''Bus Simulator 16'' is a bus simulator game developed by stillalive studios and published by

Astragon Entertainment Astragon Entertainment GmbH is a German video game publisher based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Originally a subsidiary of the German video game distributor Astragon Sales & Services GmbH (formerly Rondomedia Marketing & Vertriebs GmbH), the compan ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. It is powered by

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

and was available on 3 March 2016 worldwide. It is the fourth game in the ''

Bus Simulator ''Bus Simulator'' is a Vehicle simulation game, vehicle-simulation video game series developed by Icebytes, Contendo Media, TML Studios and Stillalive Studios, and published by Astragon, Astragon Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 200 ...

'' series. A sequel titled ''

Bus Simulator 18 ''Bus Simulator 18'' (also known as ''Bus Simulator'' on consoles) is a bus simulator game developed by Stillalive Studios and published by Astragon Entertainment. It is powered by Unreal Engine 4 and was released in June 2018 for Windows and in ...

'' was released in 2018.

Gameplay

''Bus Simulator 16'' has licensed the vehicles of

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

. In addition to the buses of the German bus maker, the game features a total of six buses that allow players to drive across five districts. The game also provides a route manager for players to create their own bus lines. A

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode is available in the game as well.

Development and release

''Bus Simulator 16'' was announced July 2015. It is the first game in the series developed by Austrian

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

stillalive Studios. The game was scheduled to release on 20 January 2016 for Microsoft Windows and macOS, but it was postponed to 3 March 2016 due to technical issues. A bus

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

featuring three licensed

Mercedes-Benz buses Mercedes-Benz has been producing buses since 1895 in Mannheim in Germany. Since 1995 Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches are known by the brand name of Daimler Buses (formerly EvoBus GmbH), a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck. Heritage The wo ...

, including an 18-meter long Citaro G

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a ...

, were available on 25 January 2017.

Reception

''Bus Simulator 16'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Richard Allen of '' Invision Community'' rated a seven to the game. He wrote that the handlings of the game were quite similar with the ''

American Truck Simulator ''American Truck Simulator'' is a truck simulator game developed and published by SCS Software. It was first announced as being in development in September 2013 and unveiled at the E3 2015. It was released on 2 February 2016 for Microsoft Wind ...

'' of

SCS Software SCS Software s.r.o. is a video game developer based in Prague, Czech Republic. It primarily produces simulation games for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, including the '' 18 Wheels of Steel'' and '' Truck Simulator'' series. The name is an ...

, which was published in the same period. James Graham of ''Dark Station'' gave it three stars out of five. He praised the game's interesting ideas, but criticised its tiny in-game map and a lack of in-depth content. ''Brash Games'' only rated the game a poor three points out of ten. The writer commented, "''Bus Simulator 16'' is a lifeless, soulless lie of a simulator; and I use the term ‘simulator’ in the loosest possible way."

References

External links

* {{in lang, en 2016 video games Bus simulation video games Bus Simulator MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in Austria Windows games Stillalive studios games