IMHO.

American Truck Simulator vs Derail Valley

American Truck Simulator and Derail Valley both land in Indie, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Simulation on Steam. American Truck Simulator (2016) is 3 years older than Derail Valley (2019). Both sit near 97% positive on Steam (American Truck Simulator: 91,834 reviews, Derail Valley: 5,882). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.

Which should you pick?

Choose American Truck Simulator

Choose American Truck Simulator if you want the Multi-player, Online Co-op, and Custom Volume Controls side of the pairing. On Steam, it's currently about 50% cheaper on the Steam Store. 91,834 Steam reviews back the pick.

Choose Derail Valley

Choose Derail Valley if you want an Adventure and Early Access game with Tracked Controller Support and VR Supported. On Steam, it's the newer release (2019) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 5,882 Steam reviews back the pick.

Both American Truck Simulator and Derail Valley sit in Indie and Simulation on Steam and both list Camera Comfort, Stereo Sound, and Playable without Timed Input, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (97.3% vs 96.5% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.

Side-by-side comparison

American Truck Simulator vs Derail Valley — Steam metadata comparison
American Truck Simulator — Steam game coverAmerican Truck SimulatorDerail Valley — Steam game coverDerail Valley
Released20162019
GenresIndie, SimulationIndie, Adventure, Simulation, Early Access
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows
Steam DeckDeck VerifiedDeck Playable
Price19.99 USD39.99 USD
Steam reviews97.3% positive (91,834 reviews)96.5% positive (5,882 reviews)
MultiplayerMulti-player, Online Co-op, Co-opSingle-player only
DevelopersSCS SoftwareAltfuture

Side by side

American Truck Simulator vs Derail Valley — FAQ

Which is better, American Truck Simulator or Derail Valley?
On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: American Truck Simulator sits at 97.3% positive (91,834 reviews), Derail Valley at 96.5% (5,882). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
Should I play American Truck Simulator or Derail Valley first?
If you want chronology, American Truck Simulator (2016) came out before Derail Valley (2019). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
Are American Truck Simulator and Derail Valley similar?
They overlap on Indie, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
Does Derail Valley have multiplayer like American Truck Simulator?
No. American Truck Simulator supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Online Co-op, Co-op), while Derail Valley is listed as single-player only.
American Truck Simulator vs Derail Valley (2026) · imho.run