Podstakannik Rails is a first-person social co-op game set aboard an overnight sleeper train. One to four players board the same car, take their berths, and spend the trip together. There are no quests, scores, or progression systems: the host sets the trip to 10, 15, or 20 minutes, the train pulls into the station when time runs out, and nothing carries over to the next trip. Players talk over proximity voice chat, so voices are clear inside a compartment and fade down the corridor. Around the car, they can fill a glass of tea at the samovar and carry it in a metal glass holder called a podstakannik, tune the radio by hand through the static, make up a berth and lie down for a nap, and work the reading lamps, ceiling lights, and compartment doors. Non-player characters include the sleeping car attendant, a police officer, and passengers who tell stories to anyone who sits down to listen, while the countryside passes outside the window by day or by night.