Docked Shows Great Potential - Demo Preview

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

Docked is another example of Saber Interactive's enjoyment of logistics games, as seen in Snowrunner and Roadcraft. We got the chance to try the Next Fest demo early, and there is a lot to like for fans of this genre.

Despite the name, Docked isn’t really about the boats, but the beating heart behind the sea vessels. Therefore, the game is all about managing the logistics of a rundown family port where you need to rebuild the business from hard times, operate heavy machinery around the dock, and fulfill work contracts. It is the kind of experience one would expect from games like Euro Truck Simulator and Mudrunner, among others. While I would have liked to captain some ships, there is a place for games like this, too, and the early impressions are promising. The demo is pretty short with only the intro and a couple of jobs available, but there’s enough to work out what the game is about. However, it’s going to need work with optimization!

There is a story of sorts, and it’s the usual song and dance. You return to your old home and family business at Port Wake to find the place seeing better days, and it’s up to you to bring it back to its former glory. Dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane only makes that matter worse.

Wanting to recover a family business is about as common as bread and butter in these management games, but that isn’t bad. There is a reason the classics are classics, and while Docked isn’t going to win any prizes for writing from what I’ve played in the demo, it does the job. The voice acting is also surprisingly good, featuring some compelling characters and relationships, which represent a significant improvement over what I found in RoadCraft.

I also must commend the visuals and environmental effects. With all the dangers of the sea threatening to wreck your hard work, the threat of the waves, rain, and wind is on full display. Things feel dangerous as you do your business, and while the texture graphics aren’t quite as impressive, the equipment and texture designs look good.

The mechanics are more complex in Docked than Saber’s other management titles. The tutorials on play are simple to follow and understand, which helps with the expanded control scheme. There's a lot to manage here, and I think fans of the genre will find the expanded systems enjoyable if they found previous titles too arcadey. The demo has three tasks to complete, and although there are limited options, it offers a great impression of what to expect.

That complexity and visuals come at the cost of performance, and I had a lot of trouble with stutters and frame drops while moving around. My concern with optimization is minor, given that this is just a demo and there isn't even a release window for Docked yet, but this is one power-hungry game. As a result, I couldn’t even get the game to boot on the Steam Deck. Things might be better in future previews, so that I wouldn’t be concerned about this yet.

I left the Docked demo feeling cautiously optimistic. Coming from my lukewarm opinion of RoadCraft’s grind, Docked comes out of the gates swinging with high production quality and solid mechanics. The demo is a nice vertical slice of what to expect from Saber Interactive’s next logistics management game, and so far, I’m interested to see what happens next.

The Steam Next Fest is live now, and that means the demo should be available to try out for yourself on their Steam Store Page.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!