Bus Simulator 27
Bus Simulator 27
Game
Game2026
The Bus
Developer TML-Studios
The Bus is a bus simulation game developed by TML-Studios and published by Aerosoft. The early access version was available via Steam for Microsoft Windows on 25 March 2021, and the full version was released additionally on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 26 March 2026. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
245 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
52
Mixed
115 positive · 107 negative
95% range 45–58%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 115 | 107 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 7 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
1,329 of 1,983 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
55% recommend · 119 yes, 98 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 217 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (6,214 of 8,574 positive).
Many players praise the detailed 1:1 Berlin map and realistic bus driving. [1][2][3] A common complaint is poor optimization, with frequent stuttering and low FPS even on high-end PCs. [4][5][6] Some reviewers feel the game still feels unfinished after years of early access. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [12]
I was sure that with the release of this game, the physics, steering controls, and optimization would be improved. I was wrong. The expectations were not met. The controls are absolutely terrible — it feels like I’m driving a bus in GTA. It has now become clear (and I hope for other disappointed fans of niche games like this as well) that OMSI, despite all its shortcomings, will remain the benchmark for physics, …
- [4]
This is the most unoptimized game i have ever come across. 5 years you accomplish nothing, play with rtx 3080 and intel 14900k and i get 25fps and a massive spikes.
- [1]
I installed The Bus thinking: “haha funny bus game, drive around a bit, uninstall after 20 minutes.” It has now been 157.1 hours and I am emotionally invested in Berlin’s public transport system. The Gameplay Loop You start the game like a normal person. You end the game stopping exactly at the curb with surgical precision while judging other drivers for not using their indicators. drive bus stop at stop open door …
- [2]
Pretty great game. The 1:1 scale map is very accurate, I drove past a hotel that I've visited. Sure there is lag every now and then, but what can you really expect from such a big and dense map? Even then, it's very infrequent. Honestly, I've been playing this for about 3 hours today and have encountered no bugs nor performance issues. It's a great game. Although, I am now starting to act like a Berliner outside of …
- [3]
As someone who loves buses, this game is one of the best bus sims out there. The attention to detail on the vehicles and city environment is nice, and driving through Berlin almost feels real. I really love how the buses take up pretty much the entire lane and I love how the buses feel. There are still features I’d like to see added, but the game is already a great experience and has a lot of potential.
Summarised from 34 of the 230 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
The Bus sits at 52% positive across 222 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 245 · most liked firstI was sure that with the release of this game, the physics, steering controls, and optimization would be improved. I was wrong. The expectations were not met. The controls are absolutely terrible — it feels like I’m driving a bus in GTA. It has now become clear (and I hope for other disappointed fans of niche games like this as well) that OMSI, despite all its shortcomings, will remain the benchmark for physics, handling, and realism. I do not recommend this arcade-style game to anyone…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I installed The Bus thinking: “haha funny bus game, drive around a bit, uninstall after 20 minutes.” It has now been 157.1 hours and I am emotionally invested in Berlin’s public transport system. The Gameplay Loop You start the game like a normal person. You end the game stopping exactly at the curb with surgical precision while judging other drivers for not using their indicators. drive bus stop at stop open door people enter bus feel powerful And somehow this is weirdly satisfying.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Streamed once, got a threatening letter next day from TML that they are going to take legal action cause of my title which said "Worst TML hater plays X", where I actually IF you watch the stream you can see me enjoying the game. IF you are a streamer, just beware and be careful next time. This happened in 25' August. I would absolutely love to buy this game back and stream it again, but at this state I cannot, cause I risk getting sued. I am saddened beyond words, and it was the only reason…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the most unoptimized game i have ever come across. 5 years you accomplish nothing, play with rtx 3080 and intel 14900k and i get 25fps and a massive spikes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game. I've had the game for a few years now. When I first got it, it was unplayable due to the poor performance. I thought that was because I had a GPU that didn't meet the minimum specs, however, I now have a 3070, which exceeds the recommended specs. Even when I play on low settings, the game is constantly stuttering and the game itself feels incomplete. There's also literally no point in playing on low settings as it just makes the graphics crap. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Optimization isn't there guys. It is a pity to have 20 to 45 FPS on a high end rig. I will not recommend for purchasing in this state. Maybe it is worth to wait for 1 more year, so devs will polish the game. Force feedback is also bad and not informative at all. Unfortunately, for now it will be refunded until better times, as the game is not enjoyable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☐ Satisfyingly brutal ☑ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☐ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't recommend the game to those who seek actual realistic bus driving simulation. (Good VS Bad and comparison down below if you don't want to read through my long review) I understand that making a Bus Simulator that is actually realistic is not an easy thing to do. But if basically TWO people could make a simulator (namely OMSI) with very good physics, decent graphics (for it's time) and very good sound system almost TWO DECADES ago, how on earth a whole STUDIO wasn't able to get so basic…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have owned this game for several years now, and at this point it feels like it's just never leaving Early Access. Although it gets updated frequently, the game still severely lacks polish and carries a lot of the same jank it came with on day one, way back in 2021. I'd only recommend it to extremely hardcore bus sim enthusiasts who are burned out on OMSI2; it's far too messy and buggy for most people to have any sort of casual fun in.