If you also like weird games that are oddly specific and a clear labor of love, well, have I got one for you: Mon Bazou, which in Quebecois French translates roughly to “my piece of shit car,” is a game about making money doing odd jobs in order to soup up the titular Bazou into a real race car. It all takes place in Canada, 2005, around “the hot scene of tuned cars and wanna-be streets racers.”
Though Mon Bazou is in Early Access, it’s clearly a labor of love by solo developer SantaGoat. I’m honestly impressed by how much is in it, given that it only released a few weeks ago. As of this writing, it has 119 Steam reviews that are 99% positive. To me, that’s the same energy that made My Summer Car such a success and earned it a spot on our best racing games roundup.
You can cut wood, sell the wood, build a garage out of the wood, build a sugar shack to harvest maple syrup, deliver pizzas at night, or spend it racing and betting on races, hell, scavenge the junkyard to get good parts for your rides. Just make sure to make enough money to keep gas in the tank. In short, live the rural Canadian dream of making your own poutine and growing weed in the woods.
There are lots of upgrades to be done on the titular car, as well as mechanics for a trailer, boat, and ATV. It’s a rural and pedestrian game with a strong sense of humor. It’s about being happily engrossed in one’s hobbies.
You can find Mon Bazou on Steam.