Roadside Research
by Cybernetic Walrus · 12 Feb, 2026
758 downloads
About the Game
Aliens have landed on Earth… to run a gas station. Play solo or up to 4 players and do human tasks to blend in. People depend on you, it’s your job to make sure that the shelves have the correct items, refuel customers passing by, and provide food for travelers. But most importantly, you must conduct your research.
Stay Undetected
Your mission is simple. Gather all data you can from humans without their knowledge. Scan, steal, and test various methods on customers while they stop by the gas station. Be careful not to raise the “suspicion meter” too high, as that will trigger the visit of government officials.
Be Normal, Be Human
During the day, take care of the gas station as an ordinary employee. Restock the shelves, order wares for the shop, refuel passersby, and exchange goods for cash. At night you will be able to gather your thoughts, and plan for the next day.
Upgrade and Customize
Balance between two missions, upgrading the gas station to attract more customers and upgrading your alien tech to process data and gather information more efficiently. To blend in, draw a very normal human expression on your state-of-the-art disguise.
During closing hours, you can also upgrade the station, inside and outside to make sure everything is going according to plan.
Features
Chaotic solo or co-op fun: Gather friends or play alone to manage the gas station while pursuing your alien mission.
Dual Upgrade Path: Manage upgrades for your gas station and for your alien technology at the same time
Satisfying Simulation: Clean, cook, and stock your workplace with all necessary supplies and items to make sure every customer leaves satisfied.
Alien Deception: Make sure to stay disguised and don’t get caught by human government officials. If you are too suspicious, they will turn you into goo.
Screenshots
10 images
Version Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
Your input on the Abduction Update has resulted in extremely useful data for tweaking systems, finding the right balance, and maximizing the fun output. After carefully processing your transmissions, we’ve synthesized this patch that makes your lives as undercover aliens a whole lot easier.
Here's what's new:
The F.A.R.T. got a bit of rework based on your suggestions:
If the player puts a box on a storage rack, that rack gets marked with the product that was in the box (similar to how it works with the store shelves). You can clear the label by right clicking on the tag or putting a box with different products on it.
The restocking robot will put back boxes on shelves where they took them from as long as the shelf is still tagged.
The restocking robot will prioritize boxes with less items in it. This means you will have fewer random boxes with only a few items.
It will prioritize shelves with less items on it. This means you’ll have fewer perpetually empty shelves.
It has gotten a new switch (red handle on top), so it's now possible to turn off your F.A.R.T. (e.g. if you want to take your time to reorganize your store) and then turn it on again.
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45643699/e6fff6e6a29ca3a618683afa5334d5aeb0224047.png"]Deactivate your F.A.R.T.s by flipping their red switches.
Other improvements and fixes:
Increased the limit of the green Universal Boxes from the dispenser from 50 to 150 boxes.
The fireworks placeable is now interactable.
Fixed the moon’s visuals.
Made the moon brighter so it's easier to see at night.
Fixed an issue resulting in goop being invisible when the metallic skin was equipped.
Fixed an issue causing an NPC to not stop following the player after being run over during the abduction process.
Fixed an issue that made it impossible to take money from a gas pump customer if the player took picture of a customer that was on their way to the pump.
Fixed an issue with the hardhat and vest not showing after being unlocked.
Thanks for preparing for the invasion one wacky construction at a time!
Hailing from the next nebula,
Alien HQ
Greetings, very average Terran gas station owners,
A new hotfix has materialized. After the previous one addressed the battery system and F.A.R.T., this one answers a couple of other reports that have kept our alien engineer busy.
Here are the patch notes:
Fixed objects that were floating.
Fixed walls that had offset collisions.
Fixed the rocket not launching and you being unable to buy a blueprint during the invasion tasks.
Fixed various issues where NPCs wouldn't use shelves, the ATM and the cash register (there are still some cases e.g. with open fridges where customers won't use them and we'll resolve this with the next hotfix).
Added a visual indicator for leftover concrete spots to still smooth out as an invasion task.
With that, our work here is almost done (we are going to zap a few other bugs in a bit). Your work, however, has only just begun. The humans aren’t going to abduct themselves and what about Invasion Stage 1? Time to get your four-fingered hands dirty!
Watching closely from orbit,
Alien HQ
A priority hotfix is now live, mainly including changes to and fixes for the battery system and F.A.R.T. that were introduced with the Abduction Update.
Here are the patch notes:
Batteries have been removed from man-made automation upgrades: self-service gas pump and self-scan register.
Research Point cost for F.A.R.T. has decreased from 30000 to 15000.
Research Point cost for a recharge has decreased from 1000 to 500.
Research Point cost for Infinite Batteries has decreased from 250K to 100K.
Recharging speed of batteries has increased from 2 min to 30 seconds.
Recharging loads of Recharger have increased from 2 to 5.
Removed the extra visual battery from the F.A.R.T. to make it less confusing.
Lots of F.A.R.T. navigation fixes.
F.A.R.T. can now grab boxes even if it can't reach them directly.
Reduced battery drain of F.A.R.T.
Fixed an issue where if a hunt started after an abduction, NPCs would run away instead of getting abducted.
We’re sorry for any issues you may have encountered, and we understand how frustrating that can be. Your feedback helps us figure out what works best, and we’re very grateful for that.
With that being said, we wonder how you like Invasion Stage 1? The other 3 Invasion Stages will be added with the coming updates, so we would love to hear your thoughts on this first one!