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fun game i get ets2 vibes but the optimization is just ahh, i barely get stable 60 fps on medium?!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Literally unplayable. My PC meets the requirements for this game, but the game still lags a lot and produces less than 30 fps. The game is very unstable, to the point that it's not enjoyable. I applied for the refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a requested animation for @bitebitebited.bsky.social! characters are from a silly lil game called: Posey Picks and the Bus Stop. highly recommend it!! :> Posey Picks and the Bus Stop: indooranimal.itch.io/posey-picks-... see it in my portfolio: vgen.co/Cocophany/po... #pixelart #poseypicks #vgen
positive · AI labelView post →After 4 YEARS of early access and development, this is still nothing but an unfinished, unimmersive mess. Don't waste your time or money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I saw the reviews mentioning poor optimization, but I thought it wouldn't matter since I have an RTX 5080. I was wrong. The optimization is so abysmal that on max settings, I can't even play in 1080p without constant stuttering. Dropping to medium settings in 3K doesn't fix it either. Incredibly, even on medium settings at 1080p, the game continues to hitch and refuses to run smoothly. I'm honestly not sure how a game in this state could even be released.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to enjoy The Bus, but the optimization completely ruins the experience. Even on a high end PC, the game suffers from constant stuttering, FPS drops, and inconsistent performance. I've tried changing the graphics settings, but it barely helps. The game has a lot of potential, but the current optimization makes it difficult to recommend. I hope the developers focus on improving performance because, right now, it's the biggest thing holding the game back.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please let this be a normal hockey game with The Bus No way!!!
neutral · AI labelView post →The game is great, simulates buses very well. The bad side is that it simulates a slideshow (10-15FPS) randomly, doesn't matter on settings, (lower settings are somehow worse?)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I deliberately waited two years for the full release, looking forward to the economy mode and especially for the possibility of creating detailed timetables. At the same time, I expected the developers to use this time to polish the game technically. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Despite having a powerful PC build, I can't even play the game on high settings (nor on Epic). The game lags constantly while driving, mouse steering is 1sec delayed, and the keybind configuration is completely…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is THE WORST optimized game i have ever played, i know this is an early access, but i really do hope that you guys work on the performance rather than content, this game shows a great future and has a lot of potential, but it's insane how a RTX 3060 12 GB, 16 GBS of RAM and a i5 12th gen can't run this game without the constant stuttering and lag, i can literally run any other game on epic settings 100+ fps except this one, even on mid settings it's not enjoyable, and also please fix the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is amazing but updates are just too slow and rather bad performance. I would give a neutral rating if it was a choice.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is the worst simulation game I have ever seen. It freezes and lags and it is still in the alpha phase. Do not buy it and I do not recommend it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Three stars from the game, and the Bus keeps rolling! #CarolinaCulture
neutral · AI labelView post →I tried and tried and tried. Bought very early, waited for 1.0 release. Even had some fun with it, simply because i love the concept. Unfortunately programming is a mess. U can see it in every aspect of the game. Performance is horrible, changing graphics settings doesnt change to much, Rather shows u the bad programming whilst doing so going into an untextured mess for half a minute before changing the settings and then taking another couple of minutes to process the new settings. People have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →“The Bus” is honestly a lot of fun for me because of the detailed Berlin setting. Even though there are mixed reviews, I think the physics and AI traffic are perfectly fine for casual gaming. That said, this doesn’t quite feel like a full release yet because the performance is still rough. At first, I could only run it on low settings, and now suddenly it works on high settings for no apparent reason. The controls are responsive but often feel too direct, and the menu navigation is far from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Where do I start. This game is a heaping pile of ♥♥♥♥. Even on fairly decent specs, it runs like it is powered by a potato taped to a ceiling fan. Stutters, frame drops, random slowdowns. It is less “bus simulator” and more “guess what your FPS will be next.” The physics are somehow even worse. Driving feels like the bus is made of jelly and bad decisions. You turn the wheel and it either ignores you or swings so hard you feel like you are steering a shopping trolley with one broken wheel.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Worst optimization. Runs poorly and is totally random. Lighting is horrible, looks like a prototype uni project or something. Regarless of what fps it shows, the game just stutters as hell. One time you get a decent gameplay, the next day it stutters like crazy. No matter what settings you have, low, medium, high, with/without dlss, fg. Some buses don't move once you stop at a red signal. Have to keep fiddling with drive/neutral/reverse to some how get it to move. And yet, without fixing that,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty great game. The 1:1 scale map is very accurate, I drove past a hotel that I've visited. Sure there is lag every now and then, but what can you really expect from such a big and dense map? Even then, it's very infrequent. Honestly, I've been playing this for about 3 hours today and have encountered no bugs nor performance issues. It's a great game. Although, I am now starting to act like a Berliner outside of the game.. The only con is the physics, but as long as you drive responsibly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It lags alot, it's complicated has no tutorials, is still in early alpha stages after 4-5 years. I wouldn't buy this game. Also it's soo expensive like it's DLC that just adds new routes
