Books n' Stuff

I decided to break my pattern of aimlessly bouncing from game to game and finally settled down on a cute, indie game called Tiny Bookshop.  Steam recently had a special sale for "wholesome" games and I have to admit that I like a chill, wholesome experience from time to time (I also grabbed a couple of other titles that I am in the process of checking out).  Most of my gaming time has been dedicated to completing my Tiny Bookshop adventure.

What is it?

A sort of management game where you play the role of the owner of a mobile bookshop in a small, European inspired (I think it's supposed to take place in a fictional British town) city.  The gameplay consists of deciding on a location where you will sell your books each day and then stocking your shelves with specific titles (I'll get into how this works--there's a bit of strategy involved).  Your ultimate goal is not only to sell books, but to befriend the locals and become a part of the community.

How much playtime can I expect?

Depending on your level of completion, I would estimate between 10-20 hours.  If you're going full completionist (going for all the achievements) it could exceed 20+ easily.  It's not exactly a long game, and it can be played in chunks.

Pros:

+ The gameplay is fairly simple but does require some attention to detail.  Ultimately, you want to sell as many books as you can, but there are different factors that can impact your sales.  These things can be outside of your control (like the weather--when it's rainy/bad weather, you just simply won't get as many customers) or are determined by your selling location or the items you use to decorate your shop.  Each day you get to pick where you want to sell your books--you start off with only a few locations, but as you progress more will open up.  There are special events that occur on certain days of the week that should be considered--for example, every Monday is a special sale at the local mega-store, so there are usually a lot of customers.  The downside...the manager requires you to also offer a discount if you want to sell in the parking lot.

Selling books at the local megastore.

Another factor to consider is the types of books that are popular at each location.  There are seven genres of books to sell, but certain types will sell better at different locations.  For example, the beach is a popular location during the summer and attracts a lot of families, so it's better to stock more children's books.  There's definitely some thinking involved to maximize your bookselling profits.

+ Tons of personalization/decoration options for your shop.  You can earn, find, or buy a variety of items to use in your shop.  These items offer up bonuses that can help with sales--for example, an outdated globe I bought from a vendor increased the chance of people buying travel books.  Plus, you can purchase different paint colors from the art vendor at the flea market and paint many items (plus the interior and exterior of your shop) to create the color palette of your choice.

Your journal helps you keep track of each character, their tasks, and likes/dislikes.

+ A cute, friendly cast of characters to meet and befriend.  These townsfolk will show up at your shop everyday and you can learn more about them.  They have their own book preferences and will present you with special tasks to complete.  There's Klaus, a budding musician who has dreams of becoming a professional with his metal band; there's Tilde, the recently retired former owner of the local bookshop who has a passion for books and for the town of Bookstonbury; there's Harper, a rambunctious young girl who likes playing on the beach and hanging out with her fellow Pipits (a sort of Boy Scout/Girl Scout group); and there are many more!  These characters all have their own line of tasks that are built around their personalities and stories.  It's a heartwarming experience to earn their friendship and eventually feel like a part of the close knit town of Bookstonbury.

+ There's a cat and a dog that can join you at your shop!  And yes, you can pet them.

+ Love of books.  An important part of gameplay is giving recommendations to customers.  If they can't find a book of their choice on their own, they will ask you to recommend a title for them.  The books in your shop are based on real books (there are a few fictional works) and each have a short blurb that describes the basics of the plot.  A customer might specify that they want a YA (young adult) book that has romance themes.  You can't choose exactly what books you stock each day (you just choose the genres and number of books), but you can search through the shelves for the closest match.  Satisfying recommendations will give you sales boost based on how happy the customer is with your choice.  Maybe you only find them a YA book, but it doesn't have romance--they'll only be partially happy, so you get less of a boost.  If you don't fulfill a request the customer will immediately depart and won't buy anymore books.  There's a bit of a timer on responding to requests, but it's almost impossible to miss them.  If you're someone who loves books, you'll enjoy fulfilling customer requests.

+ Fun achievement system.  Each character you meet has tasks that they will want you to complete and will further unlock their storyline.  Each location where you sell books also has certain goals for you to achieve.  One of my favorite tasks was trying to figure out a way to scare off a cruise ship that one of the locals disliked for its negative environmental impact.  Let's just say that it involves gathering an army of seagulls.  The tasks are lighthearted, fun, and help you lean about the cast of characters.

Cons:

- Certain locations are locked seasonally.  This means that if you're trying to accomplish a specific goal for a location and you don't do it, you're going to have to play for another full year.  The gameplay is enjoyable, so it's not a big problem, but it is a little annoying.

