Ophelia Payne

I used to be an avid reader, in the time before video games became my main escape from reality. This hasn’t stopped my love of buying books, however, and I love getting recommendations and reading posts from friends who are voracious readers. One of my favourite things is dropping by bookstores, especially those that sell older books. I love the smell of the paper, searching for something that just speaks to me and feels like it needs a home. I love finding classics I read when I was in school, those I loved as a child, or well-loved books of Shakespeare or poetry. My bookshelves are full of treasures.

Perhaps I’ve never had a dream about starting my own bookshop, but I often dream of running away to a small coastal town to start over, like in a movie. At least I get to do that in Tiny Bookshop, developed by Neoludic Games and published by Skystone Games.

Your mission is simple. Sell books and become the seaside’s number one provider of literature to the charming locals. Generally, the customers pop in and purchase books on their own, but my favourite part was the recommendation mechanism. A customer will ask for a recommendation based on something else they’ve read or an interest they have. They might have other parameters as well, like ‘not over 500 pages’, or ‘no romance’. If you are not familiar with a title they are comparing to, you can click on the title, and it will give you a breakdown of the book.  Use this knowledge to scan all the books in your shop, reading the synopsis and finding the right recommendation for them. Was I always right? No. But I was successful most of the time, and that is a win for me. A lot of the titles in your Tiny Bookshop are real books, and I was elated when I had the chance to recommend something I knew well. I spent all of one summer working in a bookstore, and that was my favourite part of working there too.

If you’re looking for combat, battles or heavy morality-based stories, this isn’t the game for you. The biggest stakes you have will be if you want to set up in a particular location for that day because of the weather, or if you should purchase a particular box of used books because it’s on sale, not necessarily because you are low in stock.

The balance to know how many of each genre is delicate. Each location will have hints as to the types of genres that will sell better there, and décor items you purchase for your shop will give you boosts in selling some genres over others.

The gameplay loop is simple, repetitive, almost hypnotic, maybe predictable? Open in your chosen location, match books to customers, and make enough money to buy better stock or décor options for your tiny bookshop on wheels. You can’t fail, so that stress doesn’t exist, but there might be days when you run low on stock and don’t make enough money to replenish everything that you sold. It’s a very casual management sim in that way.

There are some challenges you will encounter and things you want to complete before the end of the season in the game. But these are easy to complete. A day in the game is only about 5 minutes, meaning you can pick up the game for shorter or longer periods. There are 7 days in a week, and 4 weeks in a season. Only a few questions have the seasonal requirement; others have no expiration dates.

I’m not entirely sure how to describe the beautiful art style of Tiny Bookshop. Pastel, watercolour travel art postcard? It’s beautiful in its simplicity. What some might see as a lack of detail, I see as interpretation. Seeing the people from a broader sense, like looking at those travel art cards in the shops. Charming.

The people you meet are not voice-acted, but as I read their lines and get to know some of them better, I hear familiar people from my past. The eccentric older lady, the fisherman (my favourite as he insisted he reads for the plot but kept buying romance novels) …the hamlet of Bookstonbury was alive and full of delightful potential customers.

I often talk about how audio can make or break the immersion in cozy games, and Tiny Bookshop nailed their audio. Soft guitar and piano melodies waft through the air. The sound of books being shelved scratches an ASMR itch I love when combing through bookstores. The music will change subtly between locations, but nothing too jarring, just enough to remind you of where you are, and to take in your surroundings.

I think one of the things that I loved the most about Tiny Bookshop was that it truly felt like a game made for people who love books, by people who love books. The attention to detail, the brief synopsis sections provided, all drew me in further to the make-believe bookshop that I may someday run when I escape to a coastal town after all.

Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.

**Thank you, Skystone Games, Team Critical Hit and Press Engine, for providing the review code. Reviewed on Xbox Series X**