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Have you ever wanted to run your own supermarket? Then you need the game Discounty. Obviously it’s not quite as straightforward as just running a supermarket though. Developed by Crinkle Cut Games and published by PQube, we enter this narrative-driven management sim with a nice-sized single-player campaign.
Clean up on aisle 5
Having been out for a couple of weeks, we thought it was time to take off our uniform and sit down to write this review. Let’s see if this is worth £17 from your local Nintendo store shall we?
Gameplay
Starting up the game and diving in, you find out that your aunt has invited you to Blomkest to run the local store, aptly named Discounty. Once you have created your person using the limited creation screen, you are thrust into the hustle and bustle of small-town life. You eventually get caught up in everyone’s drama, as well as being tasked with running the shop successfully.
You get to pick the layout and place things wherever you fancy. I always go for the traditional fresh items on one side, and frozen items on the other. Keeping the shop stocked is just one challenge. For a while, you have Grace in the store, giving you little tidbits of information, kind of like a tutorial, but not quite as basic. You have to do all the things that you might think of when tasked with running a supermarket. You need to keep your shelves stocked and floors clean, and order stock when you are running low. All that while also running the cash register, and dare I say it, doing maths!
When your shop is open, you will be rushing to the back to stock up on low inventory, but the main task is manning the cash register. When you do so, you are given a little booklet of prices on one side and a cash register on the other. It is your job to input the correct monetary value to check out your customers. The game won’t let you get it wrong so just concentrate and you’ll be fine.
Drama Mick, I Love it!
Throughout your time in Discounty, you will be given numerous tasks and objectives. Some of these are just to go and interact with other members of the town. Some, however, will be more involved. Going and speaking to characters and finding out their back story and what might be going on with their lives is one of the highlights of the game. I honestly enjoyed the little tête-à-tête that a few of the characters had going on.
Once you get big enough of a supermarket, you can start to expand. However, this may not come with a fanfare from certain townsfolk. It’s ok though, because they always come back in for their morning toilet roll. Bigger supermarkets come with their own problems; ensuring all your stock is full is one of the more difficult parts of the game. That and trying to get trade deals with some of the other local businesses.
After a hard day at the shop, you get some free time to wander the streets and find out what else might be going on. Go and talk to people, as sometimes you get some nice, important pieces of information out of them. Once you think you’re done with the day, head back to your caravan and get to bed. Don’t worry you’ll wake up at 6am and start the whole process all over again. At least you do get Sundays off!
Graphics & Audio
The graphics, as you can see, are very cute pixel graphics that represent everything well. All the people are distinctive enough, as are all the products for your shelves. The top-down view feels great, especially for a game like this.
From an audio point of view, the game sounds great. There are cute little noises for people talking, and a really nice soundtrack is going on. There is eerie music every now and again to indicate that you are in a particularly tense section. This was a nice little audio bonus, and one that the TC Mini Crew regularly pointed out.
Longevity
With a campaign of around 15-20 hours, there is plenty of gameplay with Discounty. With all the different tasks and objectives, you rarely get bored playing this game. The only downside is that some of the objectives are a little bit grindy. That, however, would be me nitpicking.
Final Thoughts
Discounty is one of those games where you can easily lose a few hours just by repeating the supermarket mechanics. I have adored this game, from the start of my time with it and I’ll continue to enjoy it even after writing this review. I’m always looking to up my stats.
Discounty gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received to write this review.
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