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recommend The Bus, but only just. It has a lot of potential and some solid features, but it still feels like a work in progress. The game comes across as if it’s still in early access, with noticeable areas that need improvement. The good: The Bus is a fun game to play. It’s easy to get into, and just driving around the city and completing routes makes for an enjoyable experience. The map is very detailed and feels well made. The city looks realistic, and there’s a lot to see while…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As of Sept 3, 26 if your game keeps crashing, roll back to v1.1 and you should be fine. update causes game to crash.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's okay but obviously will never compare to the likes of Omsi. I wouldn't necessarily say its worth the asking price either if you can get it on a sale or buy from loaded then do so. Overall the game has a very tacky feel to it alike to construction simulator etc. Physics are shockingly poor but at least the steering has improved since the likes of fernbus when using a wheel.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its very good after the last update (beta) and DLSS does its job perfect regarding performance. The physics are pretty good and its a chill game with a lot of realism to it. Nice possibility to report bugs directly to the devs by pressing F1 which takes a screenshot where you can add a comment to let them now what happend. The devs seems invested in the game, even if it has taken a long time to get it to the current state. + Very good looking + Dynamic weather is amazing + Sounds + Realism…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Insane price for a game that is really too limited to even be a proper sim, with a DLC charging for almost full game price.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone who loves buses, this game is one of the best bus sims out there. The attention to detail on the vehicles and city environment is nice, and driving through Berlin almost feels real. I really love how the buses take up pretty much the entire lane and I love how the buses feel. There are still features I’d like to see added, but the game is already a great experience and has a lot of potential.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is ok but if this game wants to take me away from OMSI2, a lot of work needs to be put into the sound engine and gearbox simulation, these 2 things alone already makes Omsi miles ahead of this game, i don't need fancy graphics and UE5 rendering, i want immersion and this game does not provide it unforunately.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR - this is not a game review, it's a review of the EA concept. The game *may* be great. Full explanation below. The game seemed great at first, then during one of the EA updates, it stopped launching completely. The TML logo pops up, animation starts, and then it crashes spectacularly with the oh-so-familiar UE crash dump dialog. EA means they're still fixing bugs, right? WRONG. Tried this on two PCs, reinstalled, updated GPU drivers, the works. This didn't help either -…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After many hours of playing, I have to conclude that I'm disappointed. Let me start on a positive note: the graphics are phenomenal. Berlin is beautifully recreated, and the mod options allow creative types to upload their own maps. The buses themselves look fantastic too. Now for the downsides: the game has been in early access for several years, with its attendant bugs and glitches. The performance is unreliable, and crashes are frequent. The sounds and driving physics are arcady and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After years of development, the performance is just bad. The game might be good, but yeah… it’s simply not playable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →as of right now with current updates support with wheels is awful crashing the game every time ,no matter what you do it will crash if you do use a wheel for most users. Hopefully in next updates this will be patched for now however not the greatest game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, it's the first time I ever write a review for a game. I bought this on day one of early access release, 5 years ago. On my old PC back then, there was nothing really interesting for me, I had to degrade graphics at the lowest settings, and still then it was virtually unplayable for me. Some time later, I came back to this game, on my new PC, and I was really positively impressed, with the quality of the scene. I've been in Berlin myself twice, and the heart and soul of the city was really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to love this game, but I can't recommend it right now. The idea is fantastic—real buses and a huge map—but the execution falls short. The gameplay suffers from constant stutters and crazy AI drivers. Even with a decent rig (32GB RAM), I have to lower the graphics just to make it playable. It has huge potential, but for the current price, it’s too unstable and the few available lines get repetitive fast.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game sucks it hasnt worked for me since 2024 theres no support its never leaving early access its a complete mess and should be taken down
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Bus Please optimize the game i am tired of getting 47 fps to 50 fps please the bus optimize the game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's an okay game for someone who has the money and time to dedicate it but the average player wouldn't like it go play Omsi2 or osmething
