Friends

Friends are other players in the game you can trade gold, materials , and XP with. Although the game never requires any player to have friends, they can help make the game more engaging in several ways. Friends can be a big part of TrainStation's gameplay, including things like exchanging Gifts and International Trains, and also completing the Social Achievements.

Friends List
The Friends List can be opened by clicking on the Friends button within the game (see image above).



By default, the Friends List is sorted by Rank in descending order, and centered on the player; lowest level Friends at the top of the list, and highest level Friends at the bottom.

The player can also sort the list by using the three grey sorting buttons. Sort options are by Name, Level, and any available Collectibles (Clocks/Chests).

Adding Friends
Every player starts with Mr. Bill as their only Friend. If a player connects the game to Facebook, Google+, or via the Pixel Federation Portal, this allows for more Friends.

When logging in through Facebook/Google+, any Friends also playing TS via those platforms will automatically show up in the game. When playing with a Portal account, you can add Friends using the green 'Invite more friends' button in-game (see above) or via the Portal's Player Profile page. When connecting with your Facebook account, the player can play via the Portal or play directly on Facebook. However, some (high level) items are only available when logging in through the Portal.

Visiting Friends
Visiting Friends is as easy on clicking on their portrait/name in the Friends list. This takes the player to a view of their Main Station.

Newly added Friends will have a gold star next to their name. Visiting them the first time offers a small gold and material reward and helps complete the Social Spirit achievement.

Sending Gifts
Sending gifts is part of being a good Friend. Gifts can be sent to each Friend at least once per day and to Mr. Bill too. One of the Social Achievements requires the player to send gifts to Friends. Having more Friends will help complete this set of achievements more quickly.

Note: Sending gifts do not use the player's gold or material, it is sent from Mr. Bill's never ending storage.

Receiving Gifts
If the player is a good Friend and sends gifts frequently, their Friends will likely return the favor and send gifts to you. This not only awards free resources and interesting game items (such as Moose Transport), but it also helps earn the Bounty Hunter achievement.

Sending Trains
Sending International Trains to Friends loaded with passenger/mail wagons // (to send gold), cargo wagons (to send materials), or Special Wagons  (to send XP) will help those Friends in their game progress. And, they may send trains full of resources in return. Purchasing the Trainroute Planner extensions will allow the player to send each train to up to 8 recipients at once.

Receiving Trains
When Friends send their own International Trains, the player can collect gold, materials and/or XP. These trains will wait in the player's station for up to 24 hours. There is an IT History button within the Train Manager's International Trains tab that will show the player details on the last 30 IT trains received from Friends.

Friend Express Trains
Every 23.5 hours, Express Trains appear at randomly selected Friend's stations. When Express Trains are available, a Clock icon will appear on the Friend's line with a 'Collect' button. These Express Trains can award gold, materials, XP, and possibly Museum locomotives. It also helps you with the Express Master achievements. The 23.5 hour timer is reset upon collecting all trains from Mr. Bill. Both the Clock and Chest icon can appear at the same Friend.

If the player chooses to visit these Friend's stations to collect the trains, the One-Click-Unload extension makes this much easier and faster.

The number of Clock icons that appear each time is based on the total number of Friends the player has. Take the square root of the total number of Friends and add 2. For example, if you have 100 Friends in game, you should see about (√100 + 2) = 12 clocks (including Mr. Bill). Both the clock and chest icon can appear at the same Friend.

Friend Chests
Every few hours, the player can collect a Chest from up to five Friend stations. When a Chest is available, a Chest icon will appear on the Friend's line with a 'Collect' button. The Enhanced Chests extension increases these rewards by 50%.

These Chests typically award a large amount of Mail and some Resources. Since the player has deliver nearly pieces of mail for the Postmaster achievement, having many Friends will make quick work of it. Both the Clock and Chest icon can appear at the same Friend.

Chests replaced Mail Packages with the 2017 Game Update.

Abandoned Stations
If a Friend does not play for 2-3 days, a small white ZZZ icon will appear next to the Friend's name. These stations are considered abandoned. Upon visiting an abandoned station, the player "wakes the Friend up" which awards the player 500 of a random material. This material will be sent to your gift box from Mr. Bill.

NOTE: There is a known bug in the game where some active Friends still show up with ZZZ icons.

Removing Friends
Removing Friends can be difficult. Friends added via the Portal can be removed easily from the Portal's Profile Page (they can be blocked from sending invites as well). However, Friends gained via Facebook/Google+ are automatic as long as they have their game attached to their profile. If they remove their game, or are no longer the player's friend, they will usually disappear. This has proven to not always be effective, and a ticket to Support may be required.

Friend Mail Packages
Friend Mail Packages were removed with the 2017 Game Update. In the past, every 12 hours, the player could collect mail packages from Friend's stations. When Mail Packages were available, a small mail icon will appear next to the Friend's avatar. The One-Click-Mail extension made this very fast and simple.