Garbage Country, a post-apocalyptic exploration sim from Kingdom: New Lands and Cloud Gardens creator Thomas van den Berg (Noio), is coming to Steam in Q2 2026 with a unique mix of open-world driving, scavenging, and tower defense.
Garbage Country is a post-apocalyptic exploration sim developed by Noio Games, the small studio led by Thomas van den Berg, the creator behind Kingdom: New Lands and Cloud Gardens. Listed on Steam with a planned Q2 2026 release for Windows and macOS, the game tasks players with driving a 4×4 truck across a handcrafted wasteland, scavenging materials, upgrading their vehicle, and defending against hostile robots in grid-based tower defense battles. On 20 May 2026, newly formed UK publisher EdCorp announced Garbage Country as the first title in its publishing lineup.
What Is Garbage Country About?
Garbage Country describes itself as a “post-industrial exploration sim.” Players traverse a vast, hand-built landscape dotted with abandoned landmarks, forgotten highways, and memorable characters. The core loop revolves around driving deeper into the wastes: upgrading the truck with better tires, engines, and equipment lets you reach previously inaccessible areas, steadily expanding your map as you progress.
The twist is that exploration is not entirely peaceful. Rogue bots have turned on humans across the wasteland, and players must use scavenged materials to construct turrets and repel these enemies in tense tower defense encounters. PC Gamer described the reveal as a “real curveball,” noting that the game looked like a relaxed lo-fi driving experience until it shifted into grid-based combat with turret placement mechanics.
Who Is Behind the Game?
Thomas van den Berg operates under the Noio Games banner. His best-known title is Kingdom: New Lands, an IGF-nominated minimalist pixel art strategy game that, combined with his other projects, has sold well over one million copies. His follow-up, Cloud Gardens, was a zen puzzle game about cultivating plants to overgrow post-industrial ruins, published by Coatsink and later ported to Nintendo Switch.
On the Garbage Country Steam page, van den Berg writes: “I’ve been working on a new project that elaborates on the style and themes of those games but from a fresh perspective.” The project’s origins stretch back to 2019, when early prototypes experimented with persistent multiplayer mechanics using SpatialOS. The game has since evolved into a focused single-player experience.
EdCorp: A New Publisher Enters the Scene
On 20 May 2026, EdCorp was officially announced as Garbage Country’s publisher. Founded by former Coatsink co-founders and shareholders Eddie Beardsmore, Tom Beardsmore, Paul Crabb, and Simon Launder, the Newcastle-based company aims to support small, creatively driven indie teams. EdCorp offers developers up to 75 percent revenue share after costs, with partners retaining full control of their IP.
The founding team’s track record at Coatsink includes co-development work on Jurassic World Aftermath, Batman: Arkham Shadow, Gang Beasts, and Kingdom Two Crowns. Coatsink was acquired by Thunderful Group for roughly $30 million in 2020. As reported by Game Developer, EdCorp currently has three titles signed, with Garbage Country leading the slate.
Key Gameplay Features
- Road trip exploration: A vast, handcrafted landscape filled with abandoned landmarks, charming strangers, and environmental storytelling.
- Vehicle physics and upgrades: Upgrade your truck to reach deeper sections of the map. Light vehicle platforming unlocks hidden corners.
- Tower defense combat: Construct turrets from scavenged materials and defend against waves of enemy bots in grid-based encounters.
- Atmosphere: Sun-bleached concrete, crackling radio antennas, dust blowing over forgotten highways. A decaying but beautiful world to absorb.
The genre blend is unusual. Post-apocalyptic exploration games rarely incorporate tower defense in a meaningful way, and Garbage Country’s lo-fi voxel aesthetic sets it apart from the darker, grittier tone of most survival games releasing in 2026. Given van den Berg’s history of finding strategic depth within minimalist frameworks, the tower defense layer could be more substantial than it initially appears.
Release Date, Platforms, and System Requirements
Garbage Country is currently listed on Steam with a Q2 2026 release window. The game is not yet available for purchase but can be wishlisted. SteamDB records confirm full controller support. Platforms include Windows and macOS.
Minimum system requirements are modest: Windows 10, Intel i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 1070 GPU, DirectX 10, and just 1 GB of storage. On macOS, the game requires macOS 12 or later, an Intel or Apple Silicon processor, and 8 GB RAM. These lightweight specs suggest the game should run comfortably on a wide range of hardware.
How Does Garbage Country Compare to Other Post-Apocalyptic Games?
The 2026 post-apocalyptic game lineup is crowded, with titles like Chernobylite 2, Cinder City, and The Long Dark 2 all targeting similar audiences. Garbage Country differentiates itself in three key ways. First, its visual identity: voxel-based lo-fi pixel art with a warm, faded palette rather than the photorealistic destruction common in the genre. Second, its mechanical mix: few games combine open-world driving, scavenging, and tower defense in a single-player package. Third, its pedigree: van den Berg has a proven track record of creating compact, highly polished indie experiences with surprising depth.
The game was also showcased at the PC Gaming Show 2025 and had a playable demo at Gamescom 2025, where it was part of the Indie Arena Booth. Early impressions from those events suggest a game that balances contemplative exploration with bursts of strategic tension.
Common Questions About Garbage Country
Is Garbage Country multiplayer?
No. Despite early prototypes exploring persistent multiplayer, the final game is single-player only, as confirmed on the Steam store page.
What engine does Garbage Country use?
Garbage Country is built in Unity, consistent with van den Berg’s previous title Cloud Gardens.
What languages are supported?
Currently, only English interface support is listed on Steam. Additional languages may be announced closer to launch.
How much will Garbage Country cost?
No official price has been announced. The game is not yet available for purchase on Steam, and Noio has not disclosed pricing details. As an indie title with modest system requirements, it is expected to fall within typical indie price ranges, but no confirmed figure exists yet.
Why Garbage Country Is Worth Watching
Garbage Country sits at an interesting intersection: the cosy exploration trend, the tower defense genre, and the post-apocalyptic setting, all filtered through the lo-fi indie aesthetic that van den Berg has refined across multiple acclaimed projects. With EdCorp now handling publishing and a Q2 2026 Steam release on the horizon, this is one indie announcement worth paying attention to.
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