Game: Galaxy Pass Station
Genre: Adventure, Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Galactic Workshop
Controller Support: No
Price: US $9.99 | UK £8.50 | EU € 9,75
Release Date: September 13th, 2023
Review code used with many thanks to Galactic Workshop.
Galaxy Pass Station is a 2023 simulation strategy game developed and published by Galactic Workshop.
Premise
In Galaxy Pass Station, we take control of a space station, an intergalactic hub for different alien races passing through. One part colony sim, one part administrative bureaucracy sim, Galaxy Pass Station is a fun gaming experience. As the caretaker for the station, we need to ensure that all guests are processed quickly and correctly and have a great time at the station.
Gameplay
As mentioned above, in Galaxy Pass Station, we have a two-fold mission. Firstly, we are building, expanding, and managing a space station. We have different upgrades to make our guests stay more enjoyable. We can also purchase drones to help maintain the station and check documents instead of us.
The station’s management includes performing tests and striving to improve the facilities. That could be done by creating a duty-free zone for shopping, a food court, etc.
The second part of the mission is checking the papers of our guests – we need to check their documentation, photos, and DNA and see if the information matches. As the game progresses, it gets more challenging to recognize imposters from guests.
We can buy and upgrade technologies to help with this task as well, such as a scanner. If we discover irregularities in the documentation, we can ask a visitor to leave the station. If we fail to recognize an imposter, the game will tell us immediately and ask us to pay a fine. To keep things interesting, we have a lot of races, 13 to be exact, and each of them has their specific characteristics and requirements.
All the tutorials can be found in the terminal on the upper right side of the screen. Next to the terminal, we have the technology tree, where we choose what updates to research next. We have several categories – galaxy, service, comfort, station, upgrades, and CETI Project. Each makes our station work better and makes it easier to check documentation. The CETI Project is about interacting with alien species and general research into extraterrestrial life.
In Galaxy Pass Station, we have basic audio and video settings. Something I take for granted most of the time is that we have six new game slots. We also have two game modes – Story (First contact) and Endless (Second contact) mode. Endless mode is unlocked after completing Story mode.
Art Style
Galaxy Pass Station is a colourful 2D pixel creation. I don’t know for sure, but it also looks hand-drawn. Each visitor to the station is unique, even if a bit similar-looking. We can access the living quarters of the caretaker by clicking on the little house on the upper right part of the screen. There, we can see all the unlocked races as action figures or change the appearance of our station manager. Clicking on the bed means the end of the day and the start of a new work day. However, if you try to clock off early, the game will remind you that you are still working on work.
There is a sense of wonder and humour in the game. The aliens are funny, and the dialogue feels alive, with the stray observations and a light annoyance of being delayed for checking documents. Being a sci-fi fan, I really liked the story, and the CETI- Project was a nice touch.
Difficulty
Galaxy Pass Station is easy to get the hang of. The controls are straightforward, and everything is well explained. It doesn’t have a difficulty setting, and it’s not challenging. That said, I personally liked the game more at the beginning when the station was smaller. The bigger it gets, the more complicated it becomes. But that’s just my preference.
Some Side Notes
I am happy to note that the developer has released a steady stream of updates. It speaks well for the future of the game. The developers are reading the comments and taking them to heart.
Galaxy Pass Stations has Steam Achievements but no trading cards yet.
Conclusion
Galaxy Pass Station is an excellent little game with plenty of content and almost no learning curve to keep you entertained for a while. It reminds me pleasantly of another bureaucracy sim game, Papers, Please, without the heavy historical context. Overall, I can see myself spending a long time in Galaxy Pass Station.
Final Verdict: I Like it. 