Parcel Simulatortasks players with becoming the last line of defense against improperly-packaged and labeled parcels, with the upcoming Steam letting players create their perfect sorting facility when the title releases in Q1 2024. With the fate of many-a-package resting squarely on their shoulders,Parcel Simulatorplayers must follow instructions to the letter so delivers get sent to the correct recipients.
Parcel Simulator’s premise takes the concept offactory simsout for a spin, especially when mechanics such as barcode scanning eventually evolves into a full-blown facility management game. Game Rant recently sat down withParcel Simulatordeveloper Dansan Digital (Dan) to get his insights on what inspired his focus on parcel management and how his experience as a solo developer affected the game’s creation.The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Q: Can you share more about yourself, especially on the game development scene?
A: I’m Dan. I currently work full-time as a software engineer. I’m sort of a web developer. Essentially, I build SaaS products. It’s completely unrelated to game development, but I’ve been doing software for quite a while. In terms of game development, I’ve been a hobbyist for around five or six years, starting off withUnity game engine, and then moving into Unreal within the last few years.
Q: Can you give us a brief background onParcel Simulator?
A:Parcel Simulatoris essentially a parcel and package inspection sim. You take control of a parcel sorting facility, and your role is to be a parcel inspector: inspecting and dissecting parcels for labeling issues, discrepancies, wear and tear, contraband, and all sorts of other fun stuff.
Throughout your time inParcel Sim, you’ll be earning and unlocking upgrades and automations that allow you to build up and expand this thriving, efficient parcel-sorting facility. So, sort of like an Amazon sorting warehouse. The idea is you’re starting with a very small initial area where you’re just manually picking up packages and inspecting them. And over time, you’re building up these really fun, automated systems and intricate designs to build out a thriving parcel sorting center. That’s the high-level overview.
Parcel Simulatorhas been my first commercial project. I’ve been working on it for sort of upwards of six months now. I’m really excited about it, and the reception for it so far has been really nice to see. I did an indie game for a game jam or two, but this is my first commercial project.
Q: How did you come up with the idea of making a parcel simulator?
A: I was on YouTube, and there was a channel that I was watching giving a bit of a tour of an Amazon sorting facility. I was looking at this video, they were enjoying their job, and they seemed to find it quite fun. I was looking at what they were doing - and keep in mind at this point, I was in the midst of various little game side projects, like very much involved with game development, but not stuck on one particular project - and I thought to myself, like, “Hey, that can be gamified. Surely, that would be quite a fun little mini-game?”
It seems strange and counterintuitive, but that’s the beauty of a lot ofsimulator games: they take a seemingly-mundane activity and gamify it, making it really fun, engaging, and satisfying. And that’s whereParcel Simoriginally stemmed from. I was like, “Hey, can I make a parcel sorting center vibe into a full game?”
And interestingly, at the same time, I was also playinga game calledPapers, Please.Papers, Pleaseis a document and passport control game. It’s not necessarily a simulator game, per se, but it does have simulator-esque elements in that it’s simulating being a customs officer. At the time, I was playingPapers, Pleasejust as a bit of fun on my Steam Deck. I also saw this sorting facility, and I thought: “Well, what about a mash-up between the two?”
Like, I really enjoyed the inspections and the focus on key elements of documents and documentation, and then inspecting things. I thought, “Well, hey, that’s what you do in a sorting facility, right?” We can mash the two together and out the other side comesParcel Simulator.
Q: Did you have other considerations for a sim game aside from parcels?
A: I think, initially, I did see the parcels and I thought that’s a cool, fun little thing that I could make into amini-game. Parcels have all sorts of labels and documents that come along with them. You can have more complicated parcels that have contraband inside, or maybe you need to open them up and inspect some of the contents like liquids and things like that and do testing and whatnot.
But then I started to think, “Well, hey, you’re able to go a bit further with this.” You can make a full parcel sorting facility. So, less of a specific focus on just the parcels and maybe more building systems around them. Like, can you build conveyor belts that take parcels from A to B, and maybe they do some of these inspections for you automatically? Because there are some things that maybe you might be able to upgrade and do some of these things - like barcode scanning or scales or things like that - automatically through the sorting facility.
I thought, “Hey, all these elements put together makes for a really fun, interactive game concept.” It’s hopefully something with high replayability as well, which is always the goal. I also had a lot of inspiration from like, I don’t know the specific names of them, border control TV shows. I’ve seen a few people have made the contrast between my game and these customs shows or the border control shows, and I think that’s super cool as well.
I think maybe long, long term - there might be no guarantees on this - but there’s a thought of having some sort of airport or something, too, where you’re able to have suitcases coming through, and you’re checking those, too. I guess that the airport was maybe one of the other ideas that I had, and this was more focused on the customs officer side of things. But yeah, we’ll see how that goes.
Q: Did you have any memorable experiences with parcels/deliveries that inspired/affected the development ofParcel Simulator?
A: My best friend worked for a while at one of these Amazon sorting facilities, and he was sending me pictures of some of the things that he was able to take pictures of - because obviously, they’re very busy, they don’t always have time to take photos - I mean, for him, it was work. But for me, it was quite interesting and cool because, obviously, I’m just at a computer all day, right?