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The optimization is complete poo, which is a shame, as this is a pretty good bus simulation. Bus Bound clears it however, even though it is more arcade. It has better performance, and personally, I see myself having more fun with that than The Bus.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →wow, this Bus simulator is really well done. The ingame menus feel sweet and nice and easy to use. The tutorial could use a small adjustment example how do we program the bus computer and assign a route. It was actually pretty easy once i found out. Clickc the start button on the display and the page will popup. MY my first contract was kind of a failure since i somehow did not figure the above out in the first try. So i desided to just drive anyway to see the city and restart my career game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I watched many videos of this game and felt it had somewhat realistic features, so I bought it and tried it on my system. First, there was constant stuttering and a ridiculous game engine that made even the world's most powerful PC struggle—even though my rig can handle any game at 4K on ultra settings; with this game, however, it felt like I was driving a car from the 1960s. Second, as someone with nearly a decade of experience in driving simulators, I felt the force feedback was designed for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just to tell you how good this game is, barely 20% of players have gotten the "Turn the bus on" achievement, meaning 80% of them never actually made it that far. Also, crashes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately the game is badly optimised and fps is jumping around like crazy. Lowering graphics settings does not help. It makes it unplayable in it's current state, especially in a game about driving. It's a shame because the setting in Berlin and the general concept is quite interesting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Being a huge fan of Berlin's transportation system, I expected more. I can tolerate many bugs and issues, but not here. There are too many. The game is simply unplayable. Nothing but bugs, glitches, graphical glitches, and generally poor bus controls and the feel of driving on a keyboard. Even the fact that I'm madly in love with the city of Berlin doesn't help. Despite being in Alpha mode for several years, the game still has a lot of catching up to do. I'm playing on a GeForce NOW Performance…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pease add a ingame GPS item to the interior of every bus on a availabe item slots! Without the Great GPS mod i cant immerse myself driving! And the mod is not updated long ago..... Looking the roadmap and all future DLCs.....i loose hope in this game and i love it , but driving with this annoying UI map is not good experiance for me! With combination of TrackIr5 brakes the immersion to see this map mooving around!!! And about optimization.... even with hardware above recomended runs bad!…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: - Incredibly good, strikingly realistic environment. Cons: - Headlights stay on constantly, even in broad daylight. -NPC pedestrians have zero reaction to anything. -Flat textures on surrounding traffic; the car colors are so basic, limited, and unrealistic that it's immersion-breaking. -Poor performance/stuttering even on the lowest graphics settings. The LOD pop-in happens way too close to the camera. -Collision physics are either nonexistent or extremely primitive. -For this price…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is honestly one of the worst games I've ever seen, in terms of optimization. I can't tell about the game's other aspects, because this is literally unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i brought this a couple of years agoto try out and it was clearly in a poor state,so i gave the developers time to get to grips with issues ,now having a full release on console is availabletoo i thought problems woul;d be fixed ,but no two years later game still crashes halway through tour.do not buy this product it is still half baked and no one is trying to fix it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Since the Lumen update, the game is unplayable on what is considered minimum requirements (my pc is a bit lower the the recomended requirements) to the point where the game crashes on load, big no-no for it at the moment. At this point I am just opening the game to see if any optimisation improvements have been made, and the answer is not much has been done. P.S. I am not trying to run on ultra graphics, I am at least asking for medium/high settings
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tomorrow Morning - The Monday Morning Commute The best commute isn't the one to work, it's the one with good people The game - The Bus Grab a brew, climb aboard & let's ease into the week together twitch.tv/xChesterCopp... youtube.com/@essextea #Gaming #TheBus #Hamburg #Berlin
neutral · AI labelView post →The technical design is so poorly done that it's unclear what the developers are working on; they probably only work on the bus interiors. The traffic AI is rudimentary, and the simulation breaks down at the slightest opportunity. They can't even let you out of a bus stop with your turn signal on. If the AI passengers can't board the bus because there are no available space inside, they simply disperse in different directions, clipping through the bus stop, bushes, and fences, often…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i think that for something almost new not bad, but with my pc specs it's running 50fps not consistent on medium 1440p settings. not many buses to choose from. the simulation is very mid, there are good things in it and there are also some bad, but overral don't buy it unless it's under 10 euros or dollars
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good! - Best career mode than in any Bus sim. - A bunch of interactable buttons to press - Unique bus designs where one bus might have a bunch of physical buttons and another has some touch screens - Good driving physics - Timetable that you are rewarded for sticking to and punished for leaving a stop early or arriving too late. The only let down is performance, it sucks. It can be mitigated by using the FOV slider as it seems performance is worst when all mirrors are in your line of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tediously slow development and constantly making the game worse instead of better. Either wrecking performance or failing to improve things which needed improving from day one (I am looking at you NPC vehicle behaviour!)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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