The Y2K crash happened in Zero To South, and instead of a few broken computers, you’re dealing with a country that’s fallen apart and your way through it is a taxi.
Developer Voxel Bytes launches the first Zero To South demo on Steam today, giving players an early look at its first-person driving roguelite and the opening stretch of a much longer journey from Camp Zero toward the south. That means keeping the car running, finding enough food to stay alive, picking up passengers, trading whatever you’ve managed to salvage, and dealing with armed groups who have set up roadblocks along the way.
Keep the Taxi Moving
Your taxi isn’t just transportation in Zero To South. If it stops working, you’ve got a problem. Fuel needs to be found along the road, damage has to be repaired, and supplies need to be managed carefully enough that you don’t end up stranded somewhere in the middle of the United States with an empty tank.
The demo puts those survival systems front and center during a smaller journey across the country. You’ll need to stop along the way, search for what you need, and decide how much of what you’ve found you can afford to use now. Food keeps you going, fuel keeps the taxi moving, and repairs keep the entire road trip from ending rather abruptly.
The full game will expand that further by letting you loot buildings for tools and spare parts, then use them to improve the taxi’s performance, add armor, and reinforce it for the road ahead. For now, keeping the thing in one piece is a good start.
Not Every Road Is Open
Unfortunately, running out of gas isn’t the only thing that can stop you. Armed groups have set up roadblocks along the route, and they’re not there to offer directions. Bandits want your items and money, which means clearing their checkpoints by force if you want to keep heading south. The demo includes these encounters, giving you a taste of the PvE side of the journey alongside the driving and resource management.
One minute you’re worrying about whether the taxi has enough fuel to reach the next stop. The next you’re out of the driver’s seat fighting the people blocking the road.
Then, assuming that went well, it’s back in the taxi.
At Least You Have Passengers
The roads might be a mess, but you don’t have to spend the whole trip alone. Passengers are another big part of Zero To South, and the demo introduces the first people you’ll be picking up along the way.
They have their own stories about what happened after the crash, and the full game will let you listen to those stories while driving them toward their destinations. Some will also ask for help with additional tasks, with rare items and extra money available if you decide they’re worth the detour.
Trading is included in today’s demo too, giving you another way to manage what you’re carrying and pick up something that might be more useful for the miles ahead.
Considering fuel, food, repairs, bandits, and whatever else is waiting further south, useful sounds pretty good.
The Road South Starts Today
The Zero To South demo launches on Steam today and focuses on the opening part of the journey. You’ll get to drive the taxi, find fuel and food, repair it when things go wrong, fight through bandit roadblocks, trade items, and meet your first passengers.
Voxel Bytes hasn’t announced a release date for the full game yet, so there’s still a much longer road ahead before the complete trip from Camp Zero is ready. For now, the demo offers the first chance to see whether you can keep one taxi, its passengers, and yourself moving through the aftermath of Y2K.
Just make sure you keep an eye on the fuel gauge.