Midwest 90: Rapid City is available now in Steam Early Access, combining diner management with the small additional problem of a monster apocalypse. Hidden Chest Studios’ game is published by Rising Tide and currently costs £13.79 on the UK Steam store.
The setup puts you in charge of a roadside business in a collapsing economy, where monsters are both a threat and a potential ingredient. Apparently keeping the lights on has reached the point where the supply chain can bite back.
You choose dishes, set prices and develop recipes from the creatures arriving on your doorstep. Staff, customer satisfaction and the diner’s reputation all feed into the business, with the question of profit sitting uncomfortably close to the question of what you are actually serving.
Defence is part of the operating budget too. Traps and barricades help protect the building, while the game combines its management systems with tower-defence elements rather than letting you spend the whole evening rearranging tables.
The Early Access build includes the prologue and Chapter 1 of the story, plus Endless Mode. That makes it a playable starting point with more narrative still to come, rather than a claim that the entire campaign is already finished.
The developer’s launch roadmap currently targets additional Endless content on 31 December, followed by Chapter 2 on 28 January. The latest launch post places the full release in March or April 2027, with future development plans naturally subject to change during Early Access.
Those updates are planned as free additions for Early Access owners, while the developer says the purchase price will rise slightly at full release. It is worth judging the game on what is available now, especially if you are primarily interested in the story rather than repeatedly surviving another disastrous dinner service.
A gameplay overview accompanies the launch for anyone who wants to see how cooking, staffing and perimeter defence fit together. For the rest of us, the premise already raises a useful question: exactly how far should a restaurant go to protect its margins? You can find the public details in the official announcement or store listing.