Review: Thank You Bus Driver
Don't be a stinky passenger
Double Fine is a developer that has recently (and unceremoniously) returned to their independent roots. That story itself has been written about to death, though. From that aftermath, however, a quintessential "Double Fine" game has just released this week that is exactly what this world needs.
Excuses to slap people that are being stinky.
++STATS:++
Review Platform: Steam
Time Played: 4 hours
Achievements Unlocked: 60%
Review Code was provided by Double Fine.
Double Fine Action Labs
Take on the role of a town’s rules-driven (and reckless) bus driver in Thank You Bus Driver! Drive fast, slap faster, and toss any rulebreakers out of your bus to reach true victory: being appreciated.
I Want To Be ... The Very Best
The game has you take part of a bus driver, Mr. Betterthan, and challenges you to become the best bus driver that has ever existed in your town. The goal? 1499 Thank-You's (TYs). And as simple as that, you're off to make your first stop!
You find yourself at first taken aback by the gorgeous art style - the team were really cooking with this entry fresh off the heels of last year's **woefully underplayed Keeper.** Immediately following this, I couldn't help but find myself make another immediate comparison...
"Man, this is giving Crazy Taxi vibes."
Where Size And Scope Make A Difference
There is an art to making a 'smaller game' feel substantial and full of enjoyment. Some experiences lean into the art style, some lean into the mechanics, and some may lean into story. Where Thank You Bus Driver succeeds in the most - the immediate gameplay feedback loop with an intricately balanced carrot-on-the-stick upgrade system that keeps you wanting clock in for one more shift.
Each shift is split into 15 stops. Each stop is completely randomized, save for the initial stop beginning at the Bus Depot. On the game's lone map (more on that below), you are taken to a sizeable amount of named locations: Camp, Windmill, Lighthouse, Downtown, City Hall, etc. Run to run (or shift to shift) variance, then, is shifted by a few ways. Your stop order changes, the items you obtain in the middle of a shift change, the weather/environment can be modified, and the rules themselves differ from shift to shift.
Now THAT'S A Shady Deal
At some of the bus stops, as new passengers embark, you are sometimes met with a Shady Dealer - a character that acts as your item shop for your shift. No items cost anything - you are simply given a choice of 3 items to pick from that are randomized. Each item comes as a boon - get an air freshener to negate stinky passengers, or string lights to increase their happiness, or a bobble head doll for your dash to make you drive off-road faster. At first glance these may seem like a way to make the game easy, but there's a catch...
Your vision gets distracted. Seriously. Fuzzy dice to increase your chance for double TYs seems like a no-brainer until you realize that you now have giant dangling fuzzy dice (because you just picked them, silly!) that bounce all around your field of view. This then also distracts with your ability to look in your rearview mirror to then take the action to discipline (i.e., slap) your passengers when they are misbehaving. I found it to be an extremely clever push-and-pull reward system to balance out the positive gain of the items presented.
Change Can Be Hard
Another balancing act that the game has to keep things fresh is that the rules themselves vary from shift to shift. Every second stop completed, you are presented with a new rule - these range from things like "No Sleeping", "No Eating", all the way to "No Toenail Clipping". Yes, that's not a typo.
What starts off as a nice simple run where passengers are not allowed to sleep can quickly turn into no sleeping, talking on the phone, eating, and being stinky. Each state has a distinctive visual and audio cue to indicate when something is amiss with your passengers. If one is misbehaving, you do what I presume every real bus driver would like to do - you smack em'! Smacking a misbehaving passenger makes an audible 'ding' to give you feedback that you did the right thing and a subsequent 'thunk' sound when you smacked someone illegitimately. Having a happy bus at the end of a stop equals more TYs, so it is imperative that you keep everyone in line!
Where There Could Be More
The hardest part of this review was to think critically about what the game could use more of. On one hand, I'm very impressed with the overall package that is provided - the amount of items feels substantive, the map itself is detailed and distinctive and the more you drive you can see and begin to memorize all of the interconnections between roads and shortcuts. The one area I wish there was a little bit more was kind of a cop-out complaint.
I wish there was more.
I need to preface that with a giant caveat - this game is more than worth the price of admission. My critique is more of a selfish wish. If there was some way to either make the stop locations randomized on the same map (kind of like a procedurally generated map), or have another (or more) bespoke maps, I believe it would simply just add to the overall package.
When The Rubber Hits The Road
The bottom line though is: that's a great problem to have. When someone is done with your game and simply wants m o r e - to me it seems like the nail was hit on the head. Bravo, Double Fine - I can't wait to see what you cook up next!
GRIDDLYBEAR rates Thank You Bus Driver as a favorite!
“It's fun, it's silly, it's just a tight gameplay loop that leaves you wanting more. It has the usual Double Fine charm and humour, and mixed into it a pretty rewarding, albeit lightweight roguelite-like loop. The game may feel small/short to some, but I think that just adds to its charm, personally (though, an additional map would give more reasons to come back!).”
GRIDDLYBEAR is an Indigenous and neurodivergent Canadian, father, husband, brother, and goof. He streams on Twitch twice a week, and can be seen hanging around numerous internet dwellings including Kinda Funny and Hang Time. Don't ask him what the latest meme is though - he likely won't know. For a Canadian he's also weirdly obsessed with Philadelphia sports teams - GO BIRDS.