By IndieGame.com Editorial Team — December 18, 2025
A small Vietnamese indie studio is drawing global attention by transforming the everyday reality of food delivery work into a chilling cooperative horror experience.
Developed by Young Buffalo, a Vietnam-based indie team, “Night Shippers” is a co-op horror game that has quickly gained traction among global players. After releasing its demo on Steam in November 2024, the game attracted 30,000 players and over 10,000 wishlist additions in just 45 days, signaling strong early momentum.
A Horror Game Rooted in Real Labor
Night Shippers is a 1–4 player cooperative horror game where players take on the role of nighttime delivery workers trapped in a hellish version of their job. Accepting late-night food orders, players must navigate dark alleys filled with ghosts and monsters, completing deliveries before sunrise. Failure means being trapped in hell forever.
What sets the game apart is its subject matter. Delivery work is one of the most common and recognizable occupations in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, yet it remains largely unexplored in games. The developers cited inspiration from delivery-themed films such as Upstream (China) and Ghost Delivery (Thailand), but grounded their design in lived experience rather than genre clichés.
Authentic Vietnamese Streets After Dark
Young Buffalo paid exceptional attention to environmental authenticity. Many in-game locations are directly modeled after the developers’ hometowns.
- The “District 13 Market” map is inspired by Andong Market (formerly District 5)
- The “Dan Phuong” map reflects the atmosphere of Hanoi’s outskirts
From flickering yellow streetlights and narrow alleys to motorbike engine sounds and late-night food vendors selling dumplings and noodles, the game recreates Southeast Asian night streets with striking realism. Even the delivery items themselves—pho, banh mi, bun cha—are familiar staples of Vietnamese daily life.
These details resonated strongly with players, especially those from the region, while offering international players a rare cultural window.
Procedural Horror and Replayability
Night Shippers incorporates roguelite mechanics, ensuring that no two runs are the same. Weather conditions, ghost locations, and random events are procedurally generated, creating unpredictable tension and encouraging repeat play.
As players earn money from successful deliveries, they can unlock:
- New equipment
- Vehicles
- Special delivery abilities
Progression carries over between nights, gradually increasing survival odds while maintaining high stakes.
A Gen Z Team Learning the Hard Way
Founded in 2023, Young Buffalo is a seven-member studio largely composed of Gen Z developers. Their early prototype was harshly criticized as “too raw and unfinished,” but the team persisted, iterating relentlessly until the demo launch reversed public perception.
Despite early success, the studio chose not to rush release. Originally planned earlier, the full launch has been delayed to March 2026 to allow time for:
- Additional maps and enemy types
- Removal of unnecessary systems
- Overall polish and balance refinement
Industry Advice and a Growing Vietnamese Game Scene
The rise of Night Shippers coincides with increasing global attention on Vietnam’s game industry. At the 2025 Google Apps Summit in Ho Chi Minh City, Google Play’s Southeast Asia, India, and Australia Director Aditya Swamy emphasized that Vietnamese games must focus on original IP and long-term player retention, not just initial downloads.
“Lifetime value matters more than installs,” Swamy noted, urging developers to build deep systems that reward repeat play.
Young Buffalo appears to have taken this advice to heart. The team has openly stated that while they admire the success of Tim Pho Anh Hai, they recognize that sustainable success requires patience and polish. This philosophy aligns with Wolffun CEO Nguyen Dinh Khanh, who has repeatedly stressed that games should be built as long-term products, not short-lived viral hits.
A New Milestone for Vietnamese Indie Games?
Night Shippers stands as another proof point that Vietnamese indie games can succeed globally by embracing local culture with universal design sensibilities. Its blend of authentic setting, cooperative gameplay, and systemic horror offers a compelling blueprint for the region’s future creators.
As the March 2026 release approaches, global eyes are watching to see whether Night Shippers can follow—or even surpass—the path paved by earlier Vietnamese successes.
Game Information
- Title: Night Shippers
- Developer: Young Buffalo
- Platform: PC (Steam)
- Release: March 2026 (Planned)
- Languages Supported:
Vietnamese, English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Latin American Spanish, Russian
🎮 Demo available now on Steam
🔗 https://store.steampowered.com/app/3964660/Night_Shippers_Demo/
