If you’ve been following us here at GTOGG throughout the first half of 2025, you know we were quite fond of ORDER 13, a stealth-based warehouse horror game that came out this spring from developer Cybernetic Walrus. It used a simple but effective setup – become a warehouse worker, locate items by navigating the dozens of shelves and rows of the building… and avoid the bloodthirsty monster that stalks the shadows. Combining the cozy, mundane task of warehouse work with the heart-pounding excitement of Alien: Isolation-inspired stalker gameplay turned out to be surprisingly effective, which is why I was similarly excited to look into the team’s next project: Roadside Research.
The premise of the game once again combines two things you wouldn’t normally put together: aliens and gas stations. Allow me to elaborate: you take on the role of disguised aliens who infiltrate a local gas station with grand plans of world domination in mind. You gather intel from your customers to aid you in your invasion-related goals, but you have to also keep up the façade of a functioning gas station – which is where the chill “simulation” aspect comes into play, inspired by titles such as Supermarket Simulator or Gas Station Simulator. You stack shelves, you act normal, you blend in. Or try to, at any rate.
This means that throughout the game, you’ll have to lead a double life of sorts – not only do you need to upgrade the gas station to attract more customers, you can’t forget your real goal, either: the alien research. I expect it will create quite an amusing dynamic, especially with friends – and since Roadside Research is being developed as a co-op title that will allow a total of four people to engage in alien espionage, I can only imagine the untold amounts of shenanigans that will go down when you attempt to coordinate your efforts with other flesh-and-blood players. Fail to keep up the act, and the government might get suspicious and send special agents to start sniffing around, which will no doubt inject a certain level of tension into the gameplay a la ORDER 13, albeit without the horror – I’m told the team is also planning some additional surprises for players that go beyond just government agents, so I’m fully expecting things to get deliciously chaotic.
So far, I remain generally optimistic about the project: Roadside Research looks like it could end up being a fun little game to play with friends, and I’m most certainly looking forward to learning more about it in the coming months. It’s set to come out later this year for PC via Steam.
