Thank You Bus Driver Is Double Fine Action Labs’ First Game, Coming to Windows

Double Fine announced Thank You Bus Driver on September 4, introducing a chaotic bus-driving game and the first title under its new Double Fine Action Labs label.

The game is currently listed as coming soon for Microsoft Windows through Steam. Double Fine has not announced a release date, price or version for another platform.

What is Thank You Bus Driver?

Thank You Bus Driver puts players in charge of a town bus governed by changing rules. Players must reach the next stop before time runs out while responding to passengers who break those rules. Collecting Thank Yous adds time and unlocks items including bus decorations and town variants, according to Double Fine’s official game page.

“Take on the role of a town’s rules-driven (and reckless) bus driver in Thank You Bus Driver! Drive fast, slap faster, and toss any rulebreakers out of your bus to reach true victory: being appreciated.”

That is Double Fine’s official pitch for a game focused on keeping the route moving and enforcing its shifting rules rather than simulating an ordinary bus journey. The studio has also published an announcement trailer.

What Double Fine Action Labs means

Double Fine describes Action Labs as a label for “weird, little more experimental games.” Thank You Bus Driver is the first title announced under that banner.

The studio says the idea came from Double Fine’s Will Koehler and that a small internal team created the game “in a matter of weeks.” No complete development-team list or more precise production timeline has been announced.

That combination makes the game a concrete early example of the smaller experimental projects Double Fine discussed as it returned to independence. TheDashDouble’s earlier coverage explains Double Fine’s return to independence and regained publishing rights.

The announcement does not establish Thank You Bus Driver as Double Fine’s first game after Xbox. The narrower and supported distinction is that it is the first Double Fine Action Labs title.

Thank You Bus Driver release date and platforms

• Release date: Coming soon; no specific date or dated launch window has been announced.
• Confirmed platform: Microsoft Windows.
• Confirmed storefront: Steam.
• Developer: Double Fine Productions.
• Publisher listed on Steam: Double Fine Action Labs.
• Other platforms: Double Fine has not announced any.

For now, Thank You Bus Driver is a small but revealing first step for Action Labs: an unusual game made by a small team over a matter of weeks, with its release date still to be confirmed.