Image: Hidden Chest Studios & Rising Tide

As a person of taste, I've got a huge soft spot for the Tremors movies and even the TV show. Sure, the original was a classic B-movie creature feature about underground monsters menacing a small desert town, but each subsequent story had the townsfolk getting more comfortable with weird cryptids just being part of their local economy. While it might not have the official license, Midwest 90: Rapid City has that spirit for sure, and is putting Graboid Zoid steaks on the menu for its early access release today.

From the little bit I've played so far (thanks to the developers for the early key), this one's just charming, albeit a little more demanding than your average Diner Dash. You've gone and blown all but two grand of your money on buying a run-down roadhouse on the edge of an American desert town overrun by weird monsters, with the aim of making a sustainable profit by having the locals eat the monsters that would otherwise be eating them.

And so you've got a game split into two halves. A basic restaurant management game - place seating and decor, hire staff, make sure the fridges are stocked and the profits are reasonable - paired with a tower defense game. Every now and then, monsters will make their way through the ruins that surround your roadhouse, and ideally you want to have every one of them blasted into saleable meat before they can get in and tank your reputation by nibbling on your customers.

It's easier said than done, though. Money is initially very tight, and it's easy to overcharge on food or lowball on traps. One mistake and you've got your staff literally fighting for their lives and your clientele ending up on someone else's menu, and I'm excited to try out the endless mode to see just how tricky it is to walk that tightrope when I'm not working through basic tutorial quests. But I still want to finish the story stuff first, though. It's charming as all get-out.

The game's whole aesthetic is just about perfect. Run-down, chintzy Americana top to bottom, with a well-decorated roadhouse gradually looking more and more like an apocalyptic TGI Fridays. While they could have just kept things isometric and limited here, the developers clearly have a vision, and every shop and service that you can interact with in town is accompanied by full-screen character art and lots of dialogue, often with Professional, Folksy, or Huge Asshole options in response.

Plus, of course, the food itself gets lush illustrations as well, ranging from the genuinely appetizing-looking Zoid steaks (turns out the blue coloring grills right out) to the unsettling (I'm not touching that deep-fried eyeball no matter how 'creamy' it tastes) - it really does feel like the developers have as abiding a love for the greater Tremors universe as I do. Am I biased? Yes. Do I still think this is a neat game so far? For sure.

Today's release is the core foundation of the game. The basic restaurant management/tower defense hybrid loop, an endless tycoon mode, and the first chapter of the game's main story. Developers Hidden Chest Studios reckon that it's a straight shot to finishing the game, with the final version an estimated six months off, adding the remainder of the main plot, more monsters to fight/eat, and expanding on core systems.

Midwest 90: Rapid City is out now in early access for £13.79/$15, with the full version likely landing around six months from now, at a slightly higher price point.