With Fruitbus, developer Krillbite Studio takes a step away from their previous games Among the Sleep and hiking sim Sunlight to deliver an experience like basically no other I’ve ever played. It asks the question: Can you recapture the glory days of your grandmother’s adventures with the titular bus while also convincing everyone dear to her to come to her final farewell party?

The game kicks off with a beautiful moment of nostalgia for the summer days spent with your grandmother and her Fruitbus. It’s a lovely moment and also works as a perfect way to introduce the basic mechanics of the game: the making of a tasty fruit salad. Krillbite has chosen to make this game as tactile as possible, as you control both of your hands separately. This could have led to hilarious gameplay in the vein of your Surgeon Simulators, but fortunately, that’s not the case here. Instead of opting for jokey hijinks, this game allows you to feel the work that goes into running your food truck. At the start of the game, you only have your two hands to work with, so when you go foraging for ingredients—because you have to forage them instead of buying them—you only get to carry two items at a time. While making your fruit salads, you’re also forced to create your own little rhythm: grab the fruits, put them on the table, grab your knife, cut everything up, grab a plate, put in the ingredients, et voilà!

Honestly, I love this about the game. It’s so much more immersive than when games automatically do things for you, and it also forces you to take your time with the game, your work, and your customers, making this a pretty meditative experience. It also means that this would be a phenomenal VR game. However—yes, sadly, there is a however—this doesn’t translate to the most intuitive control scheme. Despite spending hours with the game, making the salads never came naturally to me as I kept fumbling the controls. This might obviously be a skill issue, but I felt it worth mentioning here as at times it could get a little frustrating. Luckily, as you take your role as a grownup and take over the Fruitbus, you gain the ability to buy items that can help you along your travels. The backpack quickly became essential as it could hold so much more fruit at a time, while saving up for this kind of vacuum thingy that can collect fruit from a distance was very worthwhile as well. Foraging is a big part of this game, and having these quality-of-life options available was an absolute game changer.

 

Another big part of the game’s physicality is the truck you drive around in. Just sitting in that truck, driving around the game’s three available islands, feels like the real thing. The clanky noises the truck makes, the static on the radio whenever you drive through a tunnel—it all reminded me of driving around in someone’s van back in the day. And that’s a good thing, as you’ll be on the road for a lot of your time with Fruitbus. The three islands have all been divided into different territories: there are villages where you will meet the inhabitants of this quirky world, and there are fields where you will mostly spend time foraging and driving through on route to other villages. Villagers have different needs, and sometimes you’ll need an item or ingredient from a place you haven’t visited yet to give them what they want. So back and forth you go, trying to make everyone happy and hopefully convince them to join you for your grandmother’s final goodbye.

Because yes, that’s still what this game is about. As wholesome as making fruit salads—and later on, smoothies—is, and how adorable the islands’ inhabitants look, this game doesn’t shy away from heavier themes. The biggest reminder is in the passenger seat of your truck the whole time: the urn with your grandma’s ashes. Her wish is for you to convince her friends and family to come say their final goodbyes at a grand feast, but most of these people need some convincing, despite clearly loving the woman.

In this way, the game becomes about something more than just having a good time. It’s about family, both the related and chosen kind. It’s about the time you spend with those you love and how your choices and actions affect those throughout your lifetime. For example, your mother isn’t all too worried about attending the funeral, as she didn’t spend all that much time with her mother, as she was always on the road with the Fruitbus. I like this aspect of the game a lot, as I’m a sucker for the different dynamics between people and how messy they can get the more you love someone. All of the people in this game are a joy to interact with, by the way. I won’t spoil too much here, but in the first village you come across, you meet a hotel manager who’s preparing a big party for the entire village but who doesn’t have a band yet. So, as per usual for video game protagonists, it’s up to you to find the entertainment. But aside from sending you on a mission, he also talks to you about your grandmother. They’re not the deepest conversations, but they hint at the history that your Nan shared with so many people and the legacy she’s left behind.

Combine these interesting characters, fun gameplay mechanics, a touching story with the beautiful visuals—I especially love the choice of making the characters move at a slower frame rate than the rest of the game, giving them this extra cartoony vibe à la Spider-Verse—and the quirky music, and what you get is just an all-around fantastic time. Just driving around at night with the stars illuminating the sky so warmly is just such a good vibe, and just one of many things to adore about this wonderful title.

Verdict

4.5/5

In a year filled to the brim with delightful indie games, Fruitbus is yet another memorable title. There’s so much warmth and love to be found here, even with the villagers, who are a little less approachable. It’s just one of those games where every element adds to the others in a beautiful symbiosis. If you’re up for a nostalgic time with fun writing, an addictive and satisfying gameplay loop, and some great little finishing touches, then you can’t go wrong with this one. Customise your truck to get the cherry on top, which feels fitting in this delightful game and its fruity goodness.


Release date: October 28th, 2024

Platforms: pc, Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5

Price: £20.99

Version tested: PC

Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

Comments

⚠️ Comments for this post are closed ⚠️