Station to Station [PC] | REVIEW

Who would have thought that constructing railway lines and stations across an array of picturesque lands would be so relaxing and addictive? That’s exactly what you do in Station to Station, the new puzzler from the team at Galaxy Grove that sees you working to set up a railway network as a means to deliver resources, and believe me, it’s a LOT of fun.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The core gameplay of Station to Station revolves around delivering freight (and sometimes people!) across a variety of landscapes by setting up an interconnected railway network, with the player tasked with placing individual stations at specific buildings and then connecting them together. This isn’t an overly elaborate process either, with the stations easily placed with a button press and the railway track between them simply requiring a drag of the cursor – the game does all of the hard work of determining the type of track that is required, with the player simply having to make sure that the path it follows is feasible. And once two stations are connected together? You just choose the train you want to use and off it goes. There are different things to consider with your track placement, such as it being more expensive to set up a bridge or ensuring that turns aren’t too tight, but it’s all delivered in an accessible and clear way that ensures that setting them up never feels laborious.

Building your railway line is a simple process then, but there’s a bit more going on in each level that adds to the puzzling aspect of the experience. For example, you might be tasked with delivering bread to a city, but in order to get the bread made in the first place, you’ll have to make sure that a flour mill is connected to a wheat farm, that the wheat farm is connected to a bakery, and that the bakery is then connected to the city to deliver it. With plenty of resources to deliver that often require multiple steps to become the required finished product, it won’t take long before the land is covered with interwoven railway tracks that are constantly delivering goods between point A and B (and C… and D… and E… you get my point).

“It’s an incredibly rewarding and addictive experience, whilst seeing each map come to life with colour through your success is endlessly charming.”

When you satisfy the needs of each area of a map, it’ll fill with colour and open up new buildings across the land to work with – some of which may require a whole new railway network to connect between, and some of which will be able to join your existing one to take advantage of the resources travelling across it. And when you manage to ensure everything across the map is set up efficiently to meet all demands? The whole map will burst with colour, allowing you to move on to the next level.

It’s an incredibly rewarding and addictive experience, whilst seeing each map come to life with colour through your success is endlessly charming. Whilst Station to Station has a fairly simplistic voxel-based aesthetic, it’s so rich with detail that it’ll really feel life a living, breathing world. It looks absolutely gorgeous to zoom in and watch your trains traversing across the wonderful land all whilst spotting the wildlife along the way, whilst the tilt-shift perspective you can take makes everything feel all the more stylish. There were plenty of occasions where I’d finish a level but would still spend time simply admiring how beautiful it looked before moving on to the next… it’s THAT pretty.

Check out some screenshots down below:

There are plenty of different mechanics introduced as you play to keep the experience interesting too, whether that’s new buildings and resources to work with, more expansive maps and terrain that require a different approach to build across, the ability to place individual buildings that have to meet the needs across the whole land, or even special cards that can be used to apply buffs to different aspects of your railway network. You’re working to a budget too, and whilst Station to Station isn’t the most difficult of games, you’ve got to be efficient with your railway networks if you want to ensure you don’t run out of cash. With plenty of optional objectives to meet and challenges to complete along the way, there really is plenty to get stuck into that’ll challenge you to play in more unconventional ways.

It’s just a lot of fun to play, with Station to Station’s puzzling never proving overwhelming, but offering enough depth to ensure that there’s still a little bit of challenge to go along with its relaxing vibe. There are six different biomes to play across in total, and with thirty-two levels to complete, there’s a decent amount to get through. Honestly? I completed it all in one four-hour playthrough (it’s THAT addictive), but I’ve still got to spend a bit more time with the game to complete all of the extra objectives. And, for those who do want more, there’s also a free play mode where you can determine the size and challenge of a randomly generated level, so there’s always a reason to come back if you just want to experience the joys of the game time and time again.

Developer: Galaxy Grove
Publisher: Prismatika
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2272400/Station_to_Station/