Aliens, Mafia, petrol station: Gas Station Simulator is anything but an everyday simulation, but that’s what makes it so special.
Can you live the American dream? As a gas station attendant? Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the United States? Well, you can if you interpret the American dream a little differently and if you don’t mind desert, a vandal named Dennis and a mafia uncle. As if that weren’t enough, party buses full of cosplay aliens keep rolling up to your gas pumps. In between, you restock, repair vehicles in the workshop, paint walls and redecorate the petrol station. You order the necessary stuff and everything else via the internet: such as diesel, food, magazines and all kinds of knick-knacks.
At first glance, Gas Station Simulator may not sound like a relaxed everyday simulation. However, if you get involved, make the purchase ( on Steam for 17 euros) and give the game about three hours to unfold, you will be surprised how easy it is to regulate processes at the petrol station. And in the end you don’t even need to sleep, just work through it.
A demolition would certainly have been cheaper
As Sam, the name of our protagonist, we cross a desert region of the USA and after a seemingly endless left turn we see our new home: a petrol station. After the long drive, we voluntarily go to sleep for the first and only time in the game. Without birdsong, we wake up in the early hours of the morning and are shocked to discover: our petrol station is anything but attractive, and demolishing it would probably be cheaper than completely renovating it.
Without the necessary financial means, however, rebuilding is difficult and so we do what the game expects of us: We arm ourselves with rubbish bags, a broom and a paint roller and spruce up the old petrol station.
In the process, the question arises not only once why mountains of rubbish are piled up everywhere on the site and how on earth “Rudy”, the little front loader, has survived unscathed for what feels like an eternity on his own. Rudy quickly becomes the only and best friend we have in the Gas Station Simulator. With him we clear sand from the site and make sure that customers reach the petrol pumps.
Followed by numerous quests, mini-games and icons flashing everywhere. The first hustle and bustle spreads where dusty peace once reigned. After we have painted the walls and roof of the petrol station according to our preferences and are mighty proud, the game “rewards” our success with vandalism.
Dennis is a little rascal who, armed with a spray can, smears the freshly painted walls of our petrol station with graffiti. For some it may be art, for us as petrol station attendants it is rather a thorn in the eye. Dennis is chased away by throwing objects at him or by simply switching him off in the options. Dennis doesn’t give you an advantage, and in the end you’ll be happy about a little more peace in your hectic everyday life.
Upgrades add variety
Then you upgrade the petrol station. While you only have two petrol pumps at the beginning, you gradually expand the site with a workshop and more parking spaces. Inside, you equip the salesroom with sales stands, ice chests, snack shelves and lots of decoration. Each expansion heralds a new chapter in the “story” of the game.
However, the story is very flat, predictable and is forgotten after a short time. Admittedly, there are always moments when you ask yourself: “Wasn’t there another task I had to do? And when will the next call come to continue the story?” But all that is long forgotten after about five to ten hours of play. By this time, the petrol station is already booming, and we even offer paying customers access to a toilet, which, however, wants to be cleaned regularly.
Generally, you spend a lot of time cleaning up other people’s mess and cleaning up after them. At the latest after the first party bus full of cosplay aliens, you wish you had a member of staff who would clean up the entire area. Yes, your wish will even be granted.
Later on, you can hire employees to collect money for you, repair vehicles in the workshop or clean your property with a broom. What your employees don’t do: Steal things. You are responsible for that, because your employees do not know how to use a lockpick.
You are the ones who develop criminal energies in Gas Station Simulator: You use a lockpick to pick locks on cars, and even the cops look the other way when you prise open the boot of the police car you’ve just parked while the officer is still getting out.
The money is in the street
In the boots you will not only find money, but also antique furniture, clocks and lamps, which you will place in the shop to provide a little more flair in the otherwise desolate region. In between all the clutter, you place shelves and ice chests, which are filled with the appropriate products.
The goods are delivered directly to you by truck after you have placed your order. After the truck driver honks his horn, you open the warehouse doors, put the goods away and then sort them into the appropriate shelves in the sales room. You don’t have time to catch your breath, as the next customer is already at the petrol pump, another customer is waiting for a repair in the garage and the cosplay aliens want canned beer, crisps, sunglasses and daily newspapers.
All this often happens at the same time and while you don’t need a break, your employees are enjoying their end of the day in the adjacent trailer park. This leaves you with many tasks and mini-games. If you don’t scan products correctly, you receive less tip, even though you didn’t even charge the customer for the bag of chips. He also thanks you with a little tantrum and leaves the shop in a huff.
With a quizzical look, we watch him disappear into the dust and wonder what happened to the good old days. The time when the life of a petrol station attendant was still valued. A time when not everything was hectic. The next customer in the garage pulls us out of our daydream and so we run over and repair yet another mobile in another mini-game.
Editor’s verdict
Despite all the hustle and bustle, I really like Gas Station Simulator, and I don’t regret buying it. The everyday simulation doesn’t take itself too seriously and so you can forgive minor mistakes. After the first ten hours, I wouldn’t have expected to spend another 20 hours fulfilling customer requests, buying new upgrades for the petrol station and waiting for the best price on fashionable beer drinking helmets. What I miss in the end are realistic processes, new locations and, after 30 hours, the motivation to start all over again or just keep playing endlessly. But at least I now appreciate the work of petrol station attendants more than ever. Provided my car is refuelled by him and there is no self-service.
