Roadside Research Early Access Preview

I must admit, stocking shelves is such a bore. Having worked in gas stations for about a decade, replacing product was always the thing I least liked to do. I mean, none of it is fun, honestly. Sweeping, mopping, ringing customers up, and cleaning toilets — few jobs I’ve ever held felt more degrading in the day-to-day.

I suppose in that sense, I am grateful for Roadside Research’s more fantastical take on the convenience store drudgery. As a 1 to 4-player co-op simulation game, tackling these mundane efforts is much more entertaining on its own, and doubly so given the alien-invaders-as-store-clerks premise it holds itself to.

Publisher: Oro Interactive

Developer: Cybernetic Walrus

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released February 12, 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC

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Between stocking shelves, mopping up feces (an activity that brings me no joy to relive, even jokingly), and charging customers for goods, you’ll be trying to avoid suspicion from said customers and the government agents that accost you.

My early impressions of Roadside Research are, unfortunately, nearly as limited as the current gameplay. With very few character customization options and a limited variety of interactions available to you in any given scenario, there’s not much to take away from the game beyond having a good time with your friends. When you have a full group of competent players, even the slow trickle of research tasks are of little concern. There is very little threat of discovery from your hunters should you simply perform your tasks efficiently.

Additionally, store customization is limited and your available tasks are equally sparse. Only a few item options are present, and the only real work to be done lies in pumping gas, scrubbing messes, and taking people’s money — a great approximation, indeed. 

If you’re looking for a way to kill a few hours with friends, Roadside Research is not a particularly compelling option in its current state. That said, I do find the game has a lot of promise. Should more varied research tasks be implemented, and should agent involvement escalate in future updates, running the gas station disguised as aliens could be quite a lot of fun.