Double Fine Announces Chaotic, Multi-Tasking Indie Game Thank You Bus Driver

During a stream dedicated to game pitches for their ongoing game jam Kickstarter, Amnesia Fortnight 2026, Indie Reboot, Double Fine’s Tim Schafer and several employees teased an unannounced project that will be playable at PAX West, which starts today! If, like me, you thought, “Wow, that’s soon, how come there’s no announcement trailer yet?” worry no longer: the announcement trailer for Thank You Bus Driver has just dropped!

The trailer features black-and-white footage of a bus driver in a black-and-white world, with hand-drawn passengers of all shapes and sizes stepping into a bus that’s very strict on its ever-changing rules. So strict, in fact, that breaking them apparently warrants a good slap, or even being thrown out through the back door! Though, while turning away, the bus driver does lose sight of the road. Several head-on collisions with cars and trucks ensue. I’m sure everything’s fine.

A screenshot of the bus driver from the game Thank You Bus Driver looking at a map while holding the wheel in the other hand, with the rearview mirror showing passangers in the back. The map shows a winding road as well as lists rules such as No Stinky, No Toenail Clipping and No Sleeping — Surely the action of looking at this here map/rulebook that takes up half the screen will have no consequences on my well-being

On the game’s site, Double Fine describes Thank You Bus Driver as a “chaotic bus driving game where you take on the role of a town’s bus driver just trying to get through the day with minimal rulebreaking and maximum gratitude… in the form of Thank Yous!” The “Thank Yous” are a currency that provides more time to reach the next bus stop, while also unlocking bus tchotchkes, town variants, and more! The game will be available on Microsoft Windows and Linux via Steam, GOG, Humble Store, and itch.io.

This is the first game announced by Double Fine following their split from Xbox on July 6. You can check out the game’s trailer here! Previously, the studio announced the aforementioned Amnesia Fortnight Kickstarter, during which backers can vote on games the studio will work on next, which will then be delivered in the form of four demos on September 23, and the most-voted one will become a full game following the end of the Kickstarter campaign on September 30. If you’d like to join and vote on pitches such as a tractor destruction game, a point-based sled racer about impressing your lesbian girlfriend, or a wrestling-themed deckbuilder, and many, many more (you’ll never guess which ones I voted for), you have until September 6 to join the Kickstarter.

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