Today, EmpireCraft Studios and Toplitz Productions revealed that the demo for their city-builder, Wild West Pioneers, is now available on Steam.
Originally slated to start at the beginning of Steam Next Fest on February 23, 2026, the demo arrived a bit early, allowing settlers to explore the American West ahead of time. The game places players in the shoes of a group of Pioneers seeking their own version of the American dream in the 1800s.
You’ll start by loading your wagons and brave the challenges of an unexplored land. Wild West Pioneers requires you to plan settlements, manage resources, and allocate workers, then meet the demands that come alongside that growth, lest you don’t want the population to dwindle. Features include:
- Found your first settlement and complete the initial tutorial steps.
- Keep your settlers happy and fulfill their basic needs, including upgrades and decorations for their homes.
- Unlock technologies and buildings for the first three production chains (wood, food, and alcohol).
- Send scouts on world map expeditions.
- Develop your player character with different traits and skills.
Alongside this, you’ll need to send scouts to survey new areas, find rare resources, or new locations to settle, manage multiple settlements, appoint officials like the mayor or sheriff to help you on your way, and prove that you are the driving force behind America’s Western expansion. The overall playtime of the demo runs between one to two hours, and can be completed several times without any time limit.
While no exact release date has been announced, Wild West Pioneers will launch on PC in Early Access later this year. For more information on this and other unique simulators, like Wild West Supermarket Simulator, be sure to check back to Simulation Daily for updates.
