Are you looking for a relaxing fall game this weekend? Now there’s a great new release on PC that’s perfect for the season. station by station is a cozy new PC game (it’s one part minimalistic puzzler and one part railroad management simulator. It’s a cozy indie with earthy tone art and a gentle soundtrack, but there’s some deceptively deep strategy layer on top of it. Whether you’re ) just thinking of making cool or complex railways, station by station This season may just be the game you need.
Developed by Galaxy Grove, station by station Asks players to build efficient railroads between various buildings marked on a small map. it sounds like a mix mini metro And Dorfromantik, creating a satisfying puzzle hook that is easy to pick up. At first, the tasks are simple. A building needs wheat from a nearby mill. I place a station next to each building and connect the two together. Easy. The more tasks I complete, the more buildings are added to the map. I can point out a place where milk can be produced but it requires wheat to do so. The goal of each level is to continue adding railways until the conditions for each building are met.
It’s as intuitive as pulling together Legos, but there are a lot of details that add up with each level. For example, I can build a bridge and a track on the rock, but it will cost me a lot of money. I can sometimes offset that cost by building anchor points in the track so it can move around flat land, although this can also be expensive. Money is a limited resource at each level, so I always need to find the most economical way to build tracks. Every decision I make matters because I am rewarded for smart planning.
This is best reflected station by stationThe deepest puzzle layer. If I connect my railways in a certain order, I can move a bunch of resources between stations at the same time. This activates a stack bonus, giving me more money for each piece of content delivered in turn. However, to get a big payout, I have to put the tracks together, sometimes in illogical order. Suppose there is a city that needs fish, milk, bread and wheat. If I connect the city to the different buildings that produce those materials, I won’t get much money. However, if I can find a way to connect all those stations before the city connects them, I’ll deliver all four items at once and get a lot of cash for my efforts. This brings a deeper strategy layer to the experience, which will require a lot of clever thinking.
Like any good puzzle game, new twists expand the formula along the way. When commuters enter the fold, I need to strategically connect cities together to create functional public transit while maintaining a functional supply chain. Then there is a card system that allows players to activate discounts on tracks, bridges and more. There are several strategies adopted to use each card at the right time to save as much money as possible. Little layers like this, with bonus objectives in each level, allow me to flex my engineering muscles.
If this sounds a little too stressful, station by station Are you covered? Players can withdraw money or set up a custom game with their own rules to remove some of the management stress from the main game. Both options are perfect for those looking for a zen experience (this one especially works as a relaxing couch game via Steam Deck). station by station That style of game is particularly well suited, because building a complex series of railways and watching little trains run across the tracks like disciplined worker ants is extremely enjoyable. Efficiency is the name of the game here and you will be rewarded for your ability to complete it, whether you are playing casually or as a strategic puzzle.
station by station Now available on PC.