FAQ: Alien Skill Tree, Universal Box, Shelf labels
Some players reached out to us with questions about the update. Here is a short FAQ with answers that might interest you:
How do shelf labels work?
Place items on a shelf to add a label. Manually remove all items to get an empty label again. This way, you can rearrange your store and manage F.A.R.T.
F.A.R.T. works only with store shelves that have a label with a product since it needs to know where you want it to place your goods.
Customers emptying a shelf by buying all products does not remove its label.
Where do I find the Universal Box Dispenser and how do I use it?
You can buy the Universal Box Dispenser in the Construction Menu > Decoration.
You can move around all store items with a Universal Box.
Only players can use a Universal Box.
I play with an old save file. Some upgrades on the Alien Skill Tree I had unlocked previously are now locked behind Invasion Stage 1. When I complete Invasion Stage 1, will I have to unlock my upgrades again?
After completing Invasion Stage 1, you can access your upgrades without having to unlock them again.
Thanks again for being part of the Early Access journey and helping us shape the game!
Alien HQ thanks you for your stellar feedback on the latest update! Your kind words and detailed anomaly reports helped us identify and fix a number of issues.
Here is a list of all the fixes:
Box-Box transfer is back babyyyyyyy
Boxes fall under the floor less often. This is not a perfect solution but it should make it better. We are working on a proper fix.
Added an icon on the Data Analyzer to make it clear the DNA sample needs to be attached for the symbol puzzle.
Fixed several placement issues in the storage room
Tool reset icon is now disabled correctly
Made it possible to go under the stairs once the last storage update is unlocked.
Fixed wrong suspicion values for the probing toilet
Brought back old cat sound
Fixed the issue where it was impossible to go to page 21 on the How to Play with a controller.
If a product is losing money, it should now be indicated with a negative sign and in red.
Fixed the Storage Rack having bad colliders preventing from being placed next to each other.
Fixed a bug that allowed DNA samples to be put through the hatch during the Data Analyzer's final step.
Fixed Vegan Steak market and stock price
Your field reports really help us resolve anomalies faster and keep the undercover business running smoothly.
Ready to goop? Beam up to our official Discord to find players, discuss new features, and enjoy the latest Roadside Research update together!
We fixed an issue where the client was unable to attach the pump to the car
Happy Goopin'!
We know that the previous bug sweep left out a few stragglers. Thanks to your reports, we’ve found the root causes of many and wiped them out.
The eradication efforts of this hotfix include the following:
- Fixed an issue where the shop would be unusable with a controller due to two different actions being assigned to the same button
- Fixed invisible agents
- Decreased memory load of the game
- Fixed an issue where it was impossible to remove some placeables because the game thought a customer is still using them
- Fixed various desync issues
Please continue let us know if you are encountering issues still! This week we will work further to stabilize the game so your reports are very handy!
Beam up to our Discord and tell us if you are encountering any problems!
Your feedback was received, your player logs cherished and your patience deeply appreciated by command.
Here are the bugs that got zapped:
- Fixed an issue where the client has everything highlighted in green and can't interact with the screen - Fixing this issue likely resolved a bunch of other weird bugs as well.
- Fixed an issue where cleaning robot would go on a strike and would stop cleaning.
- Fixed an issue where items would get stuck on the self scan.
Please continue let us know if you are encountering issues still! This week we will work further to stabilize the game so your reports are very handy!
As we will start working on the next big update, we’re also refining our internal processes first to keep future updates far more stable and only the fun kind of chaotic.
Beam up to our Discord and tell us if you are encountering any problems!
- Fixed an issue where it was impossible to drop tools after interacting with the alien screen
Sorry for the troubles!
Unacceptable levels of weirdness in the latest version of the game have been identified and neutralized. Thanks to everyone for staying patient and helping us troubleshoot this!
The following has been corrected with the hotfix:
Fixed an issue where the cleaning robot would spawn on the roof
Fixed an issue where players would not be able to interact with the alien screen
Automation tweaks including the following:
Reduced overfilling when auto pump is on. Pumping speed has slightly decreased to compensate.
The cleaning robot breaks less often
Self-checkout requires assistance less often
Fixed an issue where agents would get stuck
Fixed an issue where customer spawn rates were not functioning as intended resulting in fewer customers
Fixed an issue where customers would not be dropping trash in trashcans.
If any other anomalies manifest, report them to us on Discord for us to hunt them down!
The fix will be available for Xbox and Windows Store as soon as Microsoft approves.
Happy probin’, everyone! 🔫
Small hotfix to make sure NPCs don't get stuck at their cars!
Hope you enjoy!
Greetings goopers,
In preparation for the March 19th update, we have deployed a small backend hotfix that's necessary for a smooth transition.
List of changes:
Optimized networking and backend improvements.
As always, we continue to monitor feedback and will make improvements where needed.
Thanks for playing!
Hello Goopers,
We added some extra telemetry in yesterdays patch to track down crashes easier. We think we fixed 2 of them!
- Crash when interacting with the open store sign
- Crash when loading in the scene with empty boxes
Let us know if you re still encountering problems!
Current Release
Build 25077837
Uploaded Sep 03, 2026
System Requirements
How to Install
Roadside Research.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
Download
Direct link available
Needed when extracting (WinRAR / 7-Zip) — not a site login.
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