Bus Driving Master 3D review

What it is

Bus Driving Master 3D puts you in a bus on a set of passenger routes. You collect people from stops, drive them to where they are going, and are expected to obey traffic rules and avoid hitting things along the way. Routes take in city streets, highways and mountain roads, and the developer says they become more demanding as you progress.

The pitch is genre boilerplate with nothing that sets it apart: no bus list, no route count, no stated scoring beyond rewards for completing missions. Bus games live or die on two things, how the vehicle feels through a corner and how fair the traffic is, and neither is something a description can tell you. I have rated it on the honest assumption that it is an average example of its type.

How it plays

The documented controls are WASD or the arrow keys to drive and steer, and nothing else. There is no listed key for a handbrake, doors, indicators or a camera switch, which for a bus simulator is sparse; either those functions happen automatically when you stop at a marker or they do not exist. Expect forward and reverse on the vertical keys and steering on the horizontal ones, with the bus slowing when you release the throttle.

A bus is long, so the thing to learn is that the rear swings wide of the front on any turn. Steering the way you would in a car game clips kerbs and traffic with the back corner. On a phone the controls are not documented, and a 3D game with a long vehicle needs a decent view ahead; on a small screen in the 800 by 600 frame that view is limited. It will also load more slowly than a 2D title; the browser game lag guide covers the usual fixes.

Tips that actually help

Bus games punish speed and reward planning. The habits that matter are all about where the back of the vehicle is going.

• Turn late and wide. Drive past the corner further than feels natural before steering in, so the rear wheels track through the turn rather than across the kerb.
• Brake in a straight line before a bend, not in it. A heavy vehicle that brakes while turning loads the outside front wheel and pushes wide.
• Approach stops slowly and stop parallel. Most bus games check position at the stop, and a bus that is angled or has overshot may not register the pickup.
• Check for traffic before pulling out from a stop; the game's traffic will not always wait for you.
• On the mountain routes, hold the lowest speed you can stand on downhill sections. Momentum builds quickly and there is usually little run-off.
• Treat traffic rules as a scoring system, not a suggestion. If the game deducts for running a light or clipping a car, one clean run is worth more than three fast ones.

Three kinds of road

The developer lists three settings: city streets, highways and mountain routes. They test different things. City driving is about the turning circle and stopping accurately at busy stops; highways are about lane discipline and closing speed on slower traffic; mountain roads are about braking before descents and holding a line on narrow curves. The claim that routes get harder over time most likely means longer runs, more traffic and tighter roads rather than new mechanics, which is how this genre usually scales.

Where it falls short

The documentation is a single control line and a paragraph of genre boilerplate, which tells you how much attention the parts around the driving are likely to have had. There is no stated mobile support and no mention of how progress is saved. Bus simulators can be pleasant when the driving model is good, but nothing here promises that, and the feature list amounts to picking people up and dropping them off. If the routes are as generic as the description, you will have seen everything within a few missions.

Questions people ask

Is there a brake or door button?

The developer lists only WASD or the arrow keys. Slowing is presumably on the reverse key, and doors likely open automatically at stops; nothing else is documented.

Does Bus Driving Master 3D work on a phone?

Mobile controls are not mentioned. Many 3D browser games add touch buttons automatically, but I cannot confirm this one does, so test it before planning a session.

Does it save my progress?

Not stated. If completed routes and rewards are remembered, it will be in the browser on that device only; see how browser games save progress.

Why does the game call itself Bus Driving Simulator?

The listing title is Bus Driving Master 3D but the developer's own description uses Bus Driving Simulator. They appear to be the same game under two names.