If the generative AI arguments around the new Crazy Taxi have put you off arcade driving games entirely, Rock Paper Shotgun has a suggestion: Shifu: Traffic Masters.

Developed by Boxy.Poly, Shifu is a low-poly open-world driving game set in 1990s China, and a demo has been available on Steam since October 8, 2026. There is no confirmed release date yet — the game is still in development — but the demo is playable now.

What It Is

The pitch is refreshingly simple. Shifu is a cheerful open-world car game where you drive around a stylised recreation of 1990s China. RPS describes it as “jolly”, which is not a word that gets applied to open-world games much anymore.

The stated inspirations are Midtown Madness and Driver — both games about the simple pleasure of driving through a city that feels like a place, rather than about collecting icons on a map.

If you have played either, you know the appeal: cruising, learning the roads, causing mild chaos. Shifu appears to be chasing exactly that feeling, with a low-poly art style that keeps the focus on driving rather than on rendering fidelity.

Why the Timing Works

The comparison to Crazy Taxi is not accidental. RPS framed the recommendation explicitly: if you have “sworn off genAI Crazy Taxi and dislike all the twerking in GTA 6,” Shifu is the alternative.

That is a real opening. There is a sizeable audience right now that wants open-world driving games made by people, with a specific sense of place, and without the culture-war baggage. A small, cheerful, hand-made game set in a time and place almost never depicted in games is a genuinely distinct proposition.

1990s China is especially unusual as a setting. Open-world games overwhelmingly default to contemporary or near-future America or Europe. A stylised period recreation is rare enough to be interesting on its own.

Should You Try the Demo?

Yes, if any of the following apply:

  • You liked Midtown Madness or the original Driver
  • You want a driving game that is not a live service or a grind
  • You are curious about a setting games rarely touch
  • You want something relaxed rather than a 100-hour completionist slog

The demo is free on Steam and the game is PC. Given there is no release date yet, expectations should be calibrated — this is a work in progress from a small studio, not a polished AAA launch. But early impressions are positive, and low-poly driving games tend to age well.

Keep an eye on our fall 2026 release calendar for a date once Boxy.Poly commits to one, and browse more driving titles in our game hubs.