are not the only vehicle on the road. Cars and other vehicles are making your life a little more complicated.
The more you follow the road rules. The more comfortable your passengers’ rides are, the more likely they are to leave better reviews.
The other vehicles on the road are very courteous. Nobody speeds or randomly turns in front of you, causing you to crash. Just watch the indicators and follow the road rules, and you will be fine.
As a non-American, turning on a red light will never feel natural, but using your indicators will help you avoid accidents.
Passengers hate it when you speed, run red lights, hit speed bumps too fast, or brake suddenly. This will cause passengers to be unhappy with your service.
Your approach to each stop is also judged harshly. How close you get to the curb and how slowly you pull in will also affect your scores. In 3rd person, this is pretty easy, but when you are in first person, you have to use your mirrors and judge distance, almost like in real life.
You must also navigate random events like breakdowns or roadworks to keep the bus on schedule.
As you progress through the leveling system, new buses are unlocked. Some of them are bigger, allowing you to carry more passengers into town on a rainy Monday morning. But be aware of taking one into the city with those tight turns, sometimes it’s too big. Others are electric, which makes passengers happier and leads to better reviews.
Each bus has mastery challenges to help boost your ratings. Achieving perfect stops or delivering ‘x’ amount of passengers with perfect scores will unlock different modifiers to customize your experience. Like turning off navigation, so you have to rely on your knowledge of the city to get to your destination.
The city is also changing. As more people want to catch the bus, the local council upgrades roads, introduces dedicated bus lanes, and opens up new opportunities.
Performance
Bus Bound is a pleasure to play, but I’m reviewing an early build, and there are a few issues. While small, these were a few little hiccups I encountered.
I’m reviewing Bus Bound on Xbox Series X, and what a perfect excuse to get my steering wheel out. I have the Logitech G920. When I plugged it in, Bus Bound recognized it and configured all the settings, which is great. However, when I started the game, the wheel was unresponsive. The developers are aware of the issue, but cannot guarantee a fix before release. Fingers crossed because it’s the perfect game for a wheel.
Some little graphical things were passengers not using the door and phasing through the wall, or cars appearing or disappearing into the void, were also quite common.
There was an interesting audio thing happening, and I’m not sure if it was a design choice or just a glitch. When you pass certain buildings or parts of the city, sound bites play of people laughing or construction work, sometimes they are just completely random, other times they cut in and out. Especially if you are passing quickly or turning, it might start and stop very abruptly.
I only had two dashboard crashes during my 20ish hours with Bus Bound. The only progress lost was that of the current run.
Verdict
With 7 unique districts to unlock, 18 customizable buses, and the ability to make Emberville your own. Creating routes and learning how the city changes throughout the day, Bus Bound has so much content to keep me entertained for hours.
I really hope that the steering wheel issue is resolved, as this will take Bus Bound to that next level.
Bus Bound was reviewed on the Xbox Series X
The Gamer Social Club was provided with an early access copy of Bus Bound for the purpose of this review.
Bus Bound will be released on 30th April 2026 and will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and Pc (via Steam)
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