Flight Simulator was a game that came out many years ago and found a niche, a very big niche which allowed to basically be a pilot amongst other things and fly around the world at your own leisure. Since then gamers have found solace in playing games that reflect real life, even the most mundane of jobs or tasks have been turned into games ranging from Farming Simulator, Ranch Simulator and even Fernbus Simulator. This time round it’s something very niche, which goes deeper than just a Train simulator, welcome to Train Station Renovation.
Train Station Renovation is pretty much what the title represents, you are in charge of renovating old train stations. In Train Station Renovation you become responsible for the cleaning, repairing, painting and replenishing of a train station. The premise is fairly simple in Train Station Renovation, you need to complete a series of tasks to improve the train station you are dealing with. There will be several areas within a train station that will usually need at least some cleaning and redecorating. Once you’ve completed enough of these tasks your ‘progression’ increases to a point where you can then move onto the next station. You see 100% renovation is not needed, once you hit that first progression star you can move onto the next station
Train Station Renovation is a slow but very relaxing experience. There are no time limits or restraints, these abandoned train station have been given to you to replenish and then you simply move onto the next one. The tasks themselves are fair in number and can be a little repetitive at times. You pick up litter, get rid of said litter, you order skips to get rid of larger rubbish, you wash off graffiti and so on. You can fill in holes, you can smash stuff up which is hugely satisfying and you can order several things to bring your station back to its former glories such as benches, windows etc. You can even fix things should you come across such situations. In terms of an ‘arsenal’ you can choose from tools like trowels, brooms, sponges and crowbars. You have a Tablet which is where you will order all your items and also acts like a scanner which will highlight anything in the environment that might need some action which is particularly useful. The developers also know the Scanner could be overused so they’ve conveniently added a cool down feature to it.
Outside of the renovation in Train Station Renovation there isn’t much else to do. There are 10 maps that start off in simpler rural settings before you move into renovating more metropolitan stations. Navigating around and completing some tasks can be a little clunky at times but not enough to make things frustrating. Graphically Train Station Renovation will not win any awards, visually it’s not much to look at but I guess we are looking after dilapidated train stations that time has left behind. You can ride around in a model train to see how things are coming along and you do notice the detail, especially where you’ve had some input into the cleaning etc. Audio wise Train Station Renovation is quite simplistic, some sounds are replicated across different stations but nothing out of the ordinary
Train Station Renovation is a the perfect game to relax to, it doesn’t ask much from you nor does it demand anything. It lacks a fair bit in graphical prowess and modes but Train Station Renovation is a simple game where you can pass a few hours rebuilding a train station in your eyes. If you are a fan of simulators or train stations (there isn’t much in terms of train action) then Train Station Renovation is a game you’ll lose many hours with.