-Some customer requests are just bananas.  "Hey, I want a non-fiction book that is also a thriller, but it has to be under 700 pages."  (*I'm sure a book like that does exist, but what I'm getting at is that sometimes the combination in requests is a bit whacky)  Yes, it's not a big deal to fail a request, but it can feel a little bit frustrating when these very random asks come up (although, I suppose that's a small does of reality).  Some requests are relatively simple and some are highly complex.  (I will say though...sometimes you can still get credit if you only satisfy part of a request--it just depends though).

Recommendation:

If you're looking for something relaxing, that has a nice, cozy vibe, you can't go wrong with Tiny Bookshop.  I genuinely enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters and the feeling of fitting into a new town.  There's a fun storyline to follow and tons of books to sell!

Bouncy, Bouncy

I've reached the point in the summer where things start to feel a bit...unsettled.  It's August, so summer is starting to wane and going back to school/work is ominously lurking off in the distance.  You want to make the most of what is left, but you start to feel a bit of an anxious/sad combo.  Not to mention that the state where I live has been experiencing the worst wildfire season on record--there have been 3 different major fires in the vicinity of where I live (*fortunately, nothing too close, but it has made for some very smoky skies that have limited my outdoor time).  I don't know if all of this is impacting my gaming, but I haven't felt a strong urge to play one, single game and have been shuffling between a few.  So here's what I've had on deck.

Crime Scene Cleaner

I finished up the main storyline and all the epilogue missions and decided to check out the "challenge" modes.  Yes, I said "modes" and not "mode" because there are actually two.  The first option is called "Nightmare" and basically re-imagines all the levels from the main storyline in a different form as a version of Kovalsky's own lingering doubts about his participation in all the criminal activity taking place.  Like the main story missions there are collectibles in the form of weird, record-like items to find.  Some of the nightmare levels are pretty wild--one of them has negative gravity, so all the items you touch will float up to the ceiling.  Completing each of the nightmare levels rewards special skins that can change the look of Kovalsky's base cleaning gear.

If nightmare mode isn't enough for you, there's also the "True Cleaner" mode which challenges you to re-visit the original story missions but without "cleaning sense" (an ability that highlights any objects/blood that need to be cleaned/moved).  I completed all of nightmare mode, but haven't given the true cleaner levels a try.  (For some weird reason this game was starting to make me feel a bit motion sick so I have shelved it for the time being)

Balatro

I've won a total of four times, but I just keep going back for more punishment.  I think I'm just singularly bad at building a deck around my jokers and need to keep practicing at it.  I've gotten fairly close a couple of times, but still am just losing...and losing...and losing.  If you haven't checked out this rogue-like/poker smash up, it's a lot of fun, but will slightly crush your soul.

Vampire Survivors

When I get tired of crushing failure in Balatro, I like to switch to slightly less crushing failure at Vampire Survivors.  I bought a bunch of DLC for it awhile back and haven't checked out all the different adventure modes, so I thought I would start there.  I've managed to knock out some of it, but have come up against a wall on a few levels.  For a game with such simple mechanics (kill monsters, loot crystals, upgrade items, and survive for as long as you can), it's surprisingly difficult.  If you're looking for a cheap game that is playable on basically any platform, it is a great option.

Tiny Bookshop

An iteration of my tiny bookshop.

After all the crushing failures in Balatro and Vampire Survivors, I just want to feel less...failure-y.  So, I turn to a nice comfort game in the form of Tiny Bookshop.  You play as the owner of a towable, tiny bookshop who has settled in a new town.  Your ultimate goal is to make a living selling used books, but the friendly townsfolk quickly engage you in various pursuits.  Each day you can pick a new location for your little shop (the perks of it being portable) and learn more about the town and its residents.  Each location offers up specific quests and townsfolk who you can befriend.  Throughout the day your customers will ask for recommendations of varying difficulty--some people have very specific requests while others might just want a book from a certain genre.  Correctly fulfilling these requests will result in a temporary sales boost (and, it's satisfying to get it right).  You can also purchase (or earn/find) items to decorate your shop (this includes paint colors that can be changed every day).  These items provide buffs/debuffs that can impact the types of books customers might want to buy (or other factors like customer count or number of recommendations per day).

I haven't finished Tiny Bookshop yet, but it's a very cute game.  Running the shop is fun, but there's also a cast of townsfolk to befriend and a beautiful little city to learn about.  Not to mention the fun of decorating your shop.