What I learned about the fuel business playing Gas Station Simulator

If you think ending the supply chain crisis will be hard, pity the poor players of this popular job simulation game, who have to deal with angry customers, mean relatives and weird physics

The fuel crisis has brought the rigours of one particular profession into sharp focus this month. Petrol station managers throughout Britain have had to cope with snaking queues, angry customers and even forecourt fist fights, as the shortage of HGV drivers took its toll. It's a career many of us probably hadn't thought much about before this troubling new subplot in the ongoing Brexit/Covid drama, but has now become a countrywide concern. For those who want to know more, there's a game for that.

Fortuitously released just a few weeks before the crisis, and currently one of the most streamed games on Twitch, Gas Station Simulator has you taking over a dilapidated fuel stop just off Route 66 in the middle of the desert. OK, so it's hardly a BP garage on the North Circular, but the basics are similar. First you need to clear the place up - unboard the windows, fix the electrics and throw away a lot of junk (which is extremely satisfying) - but then you're down to the real business: filling tanks, serving customers at the till and ordering in petrol and snack deliveries.