Center Station Simulator

About

"In Center Station Simulator, you inherit a shopping center in a desert and must renovate it, manufacture products in your expandable underground laboratory! Manage resources such as electricity, water, and oil, and build your laboratory, shop, and parking lot. Create and sell products, automate payment checkouts, and continuously improve your facilities. The possibilities for expansion are endless!"

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 202 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

grinding36 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and engaging crafting experience, allowing players to build everything from scratch.
Regular updates from the developer keep the game fresh and add new content, enhancing the overall experience.
The grindy nature of the game is satisfying for players who enjoy long-term progression and resource management.

The game suffers from poor translations and confusing controls, making it difficult for players to understand mechanics and instructions.
Many bugs and technical issues persist, including problems with saving and item interactions, which detract from the gameplay experience.
The tutorial is inadequate, often leading to frustration as players struggle to figure out basic mechanics without proper guidance.

grinding
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is characterized as highly grindy, appealing primarily to players who enjoy extensive crafting, mining, and building mechanics. While the grind can be tedious, especially with complex processes and limited inventory management, many players find it rewarding and relaxing, making it a hidden gem for fans of layered simulators. However, newcomers may face challenges with controls and a lack of guidance on upgrades and structures.
- “Secondly, this game relies heavily on crafting and grinding, so expect to spend a lot of time crafting materials, etc.”
- “The game is very grindy; there is so much to do but not enough time, and some tasks have like 10 steps to do one thing. For example, first you grow the tree, then collect the log, then process the log 5 times on the sawmill to get planks. It should just let you put the log on the sawmill and do its thing, but no.”
- “Game doesn't tell you what upgrades do, how structures work, etc., so you have to guess by yourself after building one, and then regret having invested 5 hours into ore farming to build useless stuff.”
gameplay
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
58%
12%
The gameplay is characterized by a lack of content and significant grind, which can detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the mechanics and find the gameplay addictive, they also note issues such as confusing controls and the need for better energy management. Suggestions for improvement include adding a statistics menu, allowing the sale of machines, and enhancing early-game accessibility to energy construction.
- “I have thoroughly enjoyed the mechanics and expanding the machinery and improving my center.”
- “Always, and I mean always, something to do in the game which is a cool concept if you enjoy that kind of gameplay; at the same time, it can be as relaxed as you want it to be.”
- “Rough around the edges but addictive gameplay.”
- “There's not a lot of gameplay content here, and what content is available is hidden behind a ton of grind and waiting.”
- “Problematic controls: even with customization options, there are times when the item pickup mechanic is confusing, requiring the use of multiple buttons.”
- “It has no content; gameplay is terrible, and basic UI elements are missing.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
30%
The game's optimization is currently a work in progress, with users noting significant performance issues, including slowdowns even on high-end systems. Many hope for future improvements, particularly for compatibility with the Steam Deck. Overall, enhancements in optimization are deemed essential for a smoother gaming experience.
- “Overall performance: improvements in performance are essential, as even on high-performance computers, the game experiences slowdowns.”
- “I hope in the future this game is optimized for Steam Deck.”
- “The optimization is clearly in progress.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to have very few glitches and is generally stable, with users expressing satisfaction regarding the lack of bugs affecting their experience. Overall, players find the stability contributes positively to their enjoyment of the game.
- “Very few glitches, and fairly stable for the most part.”
- “Its such a good game, had no issues with bugs and glitches, I like the fact you have to build everything literally from scratch, maybe at some point there could be a farm too where you can get meat, I'm so addicted to this game.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game currently features no in-game music, with music only available in the main menu. This lack of in-game audio has been noted by multiple users.
- “There is no in-game music; it's currently only available in the main menu.”
- “The game lacks in-game music, which is only present in the main menu.”
- “In-game music is absent; it seems to be limited to the main menu only.”
graphics
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics are praised for their quality, with impressive animations that stand out for an EA game. Users appreciate the quick resolution of bugs and the continuous addition of new content, enhancing the overall visual experience.
- “The graphics are very nice, and the animations are really good for an EA game. Bugs are fixed quickly, and new content is constantly added.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by amusing translations, particularly the phrase "no employee" in a back area, which has garnered laughter from players.
- “It also leads to some humorous translations such as the 'no employee' back area 😂”