I’ve gone and left writing this until some ungodly hour in the morning again. It tends to happen when my mood is low; I stay up later than I should, which inevitably means I’ll have trouble getting up in the morning. Likely no gym or swimming tomorrow, then — I value a good night’s sleep more than a fitness regime. I’ll get an early night tomorrow night though and go on Tuesday morning.
I decided after a lot of umming and ahhing to treat myself to Gas Station Simulator. I have a lot of time for these games that take something mundane and turn them into a relatively entertaining, but not super-demanding experience — Square Enix and FuturLab’s Power Wash Simulator is probably the most well known, but there are a fair few out there now. Gas Station Simulator appears to be one of the more polished ones, and while it’s still prone to Perpetual Indie Game Roadmap Syndrome, it is, at least, in its current state, a “finished” game.
I like what I’ve seen so far. There’s a nice combination of relatively mindless “clean up the shit” gameplay combined with a bit of time management, a bit of finance management and a bit of self-expression through customising your environment. The titular gas station you find yourself taking ownership of is a complete shithole when you first acquire it, so you have a lot of work to do, though it doesn’t take that much to get it looking vaguely presentable — enough to keep customers stopping for fuel in the middle of the desert happy, at least.
I’m interested in what it will look like in the late game, though. I anticipate that once you get the money rolling in fairly reliably, you’ll be able to do a lot more with the overall decor of both the station itself and its various supporting buildings. At present I can just paint stuff and buy a few decorations, but I’m hoping for some more options once I unlock some more of the game features.
Because yes, in true 2024 game tradition, this isn’t a game that gives you the keys to a sandbox and lets you loose; rather, you work your way through a series of objectives that introduce you to the various mechanics one at a time, gradually building on top of each other to make the game a little more complex with each passing hour. I mock it for doing this, but it’s a sound approach, particularly when you’re dealing with a game that, as this does, appears to have plenty of moving parts to contend with.
Thus far I have the fuel pumps, the station itself (which acts as a shop) and I’ve just unlocked a car repairing garage. At present, I have to do everything, but I understand at some point in the game you can hire employees to automate some or all of it. That’s going to be interesting; will the game remain entertaining if you’re no longer having to frantically dash between different areas to do stuff?
Anyway, that remains to be seen. I played for far too long and now it’s late. So I will report further on my findings once I have had some sleep. Here’s hoping I’m through the “trough” my mental health has been going through and it’s onwards and upwards from here.
Want to read my thoughts on various video games, visual novels and other popular culture things? Stop by MoeGamer.net, my site for all things fun where I am generally a lot more cheerful. And if you fancy watching some vids on classic games, drop by my YouTube channel.
Discover more from I'm Not Doctor Who
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