I don’t quite know the feeling of picking up packages and doing all these these these tasks but I did look at the photos, and I thought that looks like fun as a mini-game-esque thing. Maybe there’s a game in there. I think that’s, that’s the beauty of being a sort of solo game developer is always looking at things and thinking, “Oh, could I make a game out of that idea?” Or, you know, “Could I turn this activity into a game?”
So yeah, I don’t have any personal experience. Seeing these border control shows online and also having my friend that worked previously in a sorting facility definitely drove some of the inspiration and the ideas for the game for sure.
Q: Aside from the focus on parcels, what setsParcel Simulatorapart from other sim experiences?
A: I think automation is something that I’m trying to put a lot of work into at the moment. It’s something that I’m gathering playtesting feedback on and trying to build into some really interesting systems.
It’s not going to be quite as simple as, maybe inPapers, Pleaseas an example, wherePapers, Pleasehas quite a linear feelto it. You have days that happen, and you do your inspections and then that ends the day. I’m trying to broadenParcel Simulatorsomewhat in a way that there are things to do during the day. So there are little activities and things you can do in the breakroom sort of, so to speak. Yesterday, for example, I was working on a basketball hoop just for fun, and I thought, “Hey, let’s add a basketball hoop to the breakroom.” Because, why not, I’m a solo dev, I can do these things.
The game still has like a day system, per se, but there’s more focus on freedom for the player being able to build and expand this warehouse, however they please. So, if you want to make a system or an area really efficient, maybe you want to build some conveyor belts that are upgraded and really fast. Or maybe there’s this particular interaction or inspection that you want to automate, like scanning barcodes or x-rays, because you think, “Oh, you know what, I can make that part a little bit more efficient.” And then, in turn, be able to process more parcels throughout the day.
I think all of those kinds of automated systems and the customization takes away some of thelinearityand makes it into a really fleshed out, and hopefully, really replayable game.
Q: How did you devise the mechanic of cross-checking a package’s information and contents with preset criteria?
A: The thought process was essentially that, again, if we look atPapers, Please- fantastic game, I really, really had fun, and it’s super addictive - one of the things I really thought that I wanted to build on was: You’re building up these inspections over and over, and you get more and more and more things to check. That does reach a point where you’ve got this monolith that you have to check and inspect. That’s super fine and cool, but I wanted to move more toward automating some of the ones that you’ve already done quite a bit.
As an anecdotal example, you have to scan one of the parcel types, so you have to scan barcodes. You have to pick up a little barcode scanner, go scan the parcel, and then it tells you whether or not that barcode is valid. Once you’ve done that enough times, the player might feel like, “Hey, I know how to scan barcodes, right? So maybe I can automate this myself and make the system do this for me.”
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So the idea is that you automate some of these pieces that either become a little bit mundane or maybe they’re things that you already know how to check. And after you’ve already had that fun engaging experience with, you get your sorting facilities to do some of those checks for you. Over time, it means that the parcels that come in through are very specific ones that you need to check manually. Maybe these are things like contraband that need anx-ray machine. It might start out that you have to open up parcels, check them, see if there’s any contraband in there, then close them up, take them up, and ship them on.
But instead, you could get yourself an automated x-ray machine that will make the parcel go along the conveyor, and show on a screen what’s inside. If there’s contraband, you know that instant that you need to either deny that parcel or put it into a separate pile for contraband parcels. I think that’s where the mechanics came from, my thinking, “Hey, I want to make this not feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again.”
I also wanted to make it feel like there’s a proper progression system, and you’re really building out a proper facility. Because arguably, that is how a small sorting facility or sorting company might build up their own facility. They might start by doing things very manually, like how you would with any business really. You start by doing things manually and then as you gain traction, you get money, you have success with your “business,” and you’re able to expand and upgrade and automate a lot of these laborious tasks.
Q: The setting of the game and how the labels are created seem true to what we see in real-life warehouse offices and parcels. How did you end up with the particular layout and aesthetic of the game?
A: Some of that is coming soon. I have my partner’s stepdad, and he works in a sorting facility as a manager there. I’m planning to, at some point, go and visit one of those facilities myself so that I can take some photographs and maybe speak to some people and see what the things are that they’re doing.
The internet is such a good resource these days for finding things, there’s a lot you can find online, even for things like inspection techniques. I’ve used a ton of stuff from YouTube and Reddit for finding out what the day-to-day in the life of a sorting facility worker actually looks like, and the sort of things that they are checking. Obviously, some things are more gamified than others. So there are some things that are maybe not super, super 100% realistic, but that’s for the sole purpose of making it feel fun and making it feel properly gamified. I think that’s totally valid, and all games do that just to make things more fun in some ways.
Q: You mentioned a while ago that you’ve been creating your own games for the past five or six years. What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve taken from your previous games really helped with the development ofParcel Simulator?
A: I would say one of the biggest lessons, and I think all solo game developers will know this one too well, is script creep. Essentially coming up with an idea that’s just too much for one person to do. You could maybe get a team of people in to join you, but I’m asolo developer, I really enjoy working on my own games.
