6.3

Review: Shopkeeper: My First Supermarket

The basis: a shop, a dream and a lot of boxes

In Shopkeeper: My First Supermarket You literally get into the skin of a shop owner. You start small, a few shelves, a cash register, a computer and from there slowly builds up your supermarket. Everything happens in first-person perspective and you carry out almost every action yourself:

• Ordering products via a simple computer
• Unpack boxes delivered to your back door
• Place products manually on shelves, where you decide what comes true
• Customer interaction at the cash register, where you scan products and accept payment
• Cleaning and disposal, to keep your shop clean

Later you can expand with extra racks, refrigerated sections and freezers.

A calm supermarket sim who takes on his predecessor but does he do enough to stand out?

Although Shopkeeper The comparison with Supermarket Simulator (released on 19 June 2019) is inevitable. Both games share the concept of a first-person supermarket manager, but differ fundamentally in approach. Where Supermarket Simulator targets systems and scale, Shopkeeper focuses on rest and simplicity. It feels like the 'cozy' version of the same genre. Also because Supermarket Simulator has so many updates it can feel more glitchy with bugs, on which Shopkeeper keeps it nice and simple but stable.

Players speaking: satire and déjà vu

Although many players enjoy the calm, the game also receives criticism from the community. On Reddit and Steam circulate sarcastic remarks: “Such a unique concept! Never seen anything like this before!“Oh my god, they made a game where you are a shopkeeper?? ? Some even go so far as to say that it is a clone of Supermarket Simulator, with only another sauce.
Yet it's not just cynicism. Many casual gamers appreciate the simplicity and find in Shopkeeper a relaxing routine game, without bugs or the frustration of collapsing systems.