Thank you Ultimate Games for sending us a review code!

Food Truck Simulator was released on Steam in 2022 and was released on PlayStation and Xbox in 2024. The reviews are mostly negative and given how glitchy this game is, I can see why. So what are food trucks and why would I want to play a game about operating one? Food trucks are portable food stands that can be found at amusement parks, public parks, and even at places of employment. Last month my employer hired a food truck and provided the company with a free and delicious lunch. It’s a great way to boost morale!

As much as I appreciate food trucks, I certainly have no desire to operate one. The preparation required and frenzy of food rush hours are not fun or enjoyable. Unless you really enjoy working in a fast food environment, I can’t see the appeal of this game.

Food Truck Simulator begins with your character taking over his father’s food truck business after he passed away. You are given the bare essentials needed to get your business rolling (pun intended) including a customizable truck and a food supplier who will give you a sympathy discount. You’ll continue to get a discount by pre-ordering supplies and picking them up on time. You can plan ahead by seeing what’s popular at locations before setting up there.

The game starts in your garage, where you can customize your food truck’s appearance and equipment. In the beginning, the fryer and freezer are broken so you’re limited to just working with your grill. Your dad’s food supplier and friend walks your character through placing a food supply order and setting up the food truck for its grand opening. You’ll have to hook up the gas tank to get the grill working. Turning on the radio for background music is optional. The background music and voice acting is good in comparison to the dated visuals.

There is a lot of prep work and I would prefer to have the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard over a game controller. The hamburger buns are not pre sliced and need to be grilled/toasted prior to serving. Tomatoes and other vegetables need to be sliced beforehand. Meat and fries need to be cooked to the customer’s satisfaction if you want to keep them happy and earn more prestige for your business. Prestige is needed to unlock new venues to serve.

Once you have completed your business for the day, you’ll have to clean up your grill before you can close up shop. The prep area will need to be wiped down and the oil from the fryer will have to be drained too.

When you return to the garage you can gas up your food truck and spruce it up for its next ride. Ordering your food supplies and upgrades is done through your office PC. Once your food order is placed, you have three minutes to pick it in order to receive a discount. You’ll have to follow road rules in order to drive safely and get used to your truck’s chunkiness. The right trigger accelerates the truck while the left trigger puts it in reverse.

You can play the campaign mode which will walk you through the basics and provides an interesting story. The campaign is roughly eight hours long. There’s also a sandbox mode where you can hit the ground running and do whatever you want.

There are some moral issues worth noting in Food Truck Simulator. The wallpaper on the office PC has a naked Adam from Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” painting pointing at a big burger with the text “worth the sin”.  Some female customers wear low cut shirts which flaunt their "assets".  The campaign has an arson crime committed against your character for setting up shop on “their turf”. While getting back on their feet your character gets to run another food truck whose chef cooks and serves food with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth. I would be disgusted if I found cigarette ashes in my food!

Food Truck Simulator’s visuals are dated and a bit bland. It’s a bit disappointing for an Unreal engine powered game. While no one is fan of loading screes, these are interactive where you can move a food truck back and forth while you’re waiting for the game to load.

Since I originally streamed the game, Food Truck Simulator was updated and the tutorial is now more forgiving if you make any mistakes, so that’s an improvement. I still experience other game crashes and glitches so not much has changed in that regard.

Food Truck Simulator’s retail price is $19.99 but I have seen it as low as $10.99 on Steam. On Xbox, you can get it in a bundle with Gas Station Simulator for $34.99. Neither game in that bundle intrigues me. There’s a demo available on Steam if you’re curious about this game. I highly recommend trying it before parting with your money.