Gas Station Simulator is a surprisingly interesting sim title, thanks to its decent core gameplay and its solid take on the daily web. Accidental as it may be, Gas Station Simulator has come at an interesting time. The UK is currently in the midst of a fuel shortage crisis, with service stations backed up for hours as people queue to get gas next week or indulge in panic buying. Gas Station Simulator, from developer DRAGO Entertainment, is a little less chaotic than real life, but only a little.
Gas Station Simulator puts the player in the role of a hapless entrepreneur who turns a run-down gas station into a profitable enterprise. The early game sees the player receiving the occasional phone call from his supposedly benevolent uncle who supports the property, though not all is as it seems. In this way, Gas Station Simulator structurally feels like what would happen if Stardew Valley took a sharp turn toward late-stage capitalism.
The fact that it has any sort of intelligible narrative shows that Gasoline Simulator is deeper in the pocket than most of the simulator titles constantly hitting the market. The game has a structure and maintenance that is rare in this type of game, which helps it stand out from the likes of Bum Simulator. Although the main gameplay of Gas Station Simulator is about repetition – and will surely eventually bring back bad memories for anyone who has spent too long in a sales job – there is something very satisfying about it.
Part of the reason for Gas Station Simulator’s success is that it takes the simple satisfaction of completing tasks and seeing progress. It’s a mechanic found in everything from World of Warcraft to Cookie Clicker, and Gas Station Simulator’s various plant-based activities are surprisingly fun as players watch their income slowly trickle away. Meanwhile, limited customization options see players can paint their garage and choose the location of items, so things feel a little more personal.
However, this game gets repetitive quickly, and this is a problem that is brought out when players are renovating, pumping gas, and selling lunch. A prime example of this is when a character named Dennis returns, an annoying vandal who will destroy the quality of your gas station with stink bombs and graffiti. The player has to chase him down and throw things at him to keep him down, and it’s not exactly a fun experience.
Petrol Simulator also includes some other bits and pieces to try and entertain the player. There’s a remote driving course for users to participate in, while a music stage in the barn allows the player to pick up a guitar and drive away like in The Last of Us Part 2. the player is annoyed by the regular game, although they are unlikely to be very useful to the owners of gas stations.
Since this is a simulator game, users need to avoid mistakes. It’s not as edgy as the most iconic examples of the genre, and often instead has the janky charm these games are associated with. NPCs will behave strangely, vehicles will behave strangely and struggle with the game’s physics (especially the delivery truck), and there’s something strange about the main character being able to casually push very heavy objects over the horizon without giving no trouble.
That said, not all of its technical problems are so smooth. Gas Station Simulator is not stable, and it has some problems in defeating, although thankfully the player is unlikely to lose much progress. The hardest part of this problem is that the title has very long load times, so restarting the game is a bit tedious.
Overall, Gas Station Simulator is much better than many simulator games available on Steam. It’s an exciting and sometimes grim adventure, but one that allows the player to find some peace in the daily grind.
