The Last Gas Station Review

The Last Gas Station is a cosy (on the surface) shopkeeping game developed and published by Alawar, which was released on the 28th of April 2026. In a world where gas-powered vehicles have long since fallen out of use and electric cars are the norm, you play as the newest owner of the last gas station running after the owner disappeared all of a sudden. It’s your job to fix up and maintain your station while getting to know the folks that live in Coven Lake, the only town that still uses fossil fuels. It seems like a great world to me, so let’s see if it’s worth going back to a less green lifestyle.

Oh, and try not to stay out at night.

The narrative definitely got me interested right from the get-go, giving off this sort of Twin Peaks type of feeling, along with the cosy vibes. Getting to know customers and investigating the owner’s disappearance can be quite fun to go through. The story’s pacing, though, isn’t the greatest. At the beginning, you’re pulled into this massive web of mystery and intrigue, with constant warnings of heading home before it gets dark. 

However, afterwards things slow down a lot as story progress is tied to completing tasks and getting upgrades, which can take forever to get to. It might take 20+ in-game days until you get to see that next cutscene. Plus, the whole “don’t go out at night or else” kind of falls apart when nothing really happens when you do go out at night, though, I guess it's simply an excuse to end the day; the gas station isn't open 24/7, after all. And that’s not considering when some NPCs decide it would be a good idea to hold up the line at checkout to gossip (time is paused, but people still come). It’s a pretty nice story, but one that sort of gets in your way.

Still, I can definitely appreciate the pixel art and art direction on display. All the wonderfully animated characters, vehicles, and backgrounds are lovingly detailed, and there can be some beautiful sights to be seen both during the day and in the night, combined with a peaceful and calm soundtrack to really put you at ease. The atmosphere is very pleasant during the day, where it feels like a good day of work, while at night, things get significantly creepier. I definitely got scared once or twice in my playthrough.

But enough about that, let’s pump some gas! It’s a fairly simple practice which only gets easier as you upgrade your station. Just wait for a car to pull up and you top them up to their preferred level. However, you can only have so much fuel to give to people, and once you run out, you’ll need to order some more, which can be a little troublesome. It has to be in units of 50 or 100, and there’s no way to simply top off your tank; you also have to wait for the delivery. While gas prices do fluctuate, you’re always guaranteed to get a profit, so don’t be afraid of buying more.

That being said, what gas station doesn’t have a shop full of snacks, drinks, and other novelty items? You can buy shelves and goods to sell to people, like postcards, chips, and motor oil, then head to the checkout to serve the customers. I really liked that shelf space is an actual thing you must take into account, as bigger items take up more space.

You can customise and expand the station to accommodate additional customers and their wants, and lean into the mysteries the locals believe. It’s actually a gameplay mechanic, as how you decorate your station affects your popularity and the types of customers you get.

However, in this day and age, your station needs to do a lot more than pump gas and serve snacks. As you grow the business, you’ll need to provide other services in order to keep the lights on. Open up a car wash station, get tire-pumping equipment, expand the station itself, and a bunch of other upgrades. It’s honestly rather satisfying to see the gas station go from basically abandoned to a modern building full of amenities.

Eventually, though, you’ll unlock enough upgrades to reduce your role down to being a cashier, as most stations can be self-serve. The endgame can feel rather boring, but it is better than constantly sprinting everywhere. I have to ask, why is the car wash station so far away!? Seriously, you’d think it would be a little calmer, but I found myself more like a headless chicken than the ring-tailed panda I was playing as (or raccoon? I don't know my animals). Also, the sprint’s full speed doesn’t kick in soon enough for my liking.

As for the upgrades themselves, they can be a little grindy as it’ll take thousands upon thousands of dollars to purchase them, like getting a Roomba to take care of cleaning for you. Let me tell you, that little guy is a bigger help than you’d think. Again, it could take an in-game month to get some of the final unlocks needed to finish the game.

And that’s not considering some of the glitches I encountered, such as some cars flickering into each other or stopping in the middle of the road. A visual glitch, sure, but there were some that affected gameplay. I played the game with a gamepad, and it worked fairly well for the most part. However, at times it would suddenly stop working, disabling the Confirm button for whatever reason, though usually when talking to people gives you multiple options.

Also, sometimes when interacting with something, it would lock me in a dialogue loop, trapping me there until I switched to my keyboard to break it. It was really strange, and not the good kind! At the very least, The Last Gas Station ran exceptionally smoothly. I have not found a pixel art game yet that doesn’t keep the framerate at 60 FPS the entire way through.

Despite my issues with some game design decisions, The Last Gas Station is worth your time if you’re into these sorts of shopkeeping games. The mystery can be intriguing, though poorly-paced, and I loved all the characters I got to know. It is more chaotic than you’d expect, but any game that makes me want to keep playing, I can’t help but recommend it.