City and business simulators can feel impenetrable to newcomers, but Transport Fever 3 sets out to prove that the genre does not have to be intimidating. I don’t regularly play city/business building simulators regularly. That is largely due to the steep onboarding curve, which can feel overwhelming, as each game’s systems and dense user interfaces often appear tailored to established fan bases. The design philosophy can feel rooted in the idea that “it’s like riding a bike.”
But what if you have never learned to ride a bike? That is where Transport Fever 3 comes in, offering players a chance to get in on the ground floor with new systems and gameplay that cater to both newcomers and veterans. When given the opportunity to step into the role of a business mogul for a few hours to explore the new features and campaign in Transport Fever 3, I stamped my tram ticket and jumped on board. After only a short time with the game, I felt confident I could play it effectively, which feels almost like sorcery for this genre.
To shake off the rust, I jumped into the first campaign mission of Transport Fever 3 to get my bearings. The opening task required me to locate several alligators around a building site. The objective is humorously woven into a light filler storyline, with NPCs reacting dramatically to the gators. Transport Fever 3 injects personality into its missions, and there were genuine laugh-out-loud exchanges between characters.
“Transport Fever 3 injects personality into its missions, and there were genuine laugh-out-loud exchanges between characters.”
Urban Games smartly disguises its tutorial elements. What feels like a series of basic tasks gradually introduces players to the UI and teaches the fundamental controls of Transport Fever 3. As a self-described amateur of the genre, I appreciated having a guiding hand and a clear direction during the opening hours. After rounding up four gators, I was tasked with re-establishing a delivery line to Mardi Gras. With the purchase of a few horse-drawn carriages, I was able to get operations underway.
Transport Fever 3 places players within the evolving history of transportation and logistics, offering a firsthand look at how vehicles have developed over time. The game begins in 1900 with horse-drawn carriages and progresses to the modern era, featuring helicopters, trams, boats, and more. The difficulty curve is closely tied to this timeline, as managing your business becomes more complex in later eras. In the early 1900s, few people owned horse-drawn carriages, so traffic congestion was minimal and competition between supply lines was less intense.
I was able to zoom in and follow my carriage along its route, watching the horses gallop across the then-innovative dirt roads. I could also speed up the action using fast-forward, which made the horses move at double speed, think a four-legged Sonic the Hedgehog, just slower. While amusing when zoomed in, the feature is effective for completing missions more quickly. After supplying Mardi Gras and finishing each objective, the mission concluded, and I felt confident in my understanding of Transport Fever 3.
The control scheme in Transport Fever 3 is intuitive, with the mouse serving as the primary tool. Nearly every function, aside from naming supply lines, can be managed with the mouse, and it feels natural. Urban Games carries over this design approach from Transport Fever 2, and it works well. After learning the basics, the controls shifted from “How do I do this?” to second-nature muscle memory. Urban Games has refined the ability to fine-tune details using only the mouse, and the system feels responsive.
Back in the game, I jumped ahead to mission four, where I stepped into the role of a long-haired, glasses-wearing Burning Man-style festival organizer. Transport Fever 3 gradually increases the difficulty as missions progress and as technology advances along the in-game timeline. My first task was to build a stage, which required stockpiling 300 logs. This is where the game expands its systems and places players in the deep end, albeit with guidance. Different cargo vehicles are required for different jobs, every action carries a cost, and new tasks appear quickly. Balancing these mechanics is essential to succeed.
After stepping away from the campaign and trying a randomized quick-start mode from the menu, it became clear that the concept expands significantly in free play. Players can jump into a randomly generated world and begin establishing transport lines with careful attention to budget and efficiency. In Transport Fever 3, Urban Games places the emphasis on business-building first and transport management as the vehicle for that experience. As an added feature, the game provides a seed ID, allowing two players to work within the same world state.
Tasks appear at the top of the screen, and players must react quickly to keep clients and their bottom line satisfied. I liken it to a bold Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master wielding authority without hesitation. When multiple tasks requiring thousands of dollars arise at once, players must prioritize what is most urgent while balancing a steadily shrinking bank account, often propped up by loans if the financial pressure is not already high enough.
Back in campaign mission four of Transport Fever 3, the stage has been built, but your headband-wearing, psychedelic partner, along with the rest of the festival crowd, has the munchies. He suggests going “far out” and sourcing food for the attendees. After securing canned goods from a nearby factory, an unforeseen issue arises: everyone is vegetarian. That means the time and resources spent funnelling canned food into the campground are wasted, and a new supply line must be established to deliver fresh vegetables and keep the public satisfied.
“Transport Fever 3 is shaping up to be a bike anyone can ride, complete with removable training wheels.”
This is where Transport Fever 3 begins to feel like a choose-your-own-adventure. The objective is clear: transport vegetables from the southernmost settlement to the campground. However, trucks take a long time to navigate the poorly maintained roads between the farm and the site. After attempting, and failing, to rely solely on long-haul trucking routes, I realized it might be more expensive initially to repave the roads to the southern town, but far more efficient in the long run.
My trucks began breaking down halfway through the trip, adding extra time and increasing operating costs as I was forced to redo the scenario. In real life, making such costly business decisions can lead to bankruptcy, and Transport Fever 3 reflects that reality. Terraforming roads is not a simple black-and-white decision in Transport Fever 3; there are plenty of shades of grey.
Lowering hills and mountains to road level is satisfying and empowering in practice. For a moment, I felt like a god laying down infrastructure at will, but even that power comes with budget limits. It is worth noting that building roads without due consideration can damage your reputation worldwide, ultimately costing thousands in social responsibility penalties. Unhappy citizens do not support the business responsible, and Transport Fever 3 reflects that dynamic.
After absorbing the reputation hit and constructing a more direct route to the vegetable-producing town, I finally succeeded. The conversations between NPCs remain genuinely funny. The local police take issue with the festival as waste begins to pile up, and when the initial instinct is to dump it in the river, literally, an even bigger problem follows. Players must then create a new supply line to dispose of the latrines responsibly. Transport Fever 3 seems prepared for nearly every curveball it throws at players, and so far, its systems tie together impressively well.
Transport Fever 3 is a blast to jump into and play, which is a strong sign for dedicated business-building fans. Too often, titles in this genre sacrifice engaging gameplay in favour of intricate business mechanics, leaving players without clear direction.
From my short time with Transport Fever 3, it feels as though Urban Games understands those shortcomings. The studio has introduced systems and a streamlined UI that are less intimidating for newcomers, while cleverly disguising the tutorial as missions infused with comedic flair to gently guide players forward.
Unlike Transport Fever 2, which relied on mods to create fully realized underground tram stations, Transport Fever 3 includes them from the outset, allowing players to build sheltered stations at will. Although I have only scratched the surface, Urban Games appears to be crafting a sequel worth considering, even for those intimidated by the genre. Transport Fever 3 is shaping up to be a bike anyone can ride, complete with removable training wheels.