I mean, it’s super important that when you’re planning out a game, or an idea, to cut back on things and be realistic about your goals if you’re on your own. That can be as simple as not being realistic with the art style or not being realistic with the big set of features that you’ve got. Just being realistic with yourself about what you truly think you can achieve, and I think that’s really what I focused on withParcel Sim.
Realism is what I’ve been focusing on with more of my recent games specificallyParcel Sim.It’s mainly just coming up with an idea that seems both fun and feasible for me to do as a solo developer, and then listing out the key things that it needs for a demo and working on those and getting those released. There’s a demo coming soon that I want to release, and that’s going to have enough features in it that it’s super fun but not so many that I can’t do them all on my own thing.
Staying focused is another key one, too. With thebasketball hoopthing, I would argue that was still a valuable thing because that was for the breakroom in the game. It’s to have some fun things that you can do outside the possible sorting. But it’s still very easy to say like, “Oh, you know, I’ve got to build this main menu, this save system, or this gameplay loop thing that’s maybe a little bit boring for a dev to do. So I’m just going to go and make this really like pointless thing on the side.”
I think that’s very easy to happen when you’re making games on your own. Because like, I’ve got no one telling me like, “Hey, Dan, you need to pick up the game and be more focused.” I think after enough time making fun side projects, it’s very easy for me now to stay focused and stay driven on the game, and I think withParcel Sim, specifically the community that I’m slowly building around the game, really drives me to stay focused, stay working on the game, and really make something that people are going to enjoy and hopefully play over and over again.
Q: You mentioned a demo. What will the player experience of the demo be like compared to the full release?
A: Thedemois going to focus on the parcel inspections, but there will also be opportunities for upgrades and automation. It’s effectively just going to be a small vertical slice of the full release, so there’ll be fewer environments and fewer inspections. There might not be as many activities, but there’s going to be lots to do and hopefully quite a bit of replayability as well. But of course, I’m going to limit the amount of upgrades and things that you can do and the machines that you can purchase. Ultimately, it’s going to be a full experience and hopefully something that will be fun for people to make content for, and also get a real feel for what the game is going to be like.
The full release is going to have more environments. Whether that’d be like larger warehouses, maybe some like totally different environments like a shipping dock or something like that, and that one’s potentially in the works. As I’ve said, some stuff is a little bit unknown at the moment because I’m trying to get user feedback on certain things, but there’s basically just going to be a ton more inspections, parcel types, and things like that.
Q: There are a lot of elements of parcel management that players can encounter in the game. Which parcel sim elements were your priority to include in the demo, and what was the thought process behind that?
A:Some of these are still very much in the works, but I’ll give you my high-level overview to give you an idea. Essentially, parcel inspections are vaguely categorized into different groups, mainly to do with the complexity and interactions that they take to be processed. The idea is that the demo will contain a couple from each of those categories. Rather than getting the full spread of all of them, you will get some from each, so you get a taste of what each one is like, without giving away the entire game, essentially.
The idea there is that you’ll be able to have some basic inspections to get you started and introduce you to the game, but you’ll also be able to inspect more complex parcels to give you a feel for the depth that the game has and the interesting things that you’re able to do. And so an example of that might be what is passable and what content’s contraband, but it might also need the items to undergo weighing or testing.
Q: What are some advice you could give to solo developers who are also thinking about making their own game?
A: I would say the most important thing is to make sure it’s fun. Don’t be building a game if you’re not enjoying it. The biggest thing for me was I would often come up with ideas that I thought might be marketable, or they might seem appealing to others. But they weren’t really my game. I had a lot ofindie gamesthat were not sort of my style that I worked on. I’m really into simulator games, I think they’re really fun. There’s just something super addictive about them that I really like. For the longest time, I put off making a sim game because I thought, “There’s no way one guy can make a sim game, right?” I guess I was wrong because here I am making a sim game and there seems to be quite a bit of interest in it.
So, I would say make sure that the games that you’re building are games that you want to play yourself and that you find fun because, otherwise, you’re never going to stick through to the end of a project.
With the gamifying stuff, always be on the lookout for fun ideas in the real world. This doesn’t just apply to sim games, I think it’s obviously easier with sim games because then you’re simulating something real, but I would say keep on the lookout for things that you do, even if it’s like a small mundane task. There’s agame calledA Little To The Leftthat you might have heard of orUnpackingis another example. Effectively, you just like sort of organize a room or boxes and move things around. Super satisfying mechanics and really impressive gameplay, but effectively, I can only imagine that they were inspired by real-world tasks.
So someone having to unpack the luggage when they get to anew property forUnpacking, or someone having to move things slightly because then you know things just aren’t quite right, your keyboard just doesn’t sit quite straight on your desk forA Little To The Leftare just gamified, real-world things. So definitely, be on the lookout for things in the real world that can inspire you and your future games.
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Parcel Simulatoris slated for a Q1 2024 release on the PC. Those interested in its ongoing development can check out itsSteam pageand theofficial Twitter account.
