A new videogame called “Gas Station Simulator” on the Steam online platform allows the user to clean up, renovate and reopen a gas station in the desert in Route 66.
Here’s the trailer for the game:
A writer for PCGamer.com reports:
It starts with you driving your really cool car—complete with a smoking dog bobblehead—through a desert before pulling into the Dust Bowl Gas Stop and buying it from the owner. Shortly after, you get a call from your uncle who tells you that your grandfather once owned it, and he’s happy to help you get it back into shape. […]
You even have to build everything from the ground up. Starting with breaking down 2×4 planks to get into your new gas station and driving a front loader to remove sand from the parking lot and pumps, there’s actually a fair bit of work to do before you can start serving customers. Aiming and tossing garbage bags and other trash into dumpsters—Kobe!—is dumb fun that even tracks your furthest distance with a triumphant “high score” sign. Oh, and that kid that keeps showing up and tagging the stop with spray paint? Throwing trash at him is fun, too. […]
There’s a simple kind of fun in the other tasks. Filling up a person’s car presents a meter, which tells you when you need to stop. The Shift key speeds the meter up, but you’ll have to be quick to stop if you want the maximum tip. Likewise, ringing people up at the cashier has you starting up the conveyor belt, scanning items, and putting them in a basket. Completing an order without stopping the belt—rapid scanning and bagging—feels cool in a way that being a cashier shouldn’t.
Games Radar reports the game jumped to the top five in sales almost immediately after its release. “Gas Station Simulator” was developed by Drago Entertainment.
Three review outlets report the game is surprisingly addictive. One user left this review: “After thinking I could check it out for about half an hour before bed, I ended up playing this till nearly 4 am.”
A prologue for the game can be found here.
One gripe: I wish developers would stop putting saguaro cacti in their simulations of Route 66 in the desert. Saguaros are not native to Route 66, and the only one I’m aware of that existed — at Ed’s Camp near Oatman, Arizona — died years ago when it was struck by lightning.
(Screen-capture image from preview video of the “Gas Station Simulator” videogame)